Easy A vs really learning something?

[D0CYAN]

Here's the thing - our school has several different sites for core rotations that all offer something different. One option is a very well-funded hospital with rich patients, where interns don't do anything, have it very easy, and are generally given A's; the other is a busy hospital where interns are thrown right into the thick if everything, get a ton of hands-on experience, but where A's are hard to come by.

I need to know how important your 3rd year is for your medical education, and how important 3rd year grades are. If I'm interested in applying to a competitive specialty, is it better to get the almost-guaranteed As in my core rotations but get less hands-on experience, with the assumption that my "real" education will occur in residency anyway? Or should I get more hands-on experience and risk having more B's on my transcript, knowing it'll make me a more competent PGY-1?

Any input is appreciated.

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[Stellar Clouds]

Here's the thing - our school has several different sites for core rotations that all offer something different. One option is a very well-funded hospital with rich patients, where interns don't do anything, have it very easy, and are generally given A's; the other is a busy hospital where interns are thrown right into the thick if everything, get a ton of hands-on experience, but where A's are hard to come by.

I need to know how important your 3rd year is for your medical education, and how important 3rd year grades are. If I'm interested in applying to a competitive specialty, is it better to get the almost-guaranteed As in my core rotations but get less hands-on experience, with the assumption that my "real" education will occur in residency anyway? Or should I get more hands-on experience and risk having more B's on my transcript, knowing it'll make me a more competent PGY-1?

Any input is appreciated.

The amount you learn on the wards is totally dependent on the amount of effort you put forth. You will still learn plenty from the "well funded" hospital, and you will have the benefit of getting a better grade. A good grade from an evaluation, however, doesn't mean much if you don't do well on the shelf exam. If the busy hospital leaves you very little reading time, then I can bet that your shelf exam grade will be lower even if you have a more hands on experience. For competitive specialties, third year grades are quite important. Not as much as step 1, but still hold considerable weight (and at a lot of schools, considerable weight is given to third year grades for AOA status). Best of luck on the wards!

 

[D0CYAN]

Thanks a lot, that's exactly what I wanted to know!