How do I impress attending with another student on the same service?

[RunWithTheWolves]

Hey everyone,

M3 here. Started a new rotation in a specialty that I think is what I want to pursue a residency in. I was going to ask for a LOR at the end of the rotation, given that I would do my best at impressing the attending. However, unexpectedly found out today that a M4 from another school (who is intending on matching into a different specialty) is on the same service and has the same schedule as I do.

I obviously want to impress my attending in order to obtain a strong LOR, but how do I do so without coming off as a gunner to the other student?

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[sunealoneal]

It's not a competition man. Merely being genuinely interested in the field will do most of the work for you.

 

[byaaaaaaah23]

Be interested, go home and read about today's and tomorrow's patients, never answer questions asked of the other student, never go out of your way to look better than the other student, always be kind and respectful of everyone including other students, basically just strive to be a team player. Looks way better than trying to show off or embarrass someone else. If you're in clinic together, decide how you'll distribute patients at the beginning (ie, decide which residents you'll work with or that you'll alternate patients, etc). At this point in the year an M4 going into another field will be happy to sit back and let you do most of the work anyway.

 

[SunsFun]

It's not a competition man. Merely being genuinely interested in the field will do most of the work for you.

This. At the end of your shift tell the attending that you are interested and will be applying next year. See if he/she has any advice for you. If the field is competitive, ask if they are working on research project that you could help with.


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[Crayola227]

it you're sure they're not a gunner, just tell them you're interested too and see how you can work together to make each other look as good as possible

medicine is best practiced as a team sport, for realz

 

[Redpancreas]

Hey everyone,

M3 here. Started a new rotation in a specialty that I think is what I want to pursue a residency in. I was going to ask for a LOR at the end of the rotation, given that I would do my best at impressing the attending. However, unexpectedly found out today that a M4 from another school (who is intending on matching into a different specialty) is on the same service and has the same schedule as I do.

I obviously want to impress my attending in order to obtain a strong LOR, but how do I do so without coming off as a gunner to the other student?

You can't.
Just work hard and if you have to work with another person, be genuine with them and try to develop a friendship. If they're gunner (doubt it, IM SubIs have too much on their mind and other 4th years on elective are checked out) just try and avoid them.

There's no way to deliberately impress an attending. You may get lucky and answer questions right but every attending thinks differently and wants different things. Your best bet is to master the content via UWorld and read throughly about what the algorithms in place would be in regards to your patient and why. Then, be very meticulous in your notes (this impress the resident more, but still do it, it may pay off one day).

For your attending, pay very close attention to their style. Some follow the Stanford model and want it to be HPI, ROS, PMH, etc. but some will get upset if you wait until surgical history to talk about their transplant.

Lastly if you attending is a nice man or woman, just tell them you will be applying next year and ask for a letter at the end. Don't worry about if you slipped up and your performance wasn't the best.

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[operaman]

1) MS3s and MS4s are generally at very different places clinically. Nobody expects the same of each and you will likely find yourselves taking different roles on the team. Your role will be a little more that of a learner while the Sub-I is both learning and taking on some of the work of being an intern. Don't even worry about them from a competition standpoint. They are being evaluated on wholly different level.

2) Be kind to everyone, especially people going into your field. If it's a small field, even more so. Unbeknownst to me at the time, I actually had a prior visiting Sub-I at my school help me get an interview at his program because we had built a good rapport when I was a third year. The flip side is also true, and rest assured that programs you apply to will do their share of recon and talk to people who knew you as fellow students. I've done it myself and also had people call or text me asking the same. The world is too small sometimes.

3) Great students manage to stand out regardless of their level. I had a newly-minted 3rd year on her first clerkship rotate on my service earlier this year and she was awesome, helpful, well-read, interested, great attitude and work ethic, and we all hope she'll decide to pursue our field.

Just work on being awesome and forget about how awesome someone else is.