PALS course as a third year?

[mochamuffins]

Hello,
I was wondering what people thought of taking a PALS course as a third year medical student ( soon to be fourth year). Or is this something I should wait to do when I am in residency ( and have more knowkledge). I will be doing a pediatric subI in September and dont know if it is necessary or looks good for residency application. I am currently considering med-peds vs. family practice and maybe even ER. Any suggestions would be really appreciated.

mm

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[Freibi]

I don`t think doing a PALS course now is very useful for your CV or residency application. Many programs include these courses in orientation for all new interns anyway. However, if you anticipate being a first responder and alone with a crashing patient for a little while, it might be good to take such a course, so you know a little more about what to do for the A, B, and C.
But remember that you have to renew your certification every 2 years (which takes a little less time than the original certification).
You can find a little more info on the AHA web site:
http://www.heart.org/

 

[Midwest Medic]

I would also wait. Most programs have it as a mandatory class during orientation. If you did take it now, you would likely forget most of it by the time you would need it as an intern since I doubt ou'll be running the codes for now.