advice needed plz !!

[Anis78]

I'm very confused here guys .... I'm an international medical student who wanna do some clinical electives in the US ... I'll be able to do so during January & Februay... I'll try to arrange additional time but that's what I can get now..
I found a place in an ER elective at the university of Vermont during jan... but I also got positive input from Tuft's university about 2 electives in surgery(ped surg & general/oncology surg) .. so i don't know what to decide ... stay 1 month at vermont in an ER elective then do the other month at Tuft's ... or shall i do the 2 electives in Tuft's ; i think if i did so i'll also apply for an ER elective at Tuft's which is available; i guess so (as the elective coordinator told me). I'm interested in surgery but also need the wide exposure & orientation with different cases through emergency medicine ....
p.s: I'll pay $2000 per month in Tuft's , but this isn't an issue. i can handle this ... but i wonder if it worth it.... i saw the best med school rank; Tuft's is #37 while Vermont isn't there... does this reflect anything related to clinical education?? cause the rank is titled "best 50 schools in research"

plz i must take a decision ASAP ...
thanks..

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[Winged Scapula]

I'll make some assumptions:

1) you are doing US electives because you are interested in pursuing further training in the US

2) haven't fully made up your mind what field you might be interested in (ER Medicine doesn't always provide you with the wide exposure you might think).

Now, you shouldn't base your choice on the USN&WR rankings. These, like any other ranking system, are highly subjective and have very little to nothing to do with medical student teaching and quality of residency education. What does a high ranking in research mean to you? Nothing unless you are planning on pursuing a research elective or career. Therefore, choose the school which best fits your purposes - either geographic location, type of rotation, residency training, etc.

Secondly, I cannot imagine, WHY, for the life of me, you would choose to do an elective at a school which charges such fees. There are plenty of schools out there that do not charge tuition at all, or if they do, it is minimal. Tufts is reputed to be a great school, but you can rotate at many other places and save your money for necessities or even luxuries, without significantly sacrificing the quality of your education.

Bottom line is that the choice between these two schools is yours. I'm sure you will have a great experience at either one. My choice would be to do a month at 2 separate schools, giving you a basis of US education to compare, not overstaying your welcome and giving you more opportunity to obtain different LORs. But don't spend $2,000 unless you have a really good reason to do so...

Hope this helps.

 

[Anis78]

Dear Kimberli,
thanks so much for your reply .. many good points-just as expected from your post. I can't forget that u're the one who made me know there's somethin called "visiting student electives" in the 1st place!
well, I think it's better to let u & other members c the whole situation i'm in;this will be better.
i'm currently studying for step1 & plan to give my exam in early November.after that I'll start my US electives to gain more experiernce about the American system which I think will be helpful for step2 preparation.
I'm interested in surgery;though in my med school the clinical orientation isn't so good .. so i might took the wrong decision regarding my personal abilities & skills .. but i'm very interested in the field & can't imagine myself in another speciality.
the reason why i'm taking an ER elective is to get an opportunity to see more cases & learn more skills & procedures to compensate the defect created by the educational system i'm in.I think also this will be a good chance to cover more topics of step2 prep. (I'll be doing the electives & studying at the same time).

another point to take into consideration that i wanna catch 2004 match;so here's a briefing of my time table to c if it's ok or it will need some change.
. clinical electives:
1- ped surgery at Northwetern univ. Dec 2002
2- ER at Vermont Jan 2003
3- general surgery/oncology surgery at Tuft's (i have to pay the $2000 to confirm it... lol) Feb 2003

p.s: i'm about to apply for additional 3 months at other places .. so. expected to finish electives by end of June 2003.


so, r these electives good enough for an application in general surgery, & do I still have time to do some research work & give step2 & CSA exams & still catch 2004 match??

sorry for the long message....
thanks for your time & help...

 

[Anis78]

plz my friends .. i need to take a decision ASAP.
Dr. Kimberli, if u have time i'll be glad to hear your advice about this..

thank you.

 

[Anis78]

can anybody help with this topic plz ??