anesthesia for the 4th year applicant

[omgwtfbbq?]

Hey everybody, I have a quick question for you. I am trying to decide on a specialty, and I'm considering anesthesia as one of my choices... specifically pain medicine.

Can anybody tell me a bit about what the actual life/work is like? We don't get any exposure to anesthesia. I like to do procedures, am patient with patients, have outside interests I don't want to give up completely (after residency at least! hehe) and just wonder how it all works ---- do you like your work? what is a common day like? what do you like/dislike about the work?

Thanks so much. I've read some other threads, and am not too interested in talking about reimbursements I know there's the possibility of a huge cut in pay or not, but i'm not a fortune teller, and am just focusing on the life and work i want at this point I used to make $20,000 a year teaching english, so anythings a step up! thanks!!

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[wagonwheel]

I'm trying to arrange my schedule for next year and I would love some advice. 1) When are interviews conducted? I would love to only take 1 month off if possible for interviews. If that is possible, should I choose Dec or Jan?
2) How strongly is an away rotation recommended? Not necessarily for an interview type month but just to get a better grasp of the field and how it runs in other places. My budget is already tight so I'd rather not.
Thanks!!!

 

[Icefrog]

I'm trying to arrange my schedule for next year and I would love some advice. 1) When are interviews conducted? I would love to only take 1 month off if possible for interviews. If that is possible, should I choose Dec or Jan?
2) How strongly is an away rotation recommended? Not necessarily for an interview type month but just to get a better grasp of the field and how it runs in other places. My budget is already tight so I'd rather not.
Thanks!!!

1) Interviews are generally conducted in Nov, Dec, and Jan, with even a few in Oct and Feb. But the bulk will be in Dec and Jan. If you only had one month to choose, I'd pick Jan because Dec has about one week cut off from the holidays, so you'd be cramming in a ton of interviews into 3 weeks.

2) Generally, away rotations aren't necessary in anesthesia. Several attendings and my PD advised them ONLY if there is a specific program you are extremely interested in, especially if it is very competitive and you can be sure to be on your A-game the entire month.

 

[BobBarker]

Advice is different for each student. I plan to do an in depth post for DO students after match day. I spread my interviews out over the whole season, and never took any vacation. I'll be done with med school Feb 26th as a result. Try to do your 4th year required rotations early on, so you have electives during interview season.

 

[DScully]

I'm trying to arrange my schedule for next year and I would love some advice. 1) When are interviews conducted? I would love to only take 1 month off if possible for interviews. If that is possible, should I choose Dec or Jan?
2) How strongly is an away rotation recommended? Not necessarily for an interview type month but just to get a better grasp of the field and how it runs in other places. My budget is already tight so I'd rather not.
Thanks!!!

1) I'd probably take Jan off just because you basically lose 2 wks in Dec due to holidays

2) I love my away. I'd do it again even if it is late in the year. However, if your budget is tight, then I don't see why you *need* to do an away. Just make sure that anesthesia is what you love and save the money for the interviews.

Another possible solution is do your away in your home town but either a different program or a different aspect of anesthesia at your home institution (ex. ob anesthesia or pain management).

 

[WholeLottaGame7]

I'm trying to arrange my schedule for next year and I would love some advice. 1) When are interviews conducted? I would love to only take 1 month off if possible for interviews. If that is possible, should I choose Dec or Jan?
2) How strongly is an away rotation recommended? Not necessarily for an interview type month but just to get a better grasp of the field and how it runs in other places. My budget is already tight so I'd rather not.
Thanks!!!

1) I had pretty much equal numbers in Nov/Dec/Jan, with a few in late Oct. I actually ended up cancelling a bunch in Jan based on numbers/finances/being tired of interviewing. I took Nov and Dec off to take both parts of Step 2 and interview as much as possible, which seemed to work out fine.

As others have said, December's probably not the best month, but I would add Nov to Jan as an option to take off.

2) Unless you have a specific school you want to look at/impress, I probably wouldn't bother with an away rotation. Anesthesia doesn't seem like a great "AI" field, as the day-to-day nature of the field means that wherever you go you'd probably be bouncing from room to room and not getting a lot of longitudinal opportunities to impress people. At least, that seems to have been the experience of away students at my institution. But, it does give you a good opportunity to see the true "flavor" of that one institution really well, which you don't get on interview days. Is that worth it? I dunno.

 

[wagonwheel]

thanks so much for all of the advice!!! love how helpful the anesthesia forum is!

 

[karizma098]

Advice is different for each student. I plan to do an in depth post for DO students after match day. I spread my interviews out over the whole season, and never took any vacation. I'll be done with med school Feb 26th as a result. Try to do your 4th year required rotations early on, so you have electives during interview season.

that would be awesome.

i'm a DO student , and am really interested in anesthesia, DO specific advice is always appreciated.