Rotation schedule

[standup man]

Hi,

I'm a 2nd year MD student, and was wondering is there is a specific order on what rotations to pick in order to maximize myself as a good candidate. For example, I know that I probably should not do Surgery as my first rotation, but I was wondering is there a specific sequence?

Thanks

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[lane]

it doesn't matter at all.

 

[PeterGriffin]

it doesn't matter at all.

I 2nd that, doesn't matter

 

[Dr Serenity]

I third that; also, I'll add that you might not have much control over your schedule to begin with (that is, for third year). So, no need to fret over what rotations you do first, second, last, etc. I will say, though, if you can, try to get an anesthesia rotation in before the second to third month of fourth year if you think you may be interested in anesthesiology.

Good luck!

 

[climbingdocs]

I did surgery first and in retrospect, it was a good idea.

 

[bigdan]

I'm a current third year; here's what I'm doing and why:
1: Medicine. Great choice for me, of little memory reserve, coming off of 4 weeks studying for Step 1.
2. OP Medicine/Family Practice: "Medicine Light", with good intro to basic peds and ob
3. OB/GYN: our hospital has an AWESOME resident crew, so it was a great way to get into surgery stuff without being verbally abused for not instantly knowing how to do one handed ties. And catching babies, at least at first, is cool.
4. Peds
5. Surgery.
6. Psych
7. Elective (which will include anesthesiology)

After all that, it still doesn't matter.

dc

 

[mmag]

1. ob/gyn because unless you go into it getting an average grade is fine. You learn how to scrub, how to retract, and other basic surgery skills an M3 needs. You also learn how to do H&P's, write progress notes and get your feet wet with basic assessment and plans. The material is limited so studying for the shelf isn't too bad. By the end of m3 you will not want to be on L&D call. Gives you a chance to talk to OB anesthesiologists when your pt wants an epidural or goes for section.
2. Peds: more like medicine but once again the scope is narrower. More practice doing H&P's, PN's, and a chance to hone your A&P's. Pediatricians are nice people and you will appreciate that even more coming off of Ob/Gyn.
3. Medicine: so by now you should know how things work (computers, orders, and note writing) and are ready for the big folks. This is your chance to shine. Step 1 will be a little distance but it's not too painful to remember the basics. The shelf is hard but remember you will have to use it for all the rest of the shelf exams.
4. Surgery: the 1 page h&p's will make you swoon after medicine. You'll actually get to be in the OR and not look like a complete idiot because you know how to scrub and retract from OB. Finding time to study for the shelf is tough but the shelf has a lot of medicine so it's doable. It'll probably be early spring so you aren't missing too much day light. Besides when you are done, the hard part of M3 year is over.
5. Psych: after those calls and 14+ hr days on surgery you deserve a break. Having long talks with patients might be kinda nice and you don't have to ask about flatus and bm's.
6. Family: now you get to integrate everything but it's generally a nice rotation with no call. Studying for this rotation is like getting a head start for Step 2 CK. If you can take Step 2 CS, it's even better prep: long day of seeing a variety pt's in a short time and writing quick notes.

 

[fakin' the funk]

I'm a 2nd year MD student, and was wondering is there is a specific order on what rotations to pick in order to maximize myself as a good candidate. For example, I know that I probably should not do Surgery as my first rotation, but I was wondering is there a specific sequence?

Not a specific sequence, but the conventional wisdom goes that you don't wanna do your goal discipline first. For anesthesiology, that means surgery and medicine. Don't do them first! You'll look like a turd, and if you want a LOR, turdiness = badness.

So, do 1 or 2 other things first (particularly psych or neuro). You'll be up to speed after the 1st or 2nd rotation with your hospital's charting system, local culture, etc, and (importantly) not yet burnt out.

 

[Dr Serenity]

I'll respond to the last few posts by saying that third years often have the tendency to stress out way too much on how to schedule their rotations. Again, I'll emphasize that some medical schools (mine included) allow very little control as to WHEN you take your rotations during third year...we did not have the chance to dictate when exactly we would take internal medicine, surgery, etc, etc.

If you're a potential anesthesia applicant and you get stuck with surgery or internal medicine first (I happened to get IM first), don't sweat it. Work hard, STUDY FOR YOUR SHELF EXAMS, and you should do fine. Attendings and residents that are worth their salt will understand that you're doing your first rotation, and that you don't have the experience yet. (Of course, I realize that that is attending and resident-dependent, just like the subjective portion of your grade).

So to sum up: the order of your clinical rotations does not matter nearly as much as how well you do on your rotations. Work hard, show enthusiasm, study for your shelf exams, (insert other advice that all 3rd and 4th year med students have heard ad nauseum).

One caveat: If you are interested in anesthesia or any other specialty that is not a required rotation at your school, try to do a rotation in said specialty BEFORE the second or third month of fourth year. This is the ONLY case that I can see where the order of your rotations might matter.

 

[climbingdocs]

Our school schedules 3 rotations for 4th year. I so the only months I can schedule my anesthesia rotations is august, october and november. So my question is how do I go about scheduling away rotations? Should I do rotation at my fav. place in august (as my first one) or do october/november?

 

[Nasty Gas]

It doesn't matter at all. Just work hard -- that's the most important thing.

 

[Dr Serenity]

Our school schedules 3 rotations for 4th year. I so the only months I can schedule my anesthesia rotations is august, october and november. So my question is how do I go about scheduling away rotations? Should I do rotation at my fav. place in august (as my first one) or do october/november?

Absolutely! If this is a place you're really interested in and you think you may want (a) letter(s) of recommendation from this place, you want to rotate there EARLY during fourth year so you can be sure to get LORs in time for your residency application. October and November will probably be too late for you to try to get LORs from an away rotation.

This goes along with the "caveat" I mentioned in my previous post. Note that if you are not going to seek LORs from your favorite place, the timing of said rotation probably does not matter nearly as much.

Hope this helps.

 

[climbingdocs]

Absolutely! If this is a place you're really interested in and you think you may want (a) letter(s) of recommendation from this place, you want to rotate there EARLY during fourth year so you can be sure to get LORs in time for your residency application. October and November will probably be too late for you to try to get LORs from an away rotation.

This goes along with the "caveat" I mentioned in my previous post. Note that if you are not going to seek LORs from your favorite place, the timing of said rotation probably does not matter nearly as much.

Hope this helps.

Yea thanks, I am going to try to do that. One place told me that they will accomodate their students first so I am not sure if they would let me in that early. I guess its worth of trying. I just hope that I am not gonna look like a fool when I go there.

 

[Ferdie]

I think people are over analyzing. The order really does not matter. Just schedule things you might be interested in early enough to find out if you truly are, before you have to schedule 4th year. Otherwise it truly does not matter. Really.
Also, away rotations are not necessary, unless you really want to do one or there's a place/region that you really want to go for residency. If you want to do one, then cool, but don't feel that you necessarily have to (with few exceptions)

 

[Dr Serenity]

I think people are over analyzing. The order really does not matter. Just schedule things you might be interested in early enough to find out if you truly are, before you have to schedule 4th year. Otherwise it truly does not matter. Really.
Also, away rotations are not necessary, unless you really want to do one or there's a place/region that you really want to go for residency. If you want to do one, then cool, but don't feel that you necessarily have to (with few exceptions)

Agreed.

 

[climbingdocs]

I think people are over analyzing. The order really does not matter. Just schedule things you might be interested in early enough to find out if you truly are, before you have to schedule 4th year. Otherwise it truly does not matter. Really.
Also, away rotations are not necessary, unless you really want to do one or there's a place/region that you really want to go for residency. If you want to do one, then cool, but don't feel that you necessarily have to (with few exceptions)

that is something to think about... you guys think that looking at the program during interview is enough to know how the program really is?

 

[wvdoc]

Jumping in here, but remember that attendings are usually not complete idiots.

In virtually every case I have come across, they know at what point in the year they are at. So their expectations of general medical knowledge and/or procedural skill for someone in the first block of MS3 rotations will be different than on the last block of MS 3 rotations. Of course, there are always exceptions to this rule, and people may have had the bad luck of running into all of them. If there is one difference, it is that your last shelf exam is usually easier than your first due to the cumulative effect of review from previous rotations.

So don't be too concerned about starting off with medicine or surgery. At the same time, if these are your last rotations, remember that the trade off is that the expectation level may well be higher.

 

[amyl]

i agree it doesn't really matter. if you can organize your third year the only thing i would do is scatter your tougher months a little. we can't organize our third years at all and i had all three medicine months grouped together.... it would have been nicer to stick a family med or psych in there to get a little break ;-)