NIH Clinical rotation/clerkship program question

[wrkndply]

Does anyone have any experience with the NIH clerkships? im a rising third year interested in surgery and was wondering what the benefits of this program were? (thoracic or oncology surgery) Is it a valuable addition to the residency application? Is the medicine here different than in another academic hospital?

any thoughts or personal experiences would be great!

thanks!

program i'm referring to:
http://www.cc.nih.gov/training/students/electives/programs/surgical_oncology.html

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[etudiante04]

Good question. NIH is an ACGME place, so, to do an elective there would be an opportunity to work with residents, fellows, and attendings. Many surgical oncology attendings say they did their "fellowship" at the NIH, after residency, so it must be on par with other academic programs. I never did an elective at NIH, but my guess is that one difference is that the application process and cost is free for all applicants; another difference is that most of the patients you follow are on a research protocol. You have full clinical responsibilities and followup as in other hospitals, but the ones at NIH are research patients, I believe. There is likely more research stuff built into the elective, whereas, research at other academic centers is not required. For those who learn well with research in clinical medicine, it may be a great opportunity for a different learning experience. It could also be an opportunity for a letter of recommendation.

If you or anyone you know ends up doing such an elective, keep us all informed!

 

[wrkndply]

Good question. NIH is an ACGME place, so, to do an elective there would be an opportunity to work with residents, fellows, and attendings. Many surgical oncology attendings say they did their "fellowship" at the NIH, after residency, so it must be on par with other academic programs. I never did an elective at NIH, but my guess is that one difference is that the application process and cost is free for all applicants; another difference is that most of the patients you follow are on a research protocol. You have full clinical responsibilities and followup as in other hospitals, but the ones at NIH are research patients, I believe. There is likely more research stuff built into the elective, whereas, research at other academic centers is not required. For those who learn well with research in clinical medicine, it may be a great opportunity for a different learning experience. It could also be an opportunity for a letter of recommendation.

If you or anyone you know ends up doing such an elective, keep us all informed!

Thanks! very helpful. Will def. report back if I end up doing it,

 

[Drscopes]

Seems like a long lost thread, but anyway.

Hi,
Did you do your rotation at NIH? I really am looking into it. Any reviews would be highly valued.