Does your school have an MICU rotation?

[rs2006]

Hii everyone,

Fourth year med student here-- Just wanted to know if your medical school requires an MICU rotation for graduation, and if so if it was useful and helpful for internship? Any thoughts would be appreciated. thanks.

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[glorytaker]

Yes, my school requires an ICU/Critical Care rotation. I actually enjoyed mine and I'm thinking of becoming an Intensivist.

 

[ucla2usc]

Hii everyone,

Fourth year med student here-- Just wanted to know if your medical school requires an MICU rotation for graduation, and if so if it was useful and helpful for internship? Any thoughts would be appreciated. thanks.

my school does not...and i never did the elective...does anyone think I'm gonna get my butt kicked next year accordingly? Are a lot of people in this similar situation?

 

[souljah1]

Not a requirement at my school. I did a month of ICU at Moffit (pretty much split between MICU/CCU and Neuro ICU). I really got a lot out of it. Much more comfortable taking care of sick patients, quite a bit of practice doing central lines, art lines, etc. - and learned a decent amount about vents. I highly recommend it.

 

[quidnunc]

At my school we join a specific "college" during 4th yr which is related to our field of interest (mine is acute care for people wanting ER, Anes, or Critical Care Medicine), so in our college we are required to do an ICU rotation.

I finished the CICU at Cedars and thought it was excellent experience. It really doesn't compare to anything you do during 3rd year and the amount of learning and procedures that you can do is endless. Great stuff. (I'm actually considering a MICU rotation now). It's great prep for intern year (where depending on where you go you'll do at least 2 months of unit work).

 

[gutonc]

My program doesn't require it (although they require 10 weeks of ambulatory medicine which is kind of crazy) but I think they should. I'm lucky in that one of our 3 hospitals has a 2-week ICU elective. I wanted the experience but didn't want to spend a whole month of my senior year getting hammered in the unit. I'm doing it in a couple of weeks and really looking forward to it.

It's my understanding from friends going into Surgery that a month in the SICU is pretty much de rigeur for anyone who wants to do an academic Surgery program. I think time in the unit would be much more helpful than the month I had to spend in Neuro (hey...you had a stroke...that sucks...here's some Plavix and a rehab consult).

BE

 

[Benzo4every1]

not a requirement at my school
It is a selective. I did one month of MICU and loved it!

 

[Benzo4every1]

not a requirement at my school
It is a selective. I did one month of MICU and loved it!

 

[ucla2usc]

my school does not...and i never did the elective...does anyone think I'm gonna get my butt kicked next year accordingly? Are a lot of people in this similar situation?

Did anyone not do this rotation?

 

[DoctorSax]

Did anyone not do this rotation?

Didn't do one. Am relying upon my leopard-like reflexes and uncanny ability to learn quickly to get me through units in intern year. Actually, I really don't know what I'm going to do in the unit next year. I filled my elective spots with more outpatient-based stuff like derm, ophtho, and ENT.

Bought a head mirror and may have secured a pan-optic on the cheap. That was an accomplishment...

DS

 

[BigBadBix]

Did anyone not do this rotation?

Three of my former classmates who are now medicine interns didn't do the MICU during med school and it has not been a problem for them. It's a fun rotation, but I wouldn't worry about squeezing it into the end of 4th year when you should be relaxing. Most residents realize being in the ICU can be overwhelming as an intern and will be willing to provide some extra backup at first. Plus, the nurses & respiratory techs in the ICU are usually excellent - a great resource if you have questions.

-BBB

 

[Loopo Henle]

Did anyone not do this rotation?

I didn't do one. I figure all of my patients will die for a couple of weeks until I get up to speed. It is the natural way of things. Don't get admitted to a teaching hospital in July, that's my motto.

 

[JetsPickVYoung]

Don't get admitted to a teaching hospital in July, that's my motto.

 

[fantasty]

Our school has a requirement for either ICU or Emergency. But, sub-Is who are at the VA cover some ICU patients.

I'm an MSTP student, and I have the option to either do a 2nd Sub-I or the ICU. Any suggestions for what would be better? I'm not leaning toward critical care, but at the same time, I don't want to be hammered as an intern (similar to the other posters who haven't had it). I thought doing the 2nd sub-I might help me feel better about handling medicine patients in general, and I was going to see if I could do it at the VA so I'd at least the chance for a few ICU patients.