Scheduling Dilemma

[Green Chimneys]

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Hey guys. I'm having a bit of trouble deciding how to put together my third year schedule. I was under the impression that it is best to schedule rotations you are considering as a career choice towards the middle of the year, and generally to schedule something that you don't anticipate going in to as your first rotation. My school's third year curriculum allows for 2 electives (from a fairly small list) and limits schedule order to one of a number of preset orders. You can select which preset order you want, but obviously don't get full control of ordering things to your liking.

Anyway, I am currently most strongly attracted to anesthesia or IM as a potential residency. I would also like to take Surgery first since I don't think I want to do that. My problem is that if I schedule Surgery first, my 2 electives will fall very early (September or October) and very late (May or June). The early elective would fit well with radiology, which I want to take because I think it will help me out on other rotations, but I'm worried about the late one being too late for anesthesia. I am concerned that with an elective in May or June, I will be forced to gear my 4th year towards residency before even taking a rotation I am considering as a career.

The advice I'm seeking: Is May or June too late in 3rd year to take a rotation you're strongly considering for residency? Is September or October too early? If your recommendation is to take Anesthesia early, is it worth it to bump Radiology from my 3rd year schedule (or at least push it back to the end of the year)? Having only taken 8 weeks of surgery, and potentially 4 weeks of Psych, would I have enough experience under my belt to make a good impression on an elective rotation?

Thanks for the advice guys. I appreciate hearing these things from people who have been through the gauntlet already.

 

[MrBurns10]

To answer your first question, no I don't think May/June would be too late in your 3rd year to do an elective in a field in which you're interested. However, I wouldn't just take Radiology because you think it'll help you in your rotations, considering typically you just read the radiologist's interpretation while looking at the film...you're not actually trying to interpret them yourself (other than seeing that your patient has a pleural effusion or consolidation or something, which isn't hard). I would suggest taking Anesthesia in October if you can to give you more time. But either way, I don't think May would be too late.

I should add that I'm not a 4th year yet, so maybe their opinions would differ. This has just been my impression in talking with other people.

 

[smq123]

Anyway, I am currently most strongly attracted to anesthesia or IM as a potential residency. I would also like to take Surgery first since I don't think I want to do that. My problem is that if I schedule Surgery first, my 2 electives will fall very early (September or October) and very late (May or June). The early elective would fit well with radiology, which I want to take because I think it will help me out on other rotations, but I'm worried about the late one being too late for anesthesia. I am concerned that with an elective in May or June, I will be forced to gear my 4th year towards residency before even taking a rotation I am considering as a career.

The advice I'm seeking: Is May or June too late in 3rd year to take a rotation you're strongly considering for residency? Is September or October too early?

If I were in your shoes (and please keep in mind that I'm still only halfway through third year), this is what I would do:

* Take Anesthesia early. September/October is NOT too early. You'll be hitting your stride then - you'll be accustomed to rotations by then, but you won't be too burned out. I think that Sept./Oct. is ideal.

* Yes, May or June is quite late, particularly in a field like anesthesia. (If you were doing something less competitive, like psych or family med, it would not matter.) As a third year in the second half of my year, I'm very glad that I already have a general idea of what I want to do. Trying to schedule fourth year electives, trying to figure out when to take Step 2 CS and CK, trying to figure out WHICH electives to take, and figuring out away rotations - all of those things depend (at least in part) on knowing your future career plans.

[EDIT: Sorry MrBurns10! 😳 I personally feel that if you plan on doing something fairly competitive, like anesthesia, derm, ortho, or ophtho, you should be somewhat committed to that path by May or June. It just makes scheduling fourth year a lot easier.]

If your recommendation is to take Anesthesia early, is it worth it to bump Radiology from my 3rd year schedule (or at least push it back to the end of the year)?

* Absolutely. Radiology is generally (although not always) a rotation that is very light and very easy. You may learn something from it, but it's not a guarantee that you'll learn anything truly useful from it. Particularly if you're not planning on doing radiology. It's a rotation that many people take just because they're practically guaranteed to be sent home at 11 AM (after starting at 8 AM).

Having only taken 8 weeks of surgery, and potentially 4 weeks of Psych, would I have enough experience under my belt to make a good impression on an elective rotation?

* YES. I think that taking surgery first is an excellent choice, particularly if you're interested in anesthesiology.

By doing surgery first, you'll be comfortable in the OR before you do your anesthesia rotation. You'll know what you need to wear and how the OR is set up. Furthermore, during your surgery rotation, you'll get to see what anesthesiologists do and how a medical student could help them out - which will give you clues as to how to be a superstar on your anesthesia rotation. (You'll also get the chance to meet anesthesiologists if you hang out in the PACU long enough - a good chance to meet your future attendings and residents before you actually do the rotation!)

I think that surgery also teaches you to think ahead, and helps you understand how to truly help your resident (not just hinder them). It also teaches you a work ethic.

I actually think that you will be fine if you do anesthesia in September or October. Obviously, talk to other people at your school, but I think it will not be a problem if you come into the rotation expecting to work hard. Good luck!

 

[MrBurns10]

[EDIT: Sorry MrBurns10! 😳 I personally feel that if you plan on doing something fairly competitive, like anesthesia, derm, ortho, or ophtho, you should be somewhat committed to that path by May or June. It just makes scheduling fourth year a lot easier.]

haha, no problem. I've just heard from so many people that actually decided in their 4th year what they wanted to do that anytime 3rd year is still early enough to figure stuff out. Anesthesia isn't nearly as competitive as ortho, ophtho, or derm, which is why I didn't think May was too late. Heck, I have a friend who's taking step 1 in July before his 4th year! (at our school we don't take step 1 until 3rd year)

Anyway, while we may disagree on this minor detail, we definitely agree that it would be far better to take Anesthesiology in October if possible 🙂

 

[The Buff]

Totally agree with smq123. Sure June is not too late, but why risk it when taking it early will show you for sure if you actually like gas or not. The loss of taking rads eary is not much of a loss at all. As above, youll be ready for a chill rotation by the end of the year anyway, and I don't think youd gain that much by taking it so early.

 

[Green Chimneys]

Thank you guys. Very helpful posts by both of you. I'd certainly like to hear from anyone else who has an opinion on the matter. I still have a few days to make my decision.

I am pleased to know that a September or October rotation in a potentially desired field is not too early. This sounds like the best idea for me (4th years, please chime in if you have a different opinion). It should be noted that while Anesthesia is definitely more competitive than FM and is getting more competitive every year, it's certainly not yet on par with the other specialties you mentioned (Derm, Optho, Ortho, etc).

You make a good point about taking surgery first, and this was pretty much my thoughts on it too. While I don't think I want to be a surgeon, I definitely want to take advantage of the chance to learn OR protocol and learn as much as I can from the anesthesia team in the OR, the PACU, and the SICU.

 

[SoCuteMD]

I really don't think that May or June is too late. My school allows very little elective time in third year, and people still go into very competitive specialties. I've found that my exposure to my career field of choice (Emergency Medicine) has been more than sufficient to help make up my mind about where I belong during third year, despite the fact that I've had no dedicated Emergency Department time this year.

There are a number of people in my third year medical school class who haven't yet made up their minds and I feel certain that they will have no problems scheduling their fourth years. I have a number of fourth year friends who changed their minds as late as August or September and all of them had plenty of interviews in their "new" fields at great programs despite what people on SDN might call a "late" start.