How do you explain 3rd year rotation to non-medical people?

[KnuxNole]

Whenever I tell them I'm a medical school doing clinical rotations at a hospital they usually ask: So is it a job, or school, or what? Do you have classes you go to in the hospital? When I tell them I mainly follow doctors around, they sorta get it. But I do notice they might seem confused or don't get that 3rd-4rd years are non-traditional school, since they think going to rotations is like going to a college. Or going to rotations is like going to a job. Which if it was a job, people would hate me, since I take hour breakfast and lunch breaks, and watch people work instead of just working all day, because 3rd year isn't a job, residency is.

So, how do you explain rotations to people when they ask what you do? I think I'm overthinking this though

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[ChrisKnight]

I think I'm overthinking this though

This.

 

[RySerr21]

sounds like you are gettin screwed out of a good 3rd year education. I'd describe it as a job except instead of making money you are losing it at a rapid a pace.

 

[DrBowtie]

Just tell them its like an internship. (and don't explain pgy-1 = internship).

 

[vicinihil]

Playing doctor.

I mean, you do your physical exams after real doctors. You write notes that dont make it into the chart and if it does, it doesn't get read. Can't really order any labs or tests. Make plans that are just play pretend. Pretend to hear S3's and S4's. Pt ask you questions and you have to ask that question to a real doctor and then you relay the answer.

You're playing an expensive game.

 

[2012mdc]

sounds like you are gettin screwed out of a good 3rd year education. I'd describe it as a job except instead of making money you are losing it at a rapid a pace.

No money and no true responsibility

 

[OveractiveBrain]

Whenever I tell them I'm a medical school doing clinical rotations at a hospital they usually ask: So is it a job, or school, or what? Do you have classes you go to in the hospital? When I tell them I mainly follow doctors around, they sorta get it. But I do notice they might seem confused or don't get that 3rd-4rd years are non-traditional school, since they think going to rotations is like going to a college. Or going to rotations is like going to a job. Which if it was a job, people would hate me, since I take hour breakfast and lunch breaks, and watch people work instead of just working all day, because 3rd year isn't a job, residency is.

So, how do you explain rotations to people when they ask what you do? I think I'm overthinking this though

If you're talking to people who went to college and understand what more white-collar, abstract work is, give them a job description. These people are thinking in terms of "overtime," "shifts," or "salary." Basically, how much do you work, for what do you work, and what are you supposed to be doing? You have to explain that you pay money to participate in an internship, serving under upper level residents and attendings. You have no set hours, you stay until the responsibilities are done. Your responsibilities are to ensure adequate patient care, to be the patient's advocate for all medical decisions, and to get exposure to all different specialties in medicine. This helps you not only be a well rounded physician, but also exposes you to fields of medicine you might not have considered. While didactics are part of the requirement, most of the time is spent with patients, with the medical team, and making decisions / learning medicine.

If you're talking about people who didn't go to college, tell them to think of it as an apprenticeship. You aren't in charge, but you do make the decisions through the guy who is already done. Then say there are multiple phases of apprenticeship. Medical Student, Resident, Fellow (if you want to) then Attending, the master. This clicks well with people who do trade work like HVAC, Electricity, Construction, or Truck Driving. There's a little bit of class time in trade school, then its all about hours before you are cut loose and can practice on your own. Your hour requirement is just really long, and your apprenticeship longer.

 

[ArcGurren]

Just tell them that you follow a team of doctors around in the hospital who are at various levels of training, and that you are training along with them. You have responsibilities in patient care but at a lesser capacity than the real docs. etc etc

 

[doc2beIRELAND]

just say that you're a pretty useless type of hospital decoration

 

[Mattabet]

"It's kind of like slavery, except that I'm paying to be there."

 

[MsKrispyKreme]

Playing doctor.

I mean, you do your physical exams after real doctors. You write notes that dont make it into the chart and if it does, it doesn't get read. Can't really order any labs or tests. Make plans that are just play pretend. Pretend to hear S3's and S4's. Pt ask you questions and you have to ask that question to a real doctor and then you relay the answer.

You're playing an expensive game.

Are you on an electronic system? I guess this varies from hospital to hospital and from school to school because my notes are part of the chart and are read (since they serve as the only source of info from the current service I'm on unless addendums are added by the interns/residents/attendings). I also can order labs/tests/meds/etc. Everything I do is after the team has agreed on the A/P and also has to be electronically co-signed by a senior level doc though.

I also do the physical exams first, read images, etc. Report my findings. And then the chief resident or attending double checks and/or quizzes me. What you wrote about perfectly describes the clinical portions of my M2 year though, lol.