prelim-med vs. transitional

[doctor7]

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so i'm looking at a few 2-4 EM programs...which leads to this pain in the butt situation of applying for 1st year elsewhere.

for those in the know, what's the philosophical difference between prelim-med vs. transitional...and what can i expect as an intern?

thanks

 

[deleted52758]

so i'm looking at a few 2-4 EM programs...which leads to this pain in the butt situation of applying for 1st year elsewhere.

for those in the know, what's the philosophical difference between prelim-med vs. transitional...and what can i expect as an intern?

thanks[/QUOT

im in a TY now, and the big difference is the amount of workload. as a TY we have very little responsibility in the hospital. depending on which TY program you go to, you end up taking considerably less call, and your hours are less. that's an advantage or disadvantage depending on how much of a gunner your are.

the other advantage is that you get to rotate through different departments, sort of like a third year in medical school. which is good for the variety that we'll see as future ER doctors.

but by and far the reason most ER guys choose a TY year is it's MUCH easier then a prelim year. TY are much more competitve to secure a spot then a prelim year. also TY's are typically at community hospitals, while prelims can be either at a major university or a community hospital.

im so glad that im doing a TY now. i actually have a life. i may be behind a bit next year when i get started in EM, but im sure that i'll be able to catch up within the first few months.

 

[Hercules]

so i'm looking at a few 2-4 EM programs...which leads to this pain in the butt situation of applying for 1st year elsewhere.

for those in the know, what's the philosophical difference between prelim-med vs. transitional...and what can i expect as an intern?

thanks[/QUOT

im in a TY now, and the big difference is the amount of workload. as a TY we have very little responsibility in the hospital. depending on which TY program you go to, you end up taking considerably less call, and your hours are less. that's an advantage or disadvantage depending on how much of a gunner your are.

the other advantage is that you get to rotate through different departments, sort of like a third year in medical school. which is good for the variety that we'll see as future ER doctors.

but by and far the reason most ER guys choose a TY year is it's MUCH easier then a prelim year. TY are much more competitve to secure a spot then a prelim year. also TY's are typically at community hospitals, while prelims can be either at a major university or a community hospital.

im so glad that im doing a TY now. i actually have a life. i may be behind a bit next year when i get started in EM, but im sure that i'll be able to catch up within the first few months.

Ditto, except I think the TY I'm doing right now will leave me better prepared for next year than a prelim med. In my opinion, you just really don't need that many months of floor medicine if you're going into EM. My months in Gas and Rads will be of much more use to me next year than a couple of additional months of floor medicine.

 

[kungfufishing]

Ditto, except I think the TY I'm doing right now will leave me better prepared for next year than a prelim med. In my opinion, you just really don't need that many months of floor medicine if you're going into EM. My months in Gas and Rads will be of much more use to me next year than a couple of additional months of floor medicine.

What I did, and liked, was found an IM program that officially designated me a prelim, but allowed me to skip out on a few floor months and rotate on other services in addition to a couple elective months, so I ended up giving them 4 months of floor work in exchange for 8 months of more useful stuff (PICU, 2 adult ICU, ED, OB, etc). Some of this was due to my DO status(officially required rotating internship - although lots of people dont do it) , but I bet it wouldnt be too hard to arrange. One advantage of prelim is that you have more responsibility, which probably helps you "grow up" quicker.

 

[2006MD]

Do some programs prefer a prelim vs Trany? Wonder if this question may come up during interviews?

 

[dlung]

I'm in a prelim medicine program right now and I can already tell that I'm already counting down my ward months--almost half-way through. Ugg.

When you're checking out prelim programs, definitely look for how many elective months you might have. But, even if you end up somewhere you aren't so thrilled about, there'll usually be plenty of people who'll switch around their ED blocks with you--a categorical can loathe the ED as much as a prelim Emed can loathe the floors. It's even better if you're a workaholic and want to trade your floor months for the ICU. oh yeah, just say no to any place that makes you do continuity clinic as a prelim. My place advertised that they wouldn't do it, so I'm assuming some places still do that--lame.

 

[deleted52758]

Do some programs prefer a prelim vs Trany? Wonder if this question may come up during interviews?

no one cares because no one knows where they'll end up for their pgy1 year. you wont be asked.

 

[FlemishGiant]

Also it depends on the Trans program you are going for. Some are pretty cush, others are a little more Dolor-full. But I figure if I'm going to spend a year doing something, I might as well be learning/doing some pretty cool crap so that I'm better prepaired for my EM program vs just filling the days. Also I think, as stated before, you need a broader foundation to do EM than just slugging paper in on the medicine wards. You should learn how to slug papework on Peds/Obgyn/Surg too! You know, come to think of it, Intern year, be it Prelim/trans/catagorical, sucks anyway so go for location.

Suerte,
FG

 

[parmed]

here's a question:

If a program invited you to interview for both their prelim program and their transitional program on seperate days, would you go to both interviews separately? Or pick one? I assume that I would be interviewing with all the same people.. I was thinking of calling the program coordinator to ask if I could interview on one day, for both streams, but i'm really not sure how best to handle this. Any advice?


Thanks.