help! what elective should I choose?

[IlianaSedai]

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I'm an MS-2, so I have a list of "top 3 specialties to check out before applying for the match" of which EM is way ahead at #1. So I just got my MS-3 schedule of rotations. I was thinking I'd do the EM elective during timeslot B, after surgery and before psych, in the list of rotations they gave me below:




Medicine
Ob-gyn
*** free timeslot A ***
Surgery
*** free timeslot B -- March of 3rd year***
Psych
*** free timeslots CDE -- May thru August of beginning of 4th year ***
and the rest not important

Basically, I want to figure out what to do in timeslot A. The two "runner-up" specialties I decided to check out were 2) gas, and 3) rads. I am more interested in anaesthesiology, but another EM gunner at my school who just matched suggested the rads rotation was good prep for both surgery and EM. On the other hand, if I take an anaesthesiology rotation, that would give me ample time to plan for away rotations in gas during time C/D/E if I ended up deciding I wanted to apply for a gas residency instead. Currently I'm thinking I'd like to do Away rotation in EM during C/D/E.

Does it really help to rotate in rads first, or would it be okay to rotate in anaesthesiology to check it out and (hope to) eliminate it from the list of possible-things-I-can-do-when-I-grow-up?

 

[basementbeastie]

i can't see that it matters when you do your radiology and/or anesthesiology rotation. i would think that you would be well served by having rotated through the core rotations first before EM. i, of course, did not have elective time until fourth year and therefore did my EM time after third year. hope that helps.

 

[DrQuinn]

IMHO, I would do anesthesia then. Not only to give you an idea of what its like (so you can decide if its for you) but it will also prepare you for your surgery rotatoin, often cited as one of the hardest rotations for students. That way you'll be able to see how the OR works and see the "etiquette" inside the OR.

Q, DO

 

[basementbeastie]

good point quinn....best to learn how to NOT violate the sterile field earlier rather than later.....also, the surgery attendings won't be busting your gonads nearly as hard as when you are the M3 human retractor with arms and back of pure steel.

 

[IlianaSedai]

i would think that you would be well served by having rotated through the core rotations first before EM. i, of course, did not have elective time until fourth year and therefore did my EM time after third year.

Well, what I've listed above is pretty much all the elective time I got up until January of 4th year (interview season). From September through the end of December of 4th year they put me into remaining cores -- peds and family med.

Thanks for the advice, guys. 👍

 

[joaquin13]

any other suggestions on which electives we should do before EM rotations? I wnat to be best prepared....other than core rotations of course. What do you guys think of: anesthesiology (practice intubations), trauma? (but i hate surgery), and peds ED? Also...any other suggestions?