...Someone with a 260 who doesn't know how to check a fundal height isn't automatically "more qualified" than someone with a 210 who does.
If you come out of at least 4 weeks of an OB/Gyn rotation unable to check fundal height, something is wrong, even if you just followed a preceptor around. I mean, you should have at least seen them check it or read it somewhere, which obviously is very different than doing it yourself, but still. And you'd think someone actually interested in OB would be busting their butt for opportunities to learn anything and everything OB. Sounds like you had a dud.
I will say that I've seen more DO auditioners/4th years that don't seem to understand the point of auditions/sub-Is compared to the MD sub-I's. The point is to look good doing what an intern does. That means studying daily, staying interested, volunteering for tasks/patients, taking opportunities to teach, and, I can't believe I have to say this, not falling asleep on your audition. To everyone on here, don't be that DO.
I mean it almost makes me wonder if the issue is naivete. I mean, maybe a lot of DOs don't see auditioners and sub-I's as much, so they think their job on auditions is the same as it was on their 3rd year cores. Kind of like how people at my school don't really understand the residency app process, but friends at MD schools have already been taught the ins and outs of it.
...Being told "For postpartum rounds, see the patients in rooms 1, 2, and 3" should be followed by an "Okay," not "What exactly should I ask them about?"...
Yeah, now I'm more confident in my assessment that you got a dud. Who wouldn't know that? Not interested in OB and did a preceptor-based rotation (by choice because I actually saw more on it than most at my clinical site), but unless someone flat out didn't have an OB/Gyn rotation, how could they not know the standard post-partum eval/concerns? I'm even more concerned that they did this on an audition and were actually interested in OB/Gyn. You'd think they would've known that cold.
What can a DO student do so that they can make sure they are certainly meeting the criteria necessary to begin functioning near an intern level by 4th year?
A lot of it has to do with being observant. Look at the interns, see what they do. For the most part, you can figure out what you're supposed to do, and feel free to ask the interns you're rotating with during 3rd year what they do in "x" situation.
When you're dealing with the more procedural fields, things are a bit different. I've never done certain things. I've never even seen certain things done. People at my school that went to sites without residents or with only FM residents have done a lot more than me. Maybe I'll do more on EM in 4th year (I'm told I will). Maybe if I was interested in surgery, I would have done more than just staple-close incisions. A lot are skills you develop, so if you know you're interested, jump in. If you're willing to see one, do one, you should be alright, but I imagine that's residency program specific how much they actually expect you to know going in.
I spent my 3rd year at an underserved, inner-city community hospital that two other MD schools send their 3rd year students to for their base rotations. I'm the first person to poop on the AOA when given a chance, but I think it is a bull-**** generalization to say DO students receive a substandard clinical education.
I've loved my clerkship experience. I've received excellent training. I've had good and bad rotations, but the good rotations have far outnumbered the bad rotations. If you think MD students don't have their fair share of bull **** rotations, you are absolutely mistaken. I've seen it first hand as I've had the same exact rotations as MD students. Simply a case of the "grass is always greener." The MD students put up with the same bull **** as we do.
Not knowing how to present a patient is not an MD vs. DO thing. It's a case of competence. If you don't know how to present a patient, you simply aren't making the effort. For ****'s sake just watch a YouTube video on it....
Yeah, this is definitely the case. It's really not as easy as saying all DOs have terrible clinicals. There is variability though. My experience at my clinical campus is different from my classmate's at another clinical campus. That said, I know some MDs who have similarly varying clinical campuses, so it can't just be an MD vs. DO thing. Maybe it's just easier for PDs and MDs to think that though.