How did you choose rotations?

[DeadCactus]

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Did you choose ones that are relevant to your career goals? Or did you go for the do all the cool stuff you won't get a chance to see post medical school route? Or some other system.

 

[Rollo]

Are you talking about electives?

I haven't picked electives yet, but I think I'll probably pick them based on the combination of career goals + personal interest. For example, around critical times (such as end of 3rd year + summer/fall of 4th year) I'll do electives in specialty that I'm applying to. Any other time, I'm going to do rotations that are interesting and things I might not get to do.

 

[nlax30]

Both. There is certainly going to be a timeframe where you'll want to do a couple audition rotations at programs you are interested in. But beyond that, I also treated it as a time to get a little experience in fields I knew I wouldn't see much of again.

 

[McGillGrad]

You usually do a couple that will help you in residency and a couple that you find interesting or that you won't be exposed to later on...such as radiology or anaesthesiology.

 

[DeadCactus]

Are you talking about electives?

Sort of. Both electives and the choices of mini-rotations within the core rotations. Maybe the latter isn't at all schools. For example, part of our surgery rotation can be done in something like orthopedics or ophthalmology.

I know I should rotate through specialties and sub-specialties I'm interested in, but I can't decide if it's better to focus on seeing the stuff I'll never see again or seeing the stuff that complements the specialty I'm interested in the best.

So if you're interested in Emergency Medicine, rotating through trauma surgery or orthopedics would seem like good ways to build your relevant knowledge base. But at the same time, when will you get another chance to be on a transplant or pediatric surgery unit?

 

[McGillGrad]

To be totally honest, go where the teaching and the house officers are the best. You learn the most when you are hands-on with H&P's and procedures.

If you hear about a program/speciality that has fantastic teaching, rotate there.

As long as you do your sub-i or rotation in the speciality of interest, the rest of your schedule should be filled with interesting stuff.

Sort of. Both electives and the choices of mini-rotations within the core rotations. Maybe the latter isn't at all schools. For example, part of our surgery rotation can be done in something like orthopedics or ophthalmology.

I know I should rotate through specialties and sub-specialties I'm interested in, but I can't decide if it's better to focus on seeing the stuff I'll never see again or seeing the stuff that complements the specialty I'm interested in the best.

So if you're interested in Emergency Medicine, rotating through trauma surgery or orthopedics would seem like good ways to build your relevant knowledge base. But at the same time, when will you get another chance to be on a transplant or pediatric surgery unit?

 

[Perrotfish]

Interested in Peds, have 7 months of electives. What I'm planning:

5 months directly related to Peds:

Peds Cards
Peds EM
Peds ID
NICU
An extra Sub-I (this makes sense if you're doing the military match)

2 months of other stuff:

2 extra weeks of EM
2 extra weeks of Radiology
1 month of Trauma

I am seriously considering switching out that NICU month for a wilderness medicine rotation or a month of sports med, thouh. I'm not sure I want long hours in my 4th year, however educational it might be. I do who just do seven months of whatever has the best hours (which basically means they don't really do anything).

 

[DeadCactus]

As a follow on question, will a rotation as a medical student even have a lasting impact on your knowledge as a physician? Will a pediatric resident really benefit from something they learned in a medical school elective or is it like taking anatomy in undergrad to prepare for medical school?

 

[Rollo]

As a follow on question, will a rotation as a medical student even have a lasting impact on your knowledge as a physician? Will a pediatric resident really benefit from something they learned in a medical school elective or is it like taking anatomy in undergrad to prepare for medical school?

That's an interesting question. Couple of the residents I know and a guest attending lecturer last week all agree that you should try and get the best education you can from all of your core rotations, no matter what specialty you go into. Apparently, they all add a good base to your overall clinical knowledge.

I still don't understand how. I guess I'll just have to find out myself.

 

[nlax30]

Yeah, you aren't going to pick up every detail or become very comfortable in managing those specific patients after just a few weeks of rotating on a particular service, but I think it's extremely valuable to have that experience.

I know on some of my "interest" rotations I saw some zebras and other extremel interesting cases that will stick with me even though it was only one case here and there.

And personally I thinks it's good to at least have a general idea of what's involved in another specialty. I'm ultimately going into cardiology, but wanted to do cadiothoracic surg month because I wanted to be familiar with a CABG and see it from surgeon's perspective. I also did neurology and radiology months because I wanted to see how they handle their "bread and butter" cases and get some experience reading films.

Most patients are probably going to have multiple medical problems and it's probably a good idea to be familiar with how the issues outside your field are generally going to be managed.

 

[ACSurgeon]

Did you choose ones that are relevant to your career goals? Or did you go for the do all the cool stuff you won't get a chance to see post medical school route? Or some other system.

I'd recommend having medicine and surgery in the middle of third year, before you're burnt out but after you've gotten comfortable with your role as a student.

If you think you want to do something competitive/highly specialized, try to make time during 3rd year to get exposed to it (derm, radiology, ophtho, etc).

Otherwise, if you think you're interested in psych/OB/peds/FM, just make sure it isn't the first or last rotation of 3rd year, and you'll be ok.

I can elaborate further if needed.

 

[ACSurgeon]

That's an interesting question. Couple of the residents I know and a guest attending lecturer last week all agree that you should try and get the best education you can from all of your core rotations, no matter what specialty you go into. Apparently, they all add a good base to your overall clinical knowledge.

I still don't understand how. I guess I'll just have to find out myself.

I kinda agree with that. You'll be surprised when a random thought occurs to you when treating a patient based on something you've seen/heard/read while on a rotatin a long time ago. I'll see how this pans out in 10 year+, but I certainly but it.