To add a few things to what the others have said:
- Talk! This is one of the things I wish I had done more on my rotations. Talk to make your attending know that you are interested. I didn't talk as much as other students on some of my rotations, and I feel like my attendings may not have known me well as a result. Even if it is something like, "I read about so and so last night, and was wondering, what does this mean?" it shows your attending you are interested in learning.
- Don't try to make fellow students look bad. Your residents and attending will see through it. You don't want to be the jackass of the team.
- If there have been labs or any other tests ordered on your patients in the morning, check the results later on in the day and report the results to your resident.
- know everything about your patients! As one of my attendings told me, "You are presenting the patient, the resident isn't." Keep good eye contact with your attending during rounds and don't look at the residents for help.
- read about your patient's conditions, if you are not sure of the disease process. The best way to learn is to read about what you see.
- Don't complain.
- have fun because third year goes by in a second!
Good luck and have fun on rotations! 🙂
