Pre-Med wondering how clerkships work.

[biosailgirl]

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Hey,
I'm in the process of applying to med schools right now. I've been trying to understand how the third and fourth year curriculum work at each school, in respect to location, and I can't seem to find the answer. I was told that each clerkship is in a different city in your state or a different state entirely and which require you to move around every 6-12 weeks depending on your program. I'm worried a little bit about this because I'm married and I don't like the idea of not being with my husband for two years. Is all this true, or can you do all your rotations in clerkships close to the town you are attending medical school? What are the disadvantages of doing this? Can someone explain to me how 3rd and 4th year work in respect to location, moving, marriage, anything else, etc.?
Thank you!

 

[Carm]

I am not sure how all schools work (Caribbean etc) but for the most part you will stay in the location of your school. There are a couple exceptions to this rule. Some schools have more than one third and fourth year campus for clinicals. You may spend the first two years in one location (Kansas City) and then your third year half of the class will stay in KC while a portion of the class will spend the next two years in Wichita or Salina. This is the way a lot of schools whose home hospital cannot support all of the students. You should know either be fore school starts or early in first year what campus you will be assigned to. At my school, they gave preference to married students to stay at the same campus for all four years. There are also plenty of schools out there where all four years are at the same location for all students. This should not be too hard to find at the school you are applying website. As far as having to switch for every rotation, that will not be the case for a US medical school. Someone more familiar with the Caribbean schools may shed more light on how 3rd and 4th year rotations work there. Many students chose to rotate at other locations their fourth year during elective time just to get more exposure, but you could easily spend the entire year at you home campus if you desired. Do some research on the schools you are applying to. You will want to know about the specifics before you interview. You may be asked some crazy things.

 

[Seaglass]

Actually, a lot of the DO students I know had to rotate to a lot of different hospitals in a lot of different places. Some I know were able to rotate at only 1 or 2 hospitals. Most MD programs have you rotate at 1-2 hospitals close to the home program.

 

[Blade28]

Yeah, it varies according to the particular med school. We rotated around a group of 4-5 total hospitals; most of us ended up doing our rotations at 2 or 3 of them, for the entire year.

Edit: They were all in the city.