Fourth year electives for FP

[tatabox80]

Hi there,
I'm still figuring out what I want to do, but was curious, what would be good 4th year electives for someone going into fp? Thanks

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[SmittySC]

Hi there,
I'm still figuring out what I want to do, but was curious, what would be good 4th year electives for someone going into fp? Thanks

You don't have to kill yourself with your 4th year electives. Pick electives that interest you. You are going to have to work very hard as an intern so relax a little and enjoy your fourth year. Your 4th year electives are not going to give you much of an advatage in residency. Besides, once you start your residency you will be suprised by how much you actually know. Furthermore, you are likely to learn more on a rotation that interests you than one you are taking because you feel like you have to. Best of luck in during your fourth year and enjoy it.

 

[j802002]

Im planning...electives in adolescent psychiatry, a peds sub I, psychosocial medicine and refugee health. Anyone have comments?

 

[ramonaquimby]

Im planning...electives in adolescent psychiatry, a peds sub I, psychosocial medicine and refugee health. Anyone have comments?

how 'bout a good solid month of derm? (esp pediatric derm)

 

[lowbudget]

Here's what I did and I'm glad I did it.
1) 2 weeks in ICU (with intubations in Anesthesia)
2) 1 week of OB x2
3) 1 week of Pedi x2
4) 2 weeks of Medicine
5) 2 weeks of Sports Med
6) 4 weeks of Derm
7) 4 weeks of Child Psych
8) 4 weeks of FM clinic/urgent care in Alaska
9) 4 weeks of Spanish abroad

I'm glad I did ICU and OB. Those are 2 where crap can hit the fan real fast and it's nice having some familiarity, even if it's just a week, so that you're not completely lost and waiting for someone to "teach" you during intern year. Child/adol psych is a good one, if you want more gym time. Pedi and Med were good as refreshers. Sports med was AWESOME because you don't experience it as a 3rd year, definitely cinched primary care for me. I worked 9-5 for Derm and saw mad loads of patients. This is one where you can't really learn it in a book. Plus, mine was in a private high-end clinic, so it gave me some ideas on how I may shape my practice in the future. And, of course, traveling is always fun.

None of my 4th year electives were hard, by the way. I never took call, never worked weekends.

 

[sophiejane]

Here's what I did and I'm glad I did it.
1) 2 weeks in ICU (with intubations in Anesthesia)
2) 1 week of OB x2
3) 1 week of Pedi x2
4) 2 weeks of Medicine
5) 2 weeks of Sports Med
6) 4 weeks of Derm
7) 4 weeks of Child Psych
8) 4 weeks of FM clinic/urgent care in Alaska
9) 4 weeks of Spanish abroad

Where did you fit in your Sub-I's and looking at different programs? Or were some of those done at pgms you were looking at?

My problem is that I want to rotate at my top 5 choices, but 3 of them are unopposed programs that only offer rotations in family med. Even if I do 2 weeks at each, that's a lot of family for precious elective time.

 

[lowbudget]

1 mo away FM elective (unopposed): 2 wk ICU, 1 wk Pedi, 1 wk OB
1 mo away FM elective (unopposed): 2 wk Med in am with 2 wk Sports Med in pm, 1 wk Pedi (nursery and wards in am, clinic in PM), 1 wk OB
1 mo required outpatient: 4 wk Derm
1 mo Sub-I (home school 2nd HALF): Child/Adol Psych, out by noon (suckers)

For me, the plan was to bust my ass at away rotations at the capacity of a sub-I, but because they are technically electives, there are no requirements, which enabled me to ask the program if it was ok to do a rotating elective of my choice. Medicine rounds are typically done by noon conference anyways, so I just did Sports med in the PM. The host program didn't care because they saw me as checking out the program anyways and since this IS family med, they LOVED it that I wanted to rotate through several services. So I did those 2 months during Aug and Oct in my 4th year which made my interviews fresh. The other advantage in doing a rotating elective is that within one month, you can single-handedly work with virtually every resident in the program, which was a plus for me in getting to know them as people and as co-workers.

And then I chose a Sub I that I was interested in, which just so happens to be one of the easier sub I's to do. At my school, Sub-I's are really regulated and don't have the flexibility in design as electives are.

If you ask your FM advisors, even they will tell you, don't do 4 weeks of FM clinic. You'll be bored off your butt. Ask to do a rotating elective, and if they've never done it before, frame it in a way that you want to experience a broad array of things/settings so you get a chance to see what the residents go through, and/or you want to do things you've never experienced before as a 3rd year (like actually deliver a baby, do ICU, for example). Trust me, the program director/coordinator will appreciate your maturity.

Personally, I think 5 away rotations in FM is way too much. It's not hard AT ALL to get into FM, and virtually everybody gets their 1st choice anyways. 0-2 at MOST, 3 if you are really hard pressed for a decision.

Remember, this IS only FM. I mean, even if you're a mildly-moderately ******ed, you'll get a spot. So the presumption going into an interview is that you'll get in. From a programs point of view, an applicant is in unless they prove themselves to be out. From an applicant's point of view, a program is out until they prove themselves to be in. That said, we had a 4th year come through and was severely-morbidly ******ed... probably did themselves a disservice by rotating with us. It happens, especially with Fourth Year Diuresis and Atrophy Syndrome. So pick 1-2 months to work real hard, and flip it into neutral and slide your way to graduation!