Advice Needed: The school put me at a site where the town has shootings and crime on the daily

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CrazyHorseLady

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Hi guys hope everyone enjoyed the holiday:

I just started my psychiatry rotation on Tuesday and luckily have not had to go in since. The site, despite me reaching out to them numerous times, did not give me their address till Monday morning, so I only knew exactly where it was 24 hours before the start of it. My commute one way has ended up being 2 hours (clear weather, no traffic accidents), so I have already reached out to the school about how that is just not realistic multiple days a week, especially in the Midwest here where it could start snowing any day now.

Today there were two people shot and killed right by my site. My family is absolutely freaking out now because I just told them yesterday this is where I am of course. But now I am concerned as well as the commute was already bad enough, but I started researching the town and it has an "F" grade for safety and crime rates can be as high as 1 in 7 people. There are also multiple shootings weekly here apparently now that I pulled up news articles. I know that sites can sometimes be close to unsafe areas but this is actually directly in an unsafe area.

My question is, can I tell my school I simply feel "unsafe" at this site? I'm frustrated that I am spending an exorbitant amount of money to not only put myself in possible harm's way but also waste my time with a 4 hour commute daily (on top of this, I can already tell my preceptor is the exact kind of doc I don't want to be: completely lacks empathy and has the ego the size of mount everest with no willingness to actually teach-but that is the least of my worries at this point). Just wanted to add I also tried to switch out of this rotation back in June but they did not have any other psych sites open at the time, however the other day they had no problem switching one of my friends rotations around in 24 hours.

So yeah. Thanks for readings this.

-A now very stressed M3

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Hi guys hope everyone enjoyed the holiday:

I just started my psychiatry rotation on Tuesday and luckily have not had to go in since. The site, despite me reaching out to them numerous times, did not give me their address till Monday morning, so I only knew exactly where it was 24 hours before the start of it. My commute one way has ended up being 2 hours (clear weather, no traffic accidents), so I have already reached out to the school about how that is just not realistic multiple days a week, especially in the Midwest here where it could start snowing any day now.

Today there were two people shot and killed right by my site. My family is absolutely freaking out now because I just told them yesterday this is where I am of course. But now I am concerned as well as the commute was already bad enough, but I started researching the town and it has an "F" grade for safety and crime rates can be as high as 1 in 7 people. There are also multiple shootings weekly here apparently now that I pulled up news articles. I know that sites can sometimes be close to unsafe areas but this is actually directly in an unsafe area.

My question is, can I tell my school I simply feel "unsafe" at this site? I'm frustrated that I am spending an exorbitant amount of money to not only put myself in possible harm's way but also waste my time with a 4 hour commute daily (on top of this, I can already tell my preceptor is the exact kind of doc I don't want to be: completely lacks empathy and has the ego the size of mount everest with no willingness to actually teach-but that is the least of my worries at this point). Just wanted to add I also tried to switch out of this rotation back in June but they did not have any other psych sites open at the time, however the other day they had no problem switching one of my friends rotations around in 24 hours.

So yeah. Thanks for readings this.

-A now very stressed M3
Change your commute time. Go in early and use the time to study in the clinic/hospital prior to your 'start' time.
 
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To directly answer your question, no, I think telling the school you feel unsafe is going to seem unreasonable. Many, many hospitals are located in/near the inner city, especially trauma centers. Ask security for an escort if you don’t feel great walking to/from your car, otherwise this is a reality of medicine and if you just follow some basic precautions like not having valuables visible in your car you should be fine.

I’d also consider the cost of renting a room closer vs the cost of gas/mental cost of a 2h commute.
 
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I am sorry for you having to endure this horrible experience. Unfortunately, I've been there and this is just part of the ****storm that is 3rd year.

I would be just as pissed off as you are, perhaps more. However, complaining or raising a concern does nothing but raise a red flag on you (no matter what anyone says). You must be the one who smiles through this **** and simply nails the rotation. Honors is all that matters. This is a temporary abyss that you will ascend from.

As for the commute, pick a podcast, a comedy show, TV or movies, etc. Remember, it's not permanent. You can do this. Stay strong.
 
I also agree that it will be unreasonable to talk about the area being unsafe - have you seen where Johns Hopkins is, as an example? Terrible, terrible area. A ton of major training centers are in bad areas.

The commute sucks, though. If you’re going to be in that area for the whole year, I would move. If it’s just going to be a few weeks, I would look at extended stays or an air bnbs. I air bnb’d my way through my first three months of fourth year just because of where my rotations were and I regret nothing.
 
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On the bright side. you will learn much more from an urban dangerous area vs a rural area. you will see more rare cases and get more freedom to practice medicine rather than simply shadow. maybe learn some jiu jitsu while you're at it.
 
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