Advice about 3rd year roations...

[APDoc]

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Hey everyone,

I was hoping some of you could give me some advice about scheduling my 3rd year roations (i.e. what to take when, which early electives to take if any). I'm currently a 2nd year interested in PM&R, and there is no PM&R dept. at my school to talk with. I appreciate your time, and thanks in advance!

 

[axm397]

I guess it depends on what your school curriculum is like... My school allows two electives 3rd year. The only requirements for 4th year are Medicine A.I., Surgery A.I., Humanities, and a research project done by graduation. During my third year, I took family, peds, ob/gyn, and medicine earlier then psych and surgery. I did a Neurology A.I. in the spring to count for my medicine A.I. requirement. I wasn't sure about PM&R earlier my 3rd year so I did an Anesthesia rotation as well. 4th year, I took a research month early July to study for step II. I took step II late July, then did two away PM&R electives back to back in August and September. I then did a month of case based learning delveloping elective to work on my PM&R research. I did my PM&R A.I. at my school (which by the way does not have a PM&R dept either - it's under ortho.). I took another research month in December and a vacation month in January to make time for my interviews which I primarily scheduled for those months. Since I was applying all over the U.S., it would have been hard to do a rotation while going on interviews.

I would say, if you do well on step 1, it's probably not necessary to take step 2 so early. I wanted to improve on my step1 score so I took it right after 3rd yr so it would show up on my applications. If you can do PM&R electives earlier I would do that as well - so you can get letters of recommendation. When scheduling electives, I would try to get as broad an exposure as you can so you can talk to any interviewer from any area of PM&R during your interviews. If you can try to find a PM&R research project, that will help your application as well.

Hope this helps. Good luck!!

 

[drvlad2004]

Originally posted by axm397
When scheduling electives, I would try to get as broad an exposure as you can so you can talk to any interviewer from any area of PM&R during your interviews.

This is extremely important. Do not just do a rotation that is only outpatient. There are many people who do that. Include an inpatient rotation that has TBI, stroke, SCI, etc. Unfortunately, my school did not allow electives during my 3rd year, which is a downside to my school. However, I scheduled 3 PM&R electives back to back to back in August, September, and October. You want to get a broad exposure to PM&R as much as possible. I am still amazed by how broad this field really is. Getting a broad exposure in PM&R will make you look good on interviews. Therefore, you can easily discuss the variety of rotations you've been through as well as describe your experiences to your interviewer. Of course, getting that PM&R LOR in your 3rd year or 4th year is crucial. Since PM&R is a small tight-knit specialty, the PD or faculty attending will most likely know the person who wrote your LOR.

Good luck!

 

[drusso]

It's good to find a rotation that exposes you to inpatient and outpatient PM&R experiences. If your mind is already made up about PM&R and you're looking for some electives to "round out" your knowledge base here are a few that I would recommend: Neurology, orthopedics, urology, neurosurgery, radiology, pain management.

 

[APDoc]

I'm sorry I haven't replied sooner, I just finished with a block exam for Path. My med school also does not offer electives during the third year. We have to take 6 required clerkships before we can "move on to 4th year." They are family medicine, pediatrics, internal medicine, surgery, psych/neuro, and ob/gyn. I just don't want to make a mistake with the order I take them in-- do any of you have any recommendations for me? I have heard two stories: 1) take the things you're not interested in first to get them out of the way and just get used to the wards, or 2) take the things you're interested in early so you will know how to schedule for 4th year (after the 4th block of 3rd year for us). Maybe I'm being overly anal about this, and it's not that big of a deal-- if it's not, feel free to let me know : ). I just wanted to get some advice about my required 3rd year rotations as well. I will definitely follow all the great advice you all have given me for 4th year. Thanks again for your responses!

 

[APDoc]

bump

 

[Finally M3]

I think my best advice is this; go into your 3rd year rotations with an open mind. Don't automatically assume that you don't want to go into a certain field. Also, if you go into a rotation 'knowing' that you're not interested, it will be reflected in your attitude and thus, your evaluations may suffer.

That being said, Medicine is pretty important to PM&R, esp. on the inpatient side. Neuro as well, for obvious reasons. Surgery (esp like DrRusso said, ortho or neurosurg.) is pretty important as well, so much so that I'm planning on taking an ortho and neurosurg elective during my internship so I can become familiar with the procedures and terminology...

Schedule your 4th year electives in PM&R early. You need to get letters of rec from PM&R attendings.