Does anything in 4th year matter?

[notbobtrustme]

Wondering how many ****s I should give. Currently giving like 3.

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[DocVapor]

Wondering how many ****s I should give. Currently giving like 3.

Personally I'm giving ****s in my intended specialty and those close to it, and then sort of giving ****s for all others until match day, then giving exactly zero ****s.

 

[Chemdude]

I have been on a "research" rotation for the the past 6 weeks. I'm planning on putting in the least amount of effort possible in every rotation. I was originally scheduled to take my medicine AI in October, but I want to delay it so I could be relaxed during interview time. The only downside to all of this is that I feel like I'm getting dumber at an exponential rate; I have forgotten 90% of what I used to know...I'm loving it. Medical school can suck my ****

 

[sliceofbread136]

Step 2?

 

[DocVapor]

Step 2?

That's end of third year. If you are taking it more than a month or two into 4th year you're doing it wrong.

 

[Porfirio]

EM requires SLOEs, so I am giving 10/10 ****s. Next month is a different story.

 

[J ROD]

AI, Step 2 CK, CS

 

[Wordead]

That's end of third year. If you are taking it more than a month or two into 4th year you're doing it wrong.

I didnt take it until november, I must have really screwed up

 

[DocVapor]

I didnt take it until november, I must have really screwed up

You made it that long and didn't go crazy? Props.

 

[Wordead]

You made it that long and didn't go crazy? Props.

Unless you had medicine close to the end of M3 or you absolutely have to take it (IM, peds, etc), there's no point in taking it right after M3. That's prime away rotation time. Way more important.

 

[DrOwnage]

MS4 here. Took Step 2 already, did my AI, finished a rotation of intended specialty (anesthesia), highly competitive for said specialty, got 2 solid anesthesia letters of rec. I find myself guilty sometimes around attendings on my rotations because I would rather just shadow and chill at this point then do all the work/notes. No grades involved. I should probably start writing my personal statement... So I guess currently giving one **** which is my residency application. I hope attendings realize that MS4s are mostly burned out waiting to match, but I could be wrong.

 

[operaman]

3-4 s--ts sounds about right. Primarily it's about securing a residency position and doing whatever it takes to make that happen. Beyond that you have to hit your requirements to graduate, so make sure you know what those are and that your schedule is going to be adequate. Otherwise, tailor your schedule and elective rotations to maximize things you care about and time to relax. I found dermatology and radiology to be great choices for both and also did some extra ICU rotations as I felt critical care was a big weakness of mine and I wanted to get comfortable with more procedures. The beauty of it all is that after your app is submitted, nobody is going to see your grades until your new PD gets your transcript after graduation, so you need to give negative-s**ts about grades and the sort of game playing that we all did during 3rd year.

 

[ChrisMack390]

Isn't 4th year when you need to gather up LORs for your residency apps? Seems like you'd want to try hard.

 

[notbobtrustme]

Isn't 4th year when you need to gather up LORs for your residency apps? Seems like you'd want to try hard.

Got 2 from my first rotation 4th year. So I'm done in that regard.

Applying IM, so other than my subi I don't give any ****s anymore.

 

[mimelim]

Got 2 from my first rotation 4th year. So I'm done in that regard.

Applying IM, so other than my subi I don't give any ****s anymore.

If you are set for your application cycle, then what you do the rest of the year is largely irrelevant toward residency.

I encourage our MS4s to do interesting rotations about things that they won't have a chance to see once they hit residency or things that they think might be useful peripherally. For example, there is no excuse for a 4th year medical student to not be able to read basic chest and abdominal xrays. One month reading films on either an elective or established radiology rotation will help, a lot. There is no substitute for reading a couple hundred xrays consecutively either with a rads resident or attending. I also tell people going into vascular surgery to do cardiology, general IM, nephrology, pulmonology, etc. if they have a chance and the rotations have reasonable reviews. 4th year you have few expectations and even less responsibility. It is a golden opportunity to actually learn some practical medicine.

 

[Slack3r]

If you are set for your application cycle, then what you do the rest of the year is largely irrelevant toward residency.

I encourage our MS4s to do interesting rotations about things that they won't have a chance to see once they hit residency or things that they think might be useful peripherally. For example, there is no excuse for a 4th year medical student to not be able to read basic chest and abdominal xrays. One month reading films on either an elective or established radiology rotation will help, a lot. There is no substitute for reading a couple hundred xrays consecutively either with a rads resident or attending. I also tell people going into vascular surgery to do cardiology, general IM, nephrology, pulmonology, etc. if they have a chance and the rotations have reasonable reviews. 4th year you have few expectations and even less responsibility. It is a golden opportunity to actually learn some practical medicine.

There's really no reason radiology shouldn't be a required rotation. Unfortunately, that's not the case at most schools.

 

[Kaustikos]

There's really no reason radiology shouldn't be a required rotation. Unfortunately, that's not the case at most schools.

Agreed.
Having an idea of how to look at images before residency seems like a no brainer. At least be comfortable with X-ray's and CT.
Also, I'm biased, but learning what imaging protocol to order/being okay to call radiology for help.

 

[MilkIsGood]

That's end of third year. If you are taking it more than a month or two into 4th year you're doing it wrong.

you have no freaking idea what you're talking about. anyone doing a specialty that pretty much requires 1-2 away rotations havent taken step 2. derm, ent, plastics, uro, rad onc. all these applicants in competitive specialties must be doing it wrong..