So recently I've been looking more into medical school. I know I want to do something in the medical field but don't know exactly what. I was looking into pediatrics and ob/gyn the most. While looking around I noticed some people discussing rotation in medical school? what is that? I don't know much about how it all works. Can I go into medical school not knowing exactly what area I would like to work in and then I just decide while attending and that is what rotation is?? I'm confused, I need a basic explanation.
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Question about medical school?
Started by meow11
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1) Rotations are during years 3 and 4 of medical school. They provide you the necessary experience in different specialties in the medical field. You'll learn the basics of what you do as a doctor. Years 1 and 2 are simply preclinical years where you learn the information.
2) Yes you can go to medical school not knowing. That's what year 3 and 4 are for.
Year 3: core rotations in Internal Med, Family Med, Surgery, Peds, and Ob/Gyn. These are required rotations which last a few weeks (or months)
Year 4: Emergency med rotations, Elective rotations where you discover more specialties, research fellowship (sometimes), away rotations in residency programs you are interested in.
So by year 3/4 you'll be able to decide what specialty you want to be in.
Hope this helps!
I would focus on getting in before worrying about specialty. Are you in high school now? You sound very lost. You should probably get more exposure to the field also.
I agree that it sounds like you haven't done a lot of research yet. There was this cool (long) video that shows what each year looks like for students at Loma Linda. Granted it's a little religious-y, but ignoring that it's very indicative of what you can expect:
Beyond that I'd definitely recommend digging around and doing some more research as you'll find a lot of the answers you're looking for.
Don't worry, OP. I was just like you last year. I wanted to do something clinical, but wasn't sure. I was completely lost about what med school was.
I had an inpatient procedure at a hospital, and when a med school student came to interview me and get my HPI (history of present illness), I thought she was a resident until she finally said something about it.
My advice to you is go on YouTube, type in med school, and just listen and watch a couple videos; come onto SDN and read a few threads; and start investigating the MD (AAMC) and DO (AOA) websites. These will do you well, it definitely did for me.
Whether you're in high school or college, there'll be either a college advisor, or a pre health advisor, who will be able to answer questions for you, and well... Advise you.
Best of luck on your journey.
Sent from my iPhone using SDN Mobile
I had an inpatient procedure at a hospital, and when a med school student came to interview me and get my HPI (history of present illness), I thought she was a resident until she finally said something about it.
My advice to you is go on YouTube, type in med school, and just listen and watch a couple videos; come onto SDN and read a few threads; and start investigating the MD (AAMC) and DO (AOA) websites. These will do you well, it definitely did for me.
Whether you're in high school or college, there'll be either a college advisor, or a pre health advisor, who will be able to answer questions for you, and well... Advise you.
Best of luck on your journey.
Sent from my iPhone using SDN Mobile
Thanks everyone. Yeah so far ive just lookedat basics and whats needed to apply. But I will definitely look more in depth
