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Does it matter what order you choose for your clerkships? Pros/cons? Suggestions?
Ranking clerkship rotations?
- Thread starter 2020hasbeentheworsf
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If choice is given I will say stay away from IM and surgery first up. It allows to easily get use to clerkship and Expectations of rotations With family , pediatirc or neuro or psych. So you will do better in IM and surgery which weigh much higher then these others and allows to do well, which matter more, once you get hang of it.
D
deleted1168269
Disagree. IM first is a good idea to me. It develops a foundation that helps you study for Step 2 for the rest of the year.
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It really depends on personal preference. But in general, the most important thing is I would try to NOT do the specialty that you're most strongly considering first.
If you want to do something surgical, then IM might be a good idea to start off to get the broad foundation. If you want to do IM or an IM subspecialty, then something more medicine-y like neuro or peds might be a good idea.
If you want to do something surgical, then IM might be a good idea to start off to get the broad foundation. If you want to do IM or an IM subspecialty, then something more medicine-y like neuro or peds might be a good idea.
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My first rotation was IM and it was brutal but I learned a ton. It was a good primer for the rest of the year
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If your school has a traditional curriculum where you do Step 2 right after rotations, doing IM last can work well. Step 2 is 70% stuff from IM shelf and having that information fresh in your mind makes Step 2 easier.
I’ll echo other’s sentiment that you shouldn’t do the specialty you’re planning on going into first, since you won’t know what you’re doing.
I’ll echo other’s sentiment that you shouldn’t do the specialty you’re planning on going into first, since you won’t know what you’re doing.
PathNeuroIMorFM
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For shelf exam performance, putting peds and IM first is critical.
You will do poorly on both since it's your first, but they show up on every other shelf and our school has data that suggests taking these first boosts scores for everything else moving forward.
If your grade is heavily shelf dependent and you're not considering IM, this is the way.
You will do poorly on both since it's your first, but they show up on every other shelf and our school has data that suggests taking these first boosts scores for everything else moving forward.
If your grade is heavily shelf dependent and you're not considering IM, this is the way.
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The short answer is it doesn't matter.
The long answer is everyone has their own opinion, but general advice is:
-Put the specialty in which you're interested in the middle, not first and not too late.
-IM first is a good strategy because while the shelf will be rough, as noted above it will prepare you for even rougher shelves, like surgery and FM, which are essentially the medicine shelf with extra topics.
-A lot of this depends on your program's culture. If everyone is nice, it doesn't matter how experienced you are. If your school's OB program, for example, is virulently malignant, then maybe avoid that early on.
-If you want a slow start, I personally think psych is probably the easiest rotation in terms of both duties/hours and shelf.
The long answer is everyone has their own opinion, but general advice is:
-Put the specialty in which you're interested in the middle, not first and not too late.
-IM first is a good strategy because while the shelf will be rough, as noted above it will prepare you for even rougher shelves, like surgery and FM, which are essentially the medicine shelf with extra topics.
-A lot of this depends on your program's culture. If everyone is nice, it doesn't matter how experienced you are. If your school's OB program, for example, is virulently malignant, then maybe avoid that early on.
-If you want a slow start, I personally think psych is probably the easiest rotation in terms of both duties/hours and shelf.
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Unpopular opinion: OB, one of the most versatile rotations, get to see a bit of everything (surgery, inpatient, clinic) and how to conduct yourself in different places.
This is heavily dependent on how long this rotation is at your school. If it’s super short like 4 weeks, don’t do it.
This is heavily dependent on how long this rotation is at your school. If it’s super short like 4 weeks, don’t do it.
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We were told to put the clerkship for the specialty you're interested in around 3-4th in your order. That way, you have a few clerkships under your belt and the learning curve will hopefully be a bit less steep. It's also still early so that you have time to pivot if you hate the clerkship and decide you don't want to pursue that specialty after all. I was also advised to allow for at least 1 week between clerkships if possible and honestly, that advice has proven to be very sound because I am wiped out for a couple days after each clerkship ends haha!
