pandemicpremed97
Full Member
- Joined
- Nov 21, 2019
- Messages
- 129
- Reaction score
- 30
- Points
- 1
- Pre-Medical
Are rural rotation sites bad? ex: here's lucom's rotation site list. Clinical Rotations | Liberty University College of Osteopathic Medicine
rural rotations
- Thread starter pandemicpremed97
- Start date
- Joined
- Jul 20, 2015
- Messages
- 1,673
- Reaction score
- 2,183
- Points
- 5,766
- Medical Student
For what specialty? Or is it just the whole year is in a rural area? If its rural and there are no residents then yes its bad. I am in a semi-rural area. Family med was great because it was so broad. We have a couple residencies so those are good too, but ER, gen surg, and now that I think about it, basically everything else for our site is a total joke.
pandemicpremed97
Full Member
- Joined
- Nov 21, 2019
- Messages
- 129
- Reaction score
- 30
- Points
- 1
- Pre-Medical
so everything besides family in a rural area is bad? i'd imagine it's because there are less patients to get practice with?
- Joined
- Jul 20, 2015
- Messages
- 1,673
- Reaction score
- 2,183
- Points
- 5,766
- Medical Student
You want to be with residents as much as you can. True rural areas dont have the best pathology cases when it comes to ER or surgeries and stuff.
- Joined
- Jun 26, 2017
- Messages
- 1,608
- Reaction score
- 2,966
- Points
- 5,136
- Medical Student (Accepted)
It’s really going to depend on the hospital. Whether they have residency programs is a good clue.
We have rural sites that are 300 beds with residency programs and urban sites that are teeny satellite hospitals with under 100 beds where there aren’t any residency programs at all.
If you have choices, pick the largest hospital with the most residency programs that you have access to - regardless of whether it’s rural or urban.
We have rural sites that are 300 beds with residency programs and urban sites that are teeny satellite hospitals with under 100 beds where there aren’t any residency programs at all.
If you have choices, pick the largest hospital with the most residency programs that you have access to - regardless of whether it’s rural or urban.
Involved in a Longitudinal Integrated Curriculum where I am spending 5months of my M3 in a rural district hospital in town of 22k. I spent some time at my home institution (mid-size academic-community hybrid) to orient myself to M3 & hospital medicine generally, essentially learning how to round, what is hidden curriculum, what knowledge/skills are important vs not. I am the only student at my rural site.
I've noticed many positives & negatives of my experiences here. Let's start w/ positives. I loved the one-on-one attention with all my attendings here. I received valuable skills on doctoring, the art of medicine, the philosophy of patient care and was given the space for me to develop my own approach to the patients. I've been surprised by the pathology I've been exposed to here--including Uterine Didelphys, Cutaneous T-cell Lymphomas, Chiari Malformations, various Peds syndromes, Mastocytosis, etc.. Nonetheless, my docs focus on looking for the Horses dx & working those up whereas academic medicine loved to hunt for Zebras. I have autonomy to set my schedule with few limitations. The docs here treat me as an equal & value my medical opinion, give me respect --none of which I received at my home institution. I get ample opportunities to see patients, do H&Ps and present my M3-level plans which are embraced and given healthy feedback. I don't waste my day with having to write notes or waiting till 5pm. I've got all the time I need to study for Step 2 & Shelf exams, effectively allowing me some control over my overall evaluations.
Negatives: I don't write many notes, place orders, or have residents to give me advice on "next steps" in preparing for M4 or residencies. My overall case #s are on par w/ my home site when I was advertised to be seeing 3x as much OB & 2x as much Surgery. The hospital does not have in-house consultants or as many specialists so I don't get to learn from the true experts. I feel I could be doing even more H&Ps and even more presenting to docs. Have not pre-rounded or done much scut work that is expected of M4s & residents in academic medicine.
Overall, I debate myself over my final impression on this experience. I can explain more in private message.
I've noticed many positives & negatives of my experiences here. Let's start w/ positives. I loved the one-on-one attention with all my attendings here. I received valuable skills on doctoring, the art of medicine, the philosophy of patient care and was given the space for me to develop my own approach to the patients. I've been surprised by the pathology I've been exposed to here--including Uterine Didelphys, Cutaneous T-cell Lymphomas, Chiari Malformations, various Peds syndromes, Mastocytosis, etc.. Nonetheless, my docs focus on looking for the Horses dx & working those up whereas academic medicine loved to hunt for Zebras. I have autonomy to set my schedule with few limitations. The docs here treat me as an equal & value my medical opinion, give me respect --none of which I received at my home institution. I get ample opportunities to see patients, do H&Ps and present my M3-level plans which are embraced and given healthy feedback. I don't waste my day with having to write notes or waiting till 5pm. I've got all the time I need to study for Step 2 & Shelf exams, effectively allowing me some control over my overall evaluations.
Negatives: I don't write many notes, place orders, or have residents to give me advice on "next steps" in preparing for M4 or residencies. My overall case #s are on par w/ my home site when I was advertised to be seeing 3x as much OB & 2x as much Surgery. The hospital does not have in-house consultants or as many specialists so I don't get to learn from the true experts. I feel I could be doing even more H&Ps and even more presenting to docs. Have not pre-rounded or done much scut work that is expected of M4s & residents in academic medicine.
Overall, I debate myself over my final impression on this experience. I can explain more in private message.
