Are there exams in clinical years?

[mednoob]

sorry for the dumb question, but im a premed who hopes to get into med school soon.

i know that years 1 and 2 are classroom study and years 3 and 4 are clinical rotations. my question is that in the clinical years, are there exams in which you have to study for (besides step 2) or do you basically just do your rotations and have residents and attendings evaluate you which will serve as your "scores"? also is there any classroom study at all during these years or are these 2 years entirely spent doing rotations?

thx

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[Anka]

There are either in house or shelf exams during your clinical years, generally for each rotation (surgery, medicine, Ob/Gyn, etc.). You will have a variable amount of didactics during each rotation as well. Most of your learning, however, will be a combination of what you pick up from residents and attendings at the bedside, and what you read on your own.

Anka

 

[velo]

grading varies from school to school but in broad strokes your clinical grades are determined primarily by the residents and attendings who evaluate you and by a standardized, multiple-choice exam called a 'shelf exam' with consists of step-II style questions about the rotation you just completed. The shelf exam's weight in your final grade varies, but 10% is a reasonable ball-park.

 

[Ashers]

M3 year basically has an exam per clerkship.

M4 year there may or may not be an exam, and some people may choose their 4th year schedule based on exams, call schedule, weekends etc.

 

[The Buff]

but 10% is a reasonable ball-park.

This number will be highly variable. At my school the shelf percentage ranges from 20% (neurology) to 50% (surgery)

 

[doc20]

there are also presentations , write ups that count towards your grade

 

[Droopy Snoopy]

sorry for the dumb question, but im a premed who hopes to get into med school soon.

i know that years 1 and 2 are classroom study and years 3 and 4 are clinical rotations. my question is that in the clinical years, are there exams in which you have to study for (besides step 2) or do you basically just do your rotations and have residents and attendings evaluate you which will serve as your "scores"? also is there any classroom study at all during these years or are these 2 years entirely spent doing rotations?

thx

It's not a dumb question at all. As late as middle of 2nd year I didn't have much insight into the clinical years. In medicine for example, we sometimes had as many as 3 hours lecture per day. We had weekly quizzes which had a cumulative 10% weight, an in-house final worth 25%, a standardized national board exam worth 25%, a 5% attendance/participation component, and the various ward eval grades summing to 35% (these by either the chief resident, the attending, or both).

The percentages are different for every rotation and at every school -- our surgery department for example wants you in the OR seeing stuff instead of reading about it and taking a quiz -- but if your real question is what your role is during the clinical years you're still 'in school' as opposed to 'at work'. Your primary focus is learning, and if you should be provided the opportunity to do so. Not-so-great schools, ****ty residents, and poorly managed departments within otherwise good schools will emphasize the day-to-day work involved in patient care.

 

[Law2Doc]

but 10% is a reasonable ball-park.

Actually the range tends to be anywhere from 5-50%, with 25% being the most common at a number of schools, and per the discussions on SDN.