Medical Student Electives?

[Dr JPH]

I posted a similar question in the Anesthesiology forum...one of the other current specialty interests I have.

I was wondering what are some beneficial electives for future surgeons to do? What areas, places, people, etc would help me in the future should I pursue surgery? What are some types of docs to get good LORs from, other than surgeons of course, for a surgery residency?

Thanks for any advice.

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[klubguts]

i would suggest you do a couple of electives in surgical areas--surg subI (in whatever interests you..i did a general service) and SICU were both great rotations for me. Other electives i did that were helpful included gas, amb. womens, and radiology. I also considered surg path and gastroenterology (couldn't force myself to do ANOTHER month of medicine). i was advised to only get LORs from surgeons for my residency apps. best of luck.

 

[doc05]

only use letters from surgeons for your apps.

 

[hcj13]

only use letters from surgeons for your apps.

my pd advised only letters from "full" professors of surgery

 

[RetractorFellow]

my pd advised only letters from "full" professors of surgery

I disagree on both points. I think it is good to use a medicine letter or something else not surgery. You don't need 4 letters saying the same thing. Surgeons take pride in being able to function in a wide variety of medical situations. Also for the full professor thing, there are many division chiefs at top institutions that are "only" associate professors and you won't go wrong getting a letter from them.

 

[avgjoe]

hey klubguts, how did amb womens help? i was planning to do it for fun, didn't realize it could actually help in surg residency (knew it would help in life when friends etc ask abt stuff)

 

[Winged Scapula]

I think any field which works closely with surgeons would be advantageous for a 4th year rotation.

This would include pretty much all those already mentioned: ICU, Trauma, Gastroenterology, Anesth, Rads or any surgical subspecialty.

I would agree that while most of your LORs should be from the highest ranking surgical faculty that know you well an LOR from another faculty member in one of the above fields, or IM would be well received. If you choose to do so, try and pick one of the rotations which is considered more cerebral or hard (ie, ICU).

 

[klubguts]

hey klubguts, how did amb womens help? i was planning to do it for fun, didn't realize it could actually help in surg residency (knew it would help in life when friends etc ask abt stuff)

avgjoe: i don't know if it helped all that much, but i feel much more comfortable with the bimanual exam (appreciating normal uterine size), using the spec, and the evaluation of breast disease. i don't want to forget the gyn organs when working up lower abdominal pain in the female patient (besides, then i can turf them off to the gyn service....just jokin'). i've really enjoyed the rotation (plus i have a required month of ambulatory care, so it's a whole lot better then medicine IMHO)...if you're lucky, you may get to go to the OR once in a while. i think it is a worthwhile experience. good luck.