MS3 AMA

[agedwhitecheddar]

Bored on an easy block and figured id answer some questions now that I've gone through the best and worst of it all

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Wayfinder]

Hi, I have some random questions if you are free and willing to answer!
-How did you balance step 1 studying with the rest of the curriculum?
-Do you feel you are personally succeeding in making sure you have some of a life outside of medical school? Pursuing hobbies, sleeping, relationships, etc.
-When do you think it the best time to do research in medical school (I realize a lot of this can be based on which school you go to).
-Do your medical school loans/scholarships cover the money needed to travel for residency interviews? Do they cover the expenses if you wanted to do rotations in your third or fourth year, outside of the region of your school? Have you saved money to cover moving expenses after medical school, or are there loans for that?
-Do you feel like you have time to still be part of the community and do community service and other fulfilling work?
-What did you end up doing over your summer breaks?
- Are you happy?
Thanks in advance for any answers you might have!

 

[drtribbiani]

Say I wanna be an outright gunner and only shoot for pediatric cardiothoracoendocrinoneurosurgery. Would this mean that any research I do in med school be only related to the field of pediatric cardiothoracoendocrinoneurosurgery, or would I also be able to pursue research in more plebeian specialties such as just normal cardiology, or sports med, etc?

 

[DMPP123]

How many weeks did your school give you for Step 1 studying? The school where I will be matriculating only gives 4 weeks and that makes me a little nervous (I’ll be their third class so their first class won’t be taking Step until later this year).

 

[puahate]

In rotations how hard is it to not mess up? Like when you are in lab and you do stuff without realizing you are messing up until the post-doc or grad student tells you.

Is it is awkward at times and you feel like whatever you do you are messing up or is it pretty easy to be successful in rotation if you just study stuff beforehand?

I felt like even after research protocols in lab during the time to do stuff felt way more different. Is it like that in clinical rotations?

 

[bananafish94]

In rotations how hard is it to not mess up?

Define mess up. It's not hard to meet the baseline requirements (e.g., be punctual, interested, enthusiastic, faithfully perform your responsibilities). It is hard to excel or stand out in a meaningful way. But at the end of the day I think if you can put forth a good faith effort, be pleasant to work with, and demonstrate genuine interest, that's half the battle.

Is it is awkward at times and you feel like whatever you do you are messing up or is it pretty easy to be successful in rotation if you just study stuff beforehand?

It is often awkward. Your role is frequently poorly defined and you can feel like you're getting in the way and bothering people more than anything else. Being "successful" is complicated. It goes beyond just answering questions correctly. But in terms of studying, doing all of the UWorld/review stuff that you're supposed to do for the shelf should basically ensure that you have a baseline level of knowledge to operate at the level of an M3.

Especially at the beginning, I definitely felt like I was messing up all the time. Sometimes residents will ask you to do something very simple (example: go get X object from Y location) and you know neither what X is or where Y is. So a lot of the time you can feel like you're scrambling to learn things that everyone else considers beyond easy and you can feel stupid. Thankfully, that gets a lot better as the year goes on and you gain experience.

I felt like even after research protocols in lab during the time to do stuff felt way more different. Is it like that in clinical rotations?

In a sense, yes. You realize that very few patients come in with a "perfect" unambiguous presentation like a UWorld question, and that it's not as simple to develop a crisp, clean diagnosis like you can do on exams. Something I've heard my attendings repeat is that patients rarely "read the textbook."

 

[ciestar]

How many weeks did your school give you for Step 1 studying? The school where I will be matriculating only gives 4 weeks and that makes me a little nervous (I’ll be their third class so their first class won’t be taking Step until later this year).

Im not the OP but my school gave 6

 

[puahate]

Define mess up. It's not hard to meet the baseline requirements (e.g., be punctual, interested, enthusiastic, faithfully perform your responsibilities). It is hard to excel or stand out in a meaningful way. But at the end of the day I think if you can put forth a good faith effort, be pleasant to work with, and demonstrate genuine interest, that's half the battle.


It is often awkward. Your role is frequently poorly defined and you can feel like you're getting in the way and bothering people more than anything else. Being "successful" is complicated. It goes beyond just answering questions correctly. But in terms of studying, doing all of the UWorld/review stuff that you're supposed to do for the shelf should basically ensure that you have a baseline level of knowledge to operate at the level of an M3.

Especially at the beginning, I definitely felt like I was messing up all the time. Sometimes residents will ask you to do something very simple (example: go get X object from Y location) and you know neither what X is or where Y is. So a lot of the time you can feel like you're scrambling to learn things that everyone else considers beyond easy and you can feel stupid. Thankfully, that gets a lot better as the year goes on and you gain experience.


In a sense, yes. You realize that very few patients come in with a "perfect" unambiguous presentation like a UWorld question, and that it's not as simple to develop a crisp, clean diagnosis like you can do on exams. Something I've heard my attendings repeat is that patients rarely "read the textbook."

This is one of the aspects that worry me. Like before it was the academics but after studying for the MCAT and doing decent that is not the issue anymore. I feel like clinical training portion can go so many ways and can be based on multiple factors like the resident's personality or having certain rotations just not clicking with you like others might. Like there are probably different personality types that cluster in OBGYN or EM which might influence how you interact with the residents there.

 

[bananafish94]

This is one of the aspects that worry me. Like before it was the academics but after studying for the MCAT and doing decent that is not the issue anymore. I feel like clinical training portion can go so many ways and can be based on multiple factors like the resident's personality or having certain rotations just not clicking with you like others might. Like there are probably different personality types that cluster in OBGYN or EM which might influence how you interact with the residents there.

That’s the reality of it. Not just in those specialties, but in every specialty you will work with difficult people or people you just don’t get on with. But I think that’s an important skill to learn.

 

[ciestar]

This is one of the aspects that worry me. Like before it was the academics but after studying for the MCAT and doing decent that is not the issue anymore. I feel like clinical training portion can go so many ways and can be based on multiple factors like the resident's personality or having certain rotations just not clicking with you like others might. Like there are probably different personality types that cluster in OBGYN or EM which might influence how you interact with the residents there.

It definitely happens, but part of dealing with this is reading your audience and knowing the best way to interact. If they’re not into small talk, then don’t. Just be clear of their expectations and do what is asked of you.

As far as rotations clicking or not, you’re absolutely right but never appear uninterested. That will kill you in an evaluation and they can definitely tell. Act interestes, know your stuff and always ask what more you can do. If there is something on a rotation you want to see, ask. It helps make the day go by faster and maybe you’ll get to see a cool procedure in the meantime.

Third year totally sucks because of how subjective it all is. Overall it is so much better than M1 and 2.

 

[Belphegor]

How many of your classmates and friends got off the waitlist?

 

[XannyBarz]

During M3 year if I wasn't interested I didn't feign interest. I just did my work and left. Only OBGYN and Peds were butthurt about it.

 

[puahate]

During M3 year if I wasn't interested I didn't feign interest. I just did my work and left. Only OBGYN and Peds were butthurt about it.

Im afraid of this because i dont think ill like both of those at all. I feel like i can be interested in other areas but those two are the worst imo.

Doesnt help that the residents and attendings in those fields tend to be more enthusiastic about thier fiels compared to others.

 

[agedwhitecheddar]

Hi, I have some random questions if you are free and willing to answer!
-How did you balance step 1 studying with the rest of the curriculum?
-Do you feel you are personally succeeding in making sure you have some of a life outside of medical school? Pursuing hobbies, sleeping, relationships, etc.
-When do you think it the best time to do research in medical school (I realize a lot of this can be based on which school you go to).
-Do your medical school loans/scholarships cover the money needed to travel for residency interviews? Do they cover the expenses if you wanted to do rotations in your third or fourth year, outside of the region of your school? Have you saved money to cover moving expenses after medical school, or are there loans for that?
-Do you feel like you have time to still be part of the community and do community service and other fulfilling work?
-What did you end up doing over your summer breaks?
- Are you happy?
Thanks in advance for any answers you might have!

1. luckily my school was P/F with less PBL type things during 2nd year so I pretty much stopped going to class during 2nd year and focused on step with the few weeks leading up to the exams as time to focus on school material. Thought that was huge in terms of step prep

2. You really have to make an effort to have a life outside of school, especially during step season. For me it was important, so i set hard goals for myself on what i wanted to accomplish but also HARD stops on when i wanted to be done studying for the day which allowed me to relax and do what i wanted to do for at least a few hours every day. Super important that you do that with yourself because you can always convince yourself to study more.

3. Def depends on your school but get started during your first summer and then complete projects and find more as you go if you developed a good relationship with your research mentor. I found time to do research during the school years (Except for during step season) and its def possible during 3rd year as well. You just have to make time for it in lieu of a little extra free time.

4. Haven't done aways or interviews yet but yes money will be a little tight for these things but you have to think of it as an investment for your career.

5. I didnt do too much community service work but there def was opps at my school to do so if that was something you wanted. Again it will be time that you need to carve out for yourself.

6. Summer break was the golden time of med school. Did some research during the day and really used the free time to explore my city, see friends, and do everything i enjoyed. Truly one of the brightest periods of my life and i recommend you definetly do something productive but also travel/have fun since there won't be a break like that ever again

7. Extremely happy. Don't get me wrong, med school has tried me more than i could have ever imagined. There have been plenty of times where ive hit my lowest of lows and felt like it wasn't worth it. But those times pass and its important to have a good social support during those times. However, ive also had the highest of highs during med school, both professionally in the clinic and socially with the great social group ive encountered. Figuring out after the CONSTANT STUDYING of 1st and 2nd years that you truly love clinical medicine and have found out what you decided years ago is exactly what you want to do is one of the best feelings in the world. Don't get bogged down by the grind of pre-clinical because as much as the BS of 3rd year sucks, there are moments where you hopefully will truly figure out that this is what you wanted to do and that makes things so much easier.

 

[agedwhitecheddar]

How many weeks did your school give you for Step 1 studying? The school where I will be matriculating only gives 4 weeks and that makes me a little nervous (I’ll be their third class so their first class won’t be taking Step until later this year).

We had 5 weeks and that was more than enough

 

[agedwhitecheddar]

In rotations how hard is it to not mess up? Like when you are in lab and you do stuff without realizing you are messing up until the post-doc or grad student tells you.

Is it is awkward at times and you feel like whatever you do you are messing up or is it pretty easy to be successful in rotation if you just study stuff beforehand?

I felt like even after research protocols in lab during the time to do stuff felt way more different. Is it like that in clinical rotations?

So tbh you're gonna 'mess up' in rotations every day, if by messing up you mean fumbling on a word during a presentation or getting a pimp question wrong on surgery. But the beauty of it is that your mess-ups are expected and nobody is really gonna care as long as you're showing a lot of interest, working hard to help your team, and showing improvement by reading every day.

The key to 3rd year is honestly just being sociable/ well-liked by your residents. Be a normal human who can small talk with people and show them that you're there to learn but also to help them out. Don't be the guy/girl that gets pissy if the resident asks you to do a med rec or get something for a patient. I know you'll feel like this isn't what you studied so much for but anything you do to make their lives easier is one huge point in your book. They'll be much more likely to teach you if so and evaluate you better.

The knowledge component comes as you progress through 3rd year and builds on itself, you'll be surprised by the end of the year how much you've learned and don't realize. I remember having cheat sheets for pt histories, differentials, etc. and now its become second nature. Also you'll realize how little you know haha. But the key to getting good evals and 'not messing up' is putting on a good attitude every day and helping your team. What goes with that is making sure to follow your patients well and showing improvement in your reasoning and presenting skills. Also studying hard for the shelf goes a long way for both being in the hospital and for your overall grade.

 

[agedwhitecheddar]

Im afraid of this because i dont think ill like both of those at all. I feel like i can be interested in other areas but those two are the worst imo.

Doesnt help that the residents and attendings in those fields tend to be more enthusiastic about thier fiels compared to others.

Even if u have no interest in the fields, just grapple on to one aspect of your day to day that you do like. For ex. in OBGYN maybe you liked the procedural side of things. Just show interest in those aspects, ask educated questions, and that'll show interest and also keep you from dreading your day every day. Its tough but its necessary because you'll be surprised how easy it is for people to tell you dgaf at all about a rotation and that = bad evals, even if you're the smartest person in the world

 

[clifbars98]

Hello agedwhitecheddar, I know this may be a long shot since this forum is from a month ago...but I was wondering if I could DM you to ask for some advice. I'm currently a junior. Thank you!

 

[ciestar]

Hello agedwhitecheddar, I know this may be a long shot since this forum is from a month ago...but I was wondering if I could DM you to ask for some advice. I'm currently a junior. Thank you!

Im also an M3 so feel free to message me if OP doesnt respond!

 

[clifbars98]

@ciestar Hello, thanks so much! I just messaged you.

 

[mvenus929]

During M3 year if I wasn't interested I didn't feign interest. I just did my work and left. Only OBGYN and Peds were butthurt about it.

Im afraid of this because i dont think ill like both of those at all. I feel like i can be interested in other areas but those two are the worst imo.

Doesnt help that the residents and attendings in those fields tend to be more enthusiastic about thier fiels compared to others.

I know Peds isn’t for everyone and I don’t expect everyone to like it. However, there is absolutely things that you can learn even in fields you aren’t interested in that will benefit you in your career. I had zero interest in surgery. Zero. But there’s plenty to learn about pain management and constipation and literally the medical management of surgical patients that was helpful when actually seeing patients who recently went through a procedure.

Even if you’re going into IM and never plan to take care of a child in your career, we are getting pretty damn good at keeping kids with bad stuff alive through adulthood, so chances are, you’ll see something that used to be defined as a childhood illness. CF, Type 1 Diabetes, CP... just to name a few.

That’s why we tell you to be interested. If you’re completely shut off from the specialty, you aren’t going to learn because people aren’t going to want to waste time on teaching someone who isn’t interested. Find something that interests you about the specialty and ask your residents to help you find patients that are interesting.