PGY4 elective time

[warpedlobster]

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Hi All,
I am trying to compare programs that I've interviewed at and I was wondering how much stock I should put in the total elective months offered in the PGY4 yr. I realize that flexibility can be put in residency in other spots, but I am a bit concerned about a program only having a few months put aside for electives in the senior year. I'm feeling a bit restrained by that, but does that really even matter?

Thanks

lobster

 

[twright]

Hi All,
I am trying to compare programs that I've interviewed at and I was wondering how much stock I should put in the total elective months offered in the PGY4 yr. I realize that flexibility can be put in residency in other spots, but I am a bit concerned about a program only having a few months put aside for electives in the senior year. I'm feeling a bit restrained by that, but does that really even matter?

Thanks

lobster

For psychiatry, only having a few months of elective time during the senior year is more structured than most. At many of the programs where I interviewed, pretty much the entire PGY4 year was free form (subject to specific requirements, like therapy cases and what not). Some of them, like UW and Duke, were even open to the idea of using a large portion of your elective for overseas rotations.

I recall Johns Hopkins being the most restrictive, i.e., only 6 months of elective time during the PGY4 year or something like that.

Some people like structure, and some people like having wide-open elective time. Probably depends a lot on your tastes.

 

[warpedlobster]

Thanks for your response. My home program is even more restrictive, with less than 4 months of elective time. This is very different than other programs which have offered to create new elective experiences and even tailor my IM/FM/Peds rotations to match my interests while still fitting requirements for residency. It is very disheartening because I love my home program otherwise, but this could be a deal-breaker. Has anyone else run into this restrictiveness, and has it mattered as much to them? My interests in psychiatry don't have a fellowship to match with it, so no flexibility during residency means no exposure to what my specific interest truly is.

lobster

 

[nancysinatra]

Be careful when you ask programs about "electives." My program will tell you the whole 4th year is "electives." What they mean is, they will ask you for your "preference" as far as which clinical-needs mandated site they are going to slot you into. The program's financially driven clinical needs will outweigh your personal preferences 100% of the time. The chief residents and the residents who go on the recruitment dinners aren't going to tell you that.

Some programs apparently don't entirely "depend" on residents to "run" their services, and at those programs, you may actually be able to do some true electives. But that's not my program.

From what I can tell of interviewees, they ask about intern year, and that's about it.

 

[Bartelby]

From what I can tell of interviewees, they ask about intern year, and that's about it.

Agreed, as a current intern I don't know much about our fourth year. Having a lot of elective time is nice, but give or take a few months wouldn't be a deal-breaker for me. The above point about what "elective" really means is an important one as well. If the rest of the curriculum is solid I wouldn't be swayed too much by the specifics of fourth year.

 

[billypilgrim37]

From what I can tell of interviewees, they ask about intern year, and that's about it.

Just like about 40% of what we based our med school decision on was the M1 curriculum!

 

[nancysinatra]

Agreed, as a current intern I don't know much about our fourth year. Having a lot of elective time is nice, but give or take a few months wouldn't be a deal-breaker for me. The above point about what "elective" really means is an important one as well. If the rest of the curriculum is solid I wouldn't be swayed too much by the specifics of fourth year.

You might not feel that way in three years.

 

[splik]

From what I can tell of interviewees, they ask about intern year, and that's about it.

Yeah, and I ranked programs based (at least part) on those who had elective time during intern year! I have 1 month elective time this year, 2.5months next, 20% FTE PGY-3 year and 80% FTE elective time in fourth year! We are allowed to do overseas electives from PGY-1 too...

It is not necessarily bad to be at a program which is very structured if they give you exposure to all sorts of different psychopathology (e.g. Hopkins where you probably get the broadest psychopathological exposure of anywhere) compared with a program where the PGY-4s are basically service monkeys and the requirements do not make a meaningful contribution to the training.

 

[nancysinatra]

just like about 40% of what we based our med school decision on was the m1 curriculum!

90%!!!

 

[billypilgrim37]

90%!!!

And actually, not even the M1 curriculum, but rather just the gross anatomy curriculum!