Clerkships in M2..??

[sherlock_obsessed_m&m]

I'm currently researching medical schools and will be applying this summer. I've come across a few med schools that seem to start clerkships in spring of M2 year instead of the traditional fall of M3. So far the ones I've seen are (maybe??) the University of Wisconsin Madison and the University of Iowa.

Personally, I put very high value on clinical learning because there's only so much you can learn from textbooks. So my question is: would these schools be rushing the "book-learning" phase to get their students into clerkships sooner? Would that be a downfall? Or is more clerkship worth it regardless?

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[21Rush12]

Both compressed preclinical and traditional curricula have their goods and bads. You’ll likely have to apply to both types and you’ll still be a doctor after graduating from any of them. All are rigorously accredited and held to the same standards.

 

[tbonez71]

A lot of schools are actually transitioning to this condensed curriculum where all the pre-clinical learning is done in 1.5 years. Some schools actually have a one year pre-clinical curriculum (Duke and Vandy come to mind), and start clerkships at the very beginning of M2.

One of the issues I've heard with the traditional 2 year curriculum is that they actually go too in depth, and force you to memorize the minutiae that you are likely to forget... You learn these things later on when you are in clinic anyway, and especially when you are decided on a certain specialty and focus on that. I think the updated pre-clinical curriculum is partially to make this aspect more efficient, and teach "high-yield" information (not that you wouldn't learn intricate details using either method). Another reason why it is done is to give students good clinical exposure before taking Step 1, which I've heard helps significantly. When I was doing interviews, a few schools mentioned how they recently transitioned to the condensed curriculum and they saw their average step score go up. I couldn't point you towards that data though.

I for one am a fan of getting the early clinical experience. One of the benefits I appreciated is more flexibility in the 3rd and 4th years to do what you want, like research or other electives. The 2 year curriculum is tried and true though, your training will be just as adequate going to a school that keeps with that model.

 

[NotASerialKiller]

If you have the choice I'd go with a school that gets you in the hospital ASAP. Apart from learning more in clinical settings (who needs them there fancy books anyhow), you'll start figuring out what you really want to do a lot earlier. You might think you love surgery, but then realize that 12+ hour days on your feet in the OR aren't actually so great. Or discover that even though you didn't love your psych lectures, you get a lot of satisfaction out of talking to psych patients. Especially if you end up pursuing a competitive specialty, the earlier you figure that out the better.

An extra month of memorizing and then forgetting some pathology lectures isn't going to help you more than actually getting in there and seeing what doctors do.

 

[sherlock_obsessed_m&m]

@tbonez71 and @NotASerialKiller
This helps a lot, thank you both! I was initially worried that the information I'd "miss" would come bite me in the behind later, but it sounds like the schools that have transitioned into earlier clinicals thought it through pretty well. Now I can focus on these schools without having that fear lurking over my shoulder

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

@tbonez71 and @NotASerialKiller
This helps a lot, thank you both! I was initially worried that the information I'd "miss" would come bite me in the behind later, but it sounds like the schools that have transitioned into earlier clinicals thought it through pretty well. Now I can focus on these schools without having that fear lurking over my shoulder

Not sure how other schools do it, but USUHS cuts out the summer break between M1 and M2, so you actually aren’t missing anything. Probably similar at other condensed curricula.