EM Residency and Pre-Residency Issues

[NinerNiner999]

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Hey all,

As the interview season is now winding down upon us, I am beginning to think about those things that we all must consider as we make the transition from student to EM resident. Specifically, things like what do to from now until that time, like planning on textbook purchases, housing relocation, and preparation for becoming the unconsiously incompetent physcians we will all be when we start residency.

What would some of you "seasoned" veterans of intern year and beyond consider to be the top five list of the most important things to do before starting the demanding year of PGY1?

My list would be the following:

1. Relax and enjoy what's left of the easiest year of my career - 4th year student.

2. Get pre-approved for a home mortgage (P.S. if any of you have good lenders in mind, please let me know - I'd like to find a new house the weekend after match day)

3. Catch up with friends I've let go by the wayside.

4. Spend 1 day a week in the ED near my home to get the "feel" for medicine again (fourth year has been a joke thus far).

5. Do something to keep my clinical skills fairly sharp and prepare to take Step III after the Inservice exam in February 2005 (again, this would be advice I need - would you recommend studying for Step III in the month and a half between graduation and Residency?).

I would be interested to hear what y'all suggest.

P.S. This may be my very relaxed persona at the time speaking, but I do want to give a shout out to everyone that has made this forum so interesting and helpful throughout the year - my words of thanks are innumerable.

 

[pinbor1]

I'd go with the first three. The other 2 won't make too much of a difference IMHO.

Yeah, I forgot a crap load of my clinical skills, but the biggest adjustment to intern year was just getting used to being the new responsibility.

I spent my summer traveling, reuniting with friends, and deciding last second to by a home. I'm just now closing on a home. In terms of mortgages check out FHA or other affordable access loans. When it comes to looking at homes atleast in chicago, their are subsidized units (discounted prices and/or grants for new home buyers) in some pretty nice buildings. Try looking at your matching cities dept of housing website there are some nice hidden deals.

Enjoy fourth year and good luck with the match.

a consciously incompetent intern

pinbor1

 

[DrQuinn]

Agree with Pinbor. Do not by any means tackle issues 4 and 5. Enjoy the last few months of fourth year. Hang out with your significant other, drink lots of beer, test drive new cars, play video games, gain some weight, spend some money, go shopping, catch up on movies, surf SDN, troll the pre-osteopathic forums, etc. If ANYTHING (and if your program doesn't do it), get ACLS re-certified... but most hospitals will do that for their interns.

Q, DO

 

[Sessamoid]

Don't study for Step III. Complete waste of time. Drink heavily and have lots of fun. Take a trip somewhere if you have the inclination and cash.

 

[kungfufishing]

How about a bunch of 2 day trips, all over the country, usually free dinner one night and a free lunch the next?

 

[Chris_Topher]

Video games, travel, cold beverage, repeat.

 

[NinerNiner999]

Would you guys think there is any benefit to Taking Step III early? Would scores matter? I was thinking I could take Step III early and apply for my license and DEA clearance to start moonlighting early - if possible - wherever I match. Any thoughts?

Thanks for the info guys. P.S. quinn and Sessamoid - I've been working on the 12oz curls, killing tons of Nazis on Medal of Honor, and at time, the room spins when I go to bed...

 

[sweetfynesse]

play, play, play....have as much fun as you possibly can, and dont forget to eat.

i went to the Yucatan for a month and searched out Mayan Ruins alone.

Then, I just visited friends (actually no different the rest of my fourth year).

do not study a darn thing. its a total waste, and no one expects you to know everything when u start anyway.

 

[genes]

Hey niner,

I'm a third year in a near-constant state of paranoia and fatigue. Your post has shattered my idyllic view of the second half of 4th year! I didn't even know there were people studying for Step III before internship.

Next year at this time, I was planning on stocking up on useful electives in a low-stress, learning-for-learning's sake kind of way: Maybe a tox rotation, ortho, ICU... Are you doing anything along these lines?

What is this mortgage stuff? I just want a subsidized apartment in a big city. Programs do that, right?

Also, I'm wondering if you meant 'unconscionably incompetent' instead of 'unconsciously incompetent' -- though both reaffirm the saying: don't code in July. 😀

genes

 

[iwakuni_doc]

Niner,

Most states will require you to have completed your intern year prior to getting an unrestricted license, so there's not much benefit there for taking Step III early.

As an aside - don't sweat studying for Step III whenever you do take it.

 

[NinerNiner999]

Believe me - your idyllics view of fourth year still holds tru - I'm so used to doing absolutely nothing that I need to do SOMETHING to keep me busy - ergo Step III😀

Iwakuni - Thanks for the heads up - I think I'm gonna get the band back together - screw Step III.

 

[Chris_Topher]

Yup, it was a shock to the system to go from 4th year to internship.

"You want me to come in at WHAT time?"

 

[roja]

Relax, Relax, Relax. I didn't do *anything* the last 6 months of my fourth year.

you will get plenty of time to work when you are an intern. Relax and just be in a good state of mind when you start. Nothing would be worse than starting residency in an already burnt out state.

 

[DrQuinn]

I drank quite a bit and become an Unreal Tournamen 2003 master. I had people telling me I was using Aimbots. I dont' even know what one is. 4th year is the best! Also take lots of pictures during your parties at graduation, becuase likely you'll never see 99% of your classmates again.

Q, DO

 

[beyond all hope]

If your program allows you to moonlight in your second year.

It can take a while for all of the license crap to get taken care of, so taking Step III early in the year may help with that. The only reason to get your license ASAP is if you can moonlight in your second year.

Otherwise, there is almost no benefit to taking Step III early. I wouldn't study for it anyway. As an EM doc your training is so broad that you learn most of what you need to know for Step III on the job.

Definately spend time with your med school buddies. As Qunn mentioned, you won't see most of them again for awhile, if ever.

 

[Sessamoid]

Originally posted by QuinnNSU
I drank quite a bit and become an Unreal Tournamen 2003 master. I had people telling me I was using Aimbots. I dont' even know what one is. 4th year is the best! Also take lots of pictures during your parties at graduation, becuase likely you'll never see 99% of your classmates again.

Q, DO

I became a total Quake III addict, became the best player in my clan. I played head-to-head against fatal1ty and only lost like 8-2 on pro-q3tourney4. If you've ever played him, you'll understand what a feat that is. It's freakish how good those professional gamers are. I was constantly accused of using aimbots, wallhacks, and illegal timenudge values.

 

[edinOH]

Make a point to get together with all your med school buddies often. During the last half of my fourth year, we all would get together at a local bar one night a week and play trivia. It turned out to be quite the party with about 15-20 of us there every week. I planned my whole week around it. You will really miss alot of them once you all are spread over hell and back next year. The above posters are correct, you likely won't ever see many of them again or for a very long time.

Just chill. I drank, fished, traveled. Sometimes I traveled, drank, fished and once I just fished, traveled, drank. You get the idea. 😀 I also slept late alot and totally blew **** off sometimes. Almost just because I knew I could get away with it.

Have a great spring.

 

[edinOH]

forgive my pottymouth, but the above **** starts with an S, not a D.

 

[Sessamoid]

Originally posted by edinOH
forgive my pottymouth, but the above **** starts with an S, not a D.

Thanks for clearing that up.

 

[Fermata]

Originally posted by Sessamoid
I became a total Quake III addict, became the best player in my clan. I played head-to-head against fatal1ty and only lost like 8-2 on pro-q3tourney4. If you've ever played him, you'll understand what a feat that is. It's freakish how good those professional gamers are. I was constantly accused of using aimbots, wallhacks, and illegal timenudge values.

I thought he only played Unreal Tournament.

Ahh well...I'd get owned by progamers.

 

[DrQuinn]

Originally posted by Sessamoid
I became a total Quake III addict, became the best player in my clan. I played head-to-head against fatal1ty and only lost like 8-2 on pro-q3tourney4. If you've ever played him, you'll understand what a feat that is. It's freakish how good those professional gamers are. I was constantly accused of using aimbots, wallhacks, and illegal timenudge values.

If indeed fatal1ty played Q3, then you are damn good. Like Fermata said I thought he only played UT2K3, but wouldnt' be surprised, as the controls are the same. You'll have to get UT2k4 (with vehicles!) and I"ll join your clan. I always got asked to join clans but never did cause they all spoke Dutch.

Q, DO

 

[Sessamoid]

Originally posted by Fermata
I thought he only played Unreal Tournament.

Ahh well...I'd get owned by progamers.

No, fat's first pro-gaming was in QIII. At his height he made over $100,000 in a year in prize money.

I still remember the first time I played him online. He was using an alias, so I had no idea who I was up against, and even if he played under fatal1ty, I probably wouldn't have believed it anyway. So we're dueling on one of the QIII maps with death fog (which takes one point away every time you fall or get knocked into it) and I'm getting my ass smoked something evil. Something like 12 to -3. (I actually did frag him a couple times, but that was far outweighed by him knocking me into the death fog.)

We got to chatting, and he was like "You're pretty good." To which I replied that I couldn't have told it by the score. By this time, I wasn't at my height in QIII but wasn't bad at all. Almost always came out first on public servers, so getting beaten this badly was a pretty unusual event for me. He kept me guessing as to his identity for a while, then reverted to his tournament handle. At first I didn't believe it, but we emailed him at a gaming site he was known to work at, and it did turn out to be him after all. He frequented our clan QIII server from time to time for a while afterwards. For all I know, he may still come by our UT servers, but I don't play the game, so I wouldn't know.

 

[EMRaiden]

My only suggestion is to avoid hospitals like the plague... you remember everything your first day back... its like falling off a bike. I hadn't seen a patient in 5 months when I did my 1st shift (July 3rd from 7p to 7a).

[As far as getting pre-qualified, I have been very happy with Bank of America, they have a great Premier banking program that you'll probably qualify for, the biggest benefit is the 100% mortgage financing.]