JA14R said:
I want to throw out a question regarding the difference in Preceptor Based and Hospital based rotation experience. What are the pros/cons?
The potential advantages of preceptor based is that you have no res's/fellows to compete with interms of procedures, etc., and that the person you are working with knows more (in theory) as an attg.
The advantage of hospital based, assuming there is a training program, is that there is usually a lot of didactics designed for interns/res's that you participate in. There is also the daily structure of rounding, presenting your pt's, etc. that you need to learn. Basically, you learn how things will work when you are yourself an intern. Attendings usually have limited time and I know from my own experience and classmates that if your hospital rotations are with an attending (private service) instead of a teaching service, you spend a lot of time on your own, which is totally fruitless for a 3rd year. Things also tended to be less formal when 1:1 with an attg, which was nice at the time, but not good preparation.
I feel that a student is most likely to get the best experience rotating at a teaching program/hospital based. Yes, there are exceptions (if you have a bad resident, etc.), but on balance, as a student you are really training to be an intern first, you'll learn how to be an attg. as a senior resident.
If I had not done some elective, rigorous rotations as a 4th year at large allopathic hospitals I would have been screwed for intern year. My 3rd year, 'required', rotations (many of which were me one-on-one with an attg) would have left me poorly prepared.
