Fourth Year

[funfeet]

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I'm a bit confused on the 4th year. So do you do externships/clerkships? I see at Scholl that clerkships are also 3rd year, so I'm assuming the clerkships are at local hospitals/clinics (ie VA clinic). During your 4th year, are they mainly local 'externships' you do? I prefer to stay close to Chicago, even throughout residency. This is more for family life, I dont want to start a family and then have to leave the husband and the kids for months at a time.
So any advise on how the 4th year works would be helpful. Thanks

 

[Podman]

I'm a bit confused on the 4th year. So do you do externships/clerkships? I see at Scholl that clerkships are also 3rd year, so I'm assuming the clerkships are at local hospitals/clinics (ie VA clinic). During your 4th year, are they mainly local 'externships' you do? I prefer to stay close to Chicago, even throughout residency. This is more for family life, I dont want to start a family and then have to leave the husband and the kids for months at a time.
So any advise on how the 4th year works would be helpful. Thanks

funfeet,

the 4th year externships can be done anywhere across the country - this is where you visit potential residency programs. Now each school will differ in their format but the general rule of thumb is a minimum of 4 or 5 externships that are a month long. Some schools will allow more i.e. OCPM allows us to do a maximum of 6 or 7 i believe, while DMU can allow upto 7 or 8 from my understanding. The rest of the time for us ohio students we spend at the VA clinics, and huron hospital but I'm sure the other schools have a similar arrangement for their 4th years.

I should let you know that there are externships within illinois if you primarily want to stay there (family reasons) - so it shouldn't be a problem, but you are generally expected to travel around during that last year.

 

[jonwill]

I'm a bit confused on the 4th year. So do you do externships/clerkships? I see at Scholl that clerkships are also 3rd year, so I'm assuming the clerkships are at local hospitals/clinics (ie VA clinic). During your 4th year, are they mainly local 'externships' you do? I prefer to stay close to Chicago, even throughout residency. This is more for family life, I dont want to start a family and then have to leave the husband and the kids for months at a time.
So any advise on how the 4th year works would be helpful. Thanks

When considering a program, it is not only important to find out how many externships you get but how many you get before December of your 4th year. This is important because most residency interviews will be held this month. So while you will still have some valuable months of learning ahead of you, evaluating programs for possible residency placement (and them evaluating you) will be over. Thus, most people consider those months before interviews to be extremely valuable.

Don't be too afraid of leaving the family for a few months. I will have spent nearly 3 months away from my wife and kids this year. It has been difficult but they keep you very busy during your rotations. I've just chalked it up to investing in our future (and yes, I've missed them like crazy). There are some strong programs out there. Go see them!

 

[Dr. Gangrene]

So, traditionally do certain programs get you externships before December while others don't? What do you know about that? Thanks

 

[krabmas]

So, traditionally do certain programs get you externships before December while others don't? What do you know about that? Thanks

NYCPM - has at least 3 before including December, and maybe the 4th before maybe after. You are also allowed to spend senior surgery at UMDNJ or West penn making 5 externships.

DMU - you schedule your year including the 4 month core, 1 month private office, the rest is up to you.

Chicago - 1/2 class gets to start in January of 3rd year, they get about 5 externships

Temple - has 4 and only 2 are garunteed before December.

That is all I know about. NYCPM is for sure correct, the others are what I have heard from students at those schools.

 

[dpmgrad]

NYCPM - has at least 3 before including December, and maybe the 4th before maybe after. You are also allowed to spend senior surgery at UMDNJ or West penn making 5 externships.

DMU - you schedule your year including the 4 month core, 1 month private office, the rest is up to you.

Chicago - 1/2 class gets to start in January of 3rd year, they get about 5 externships

Temple - has 4 and only 2 are garunteed before December.

That is all I know about. NYCPM is for sure correct, the others are what I have heard from students at those schools.

.

 

[dpmgrad]

NYCPM - has at least 3 before including December, and maybe the 4th before maybe after. You are also allowed to spend senior surgery at UMDNJ or West penn making 5 externships.

DMU - you schedule your year including the 4 month core, 1 month private office, the rest is up to you.

Chicago - 1/2 class gets to start in January of 3rd year, they get about 5 externships

Temple - has 4 and only 2 are garunteed before December.

That is all I know about. NYCPM is for sure correct, the others are what I have heard from students at those schools.

For Temple, the number of externships that a fourth year gets to do before December is rather complicated. It really depends on where you decide to do your clinical training in the latter part of the third year and the fourth year. If you opt to do your clinical training at one of the TUSPM core training sites
(UT Health Science San Antonio, UPMC South Side, St. Vincent Catholic Medical Center in New YOrk, Denver VA, St Francis in Hartford (CT), Botsford General Hospital in Farmington Hills, Southern Arizona VA), most students will get most of their externships (if not all of it) done before December.

If the student decides to stay at TUSPM for the third and fourth year, it is based on a lottery system. As krabmas alluded to, some of the those TUSPM students may end up doing only two of the four externships before Dec. However, majority of the students will be able to do at least three externships before Dec because some of the students may opt to do their TUSPM Surgery Clinic rotation at one of the Podiatric Surgical Residency Program instead at the TUSPM Foot and Ankle Institute. The number of externships that a TUSPM student can do before Dec is constantly being addressed at school. The reason why some of the TUSPM students are not able to do all 4 externships before Dec is that some of the students may have to do some of their Orthopedic Surgery, Neurology, Infectious Disases, or Vascular Surgery rotations before Dec, in addition to the Podiatry clinics at TUSPM Foot and Ankle Institute, based on the lottery system.