- Joined
- Jan 15, 2006
- Messages
- 112
- Reaction score
- 0
Anyone doing an away elective at Spaulding?
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
Spaulding Away Elective
- Thread starter peduncle
- Start date
- Joined
- Nov 20, 2000
- Messages
- 1,795
- Reaction score
- 86
I did an away elective with Spaulding two years ago, so my information may be slightly outdated. I recall there were a few different tracks you could follow. If you rotate through Spaulding itself, you will probably be assigned to a preceptor attending on a specific unit during your entire inpatient experience there. As I wanted to get as much as possible out of my experience, I asked if I could possibly split my two weeks of inpatient between two attendings (knowing this would hurt my exposure to a single attending for a possible LOR) so I could receive more exposure to attendings, residents, and more of the inpatient units in general. I asked about this either before the rotation started or early in the rotation. My inquiry was met very poorly and I was given the impression that I hurt the attending's feelings and had all the wrong intentions. Asking about having more exposure actually hurt me in that respect as I later asked for a LOR and was denied. I spent two weeks on a single unit which was both fulfilling yet limited in some respects. I attempted to go to as many lectures and presentations as possible as well as spent lots of time in various clinics and in the gym. As I had previous inpatient rotations, but was lacking in certain areas such as TBI exposure, I would have liked to volunteer time on those units to soak in what I could.
Aside from that unpleasant experience on inpatient (which I think is probably an isolated incident I hope), I enjoyed just about every other aspect of the inpatient service. Also, the outpatient experience was great. I split my two weeks with different attendings working in the same clinic doing pain management. It was just about the right amount of time to see different approaches in the clinic, spend a little time to see what their fluoro suite facilities were like, and even get to spend some time working with the pain fellow.
While I was there in the summer, there were lots of opportunities for workshops and lectures to attend while I was there. I liked the emphasis on the amount of "organized" education that was allowed for the residents and the fact that the services weren't necessarily resident-dependent. On the flipside, I did question the amount of management and actual "doing" that residents did there versus other programs.
It's definitely a worthwhile experience to see what Spaulding is all about as well as checking out their outpatient clinics, pain fellowship, and everything else in the Boston area if you haven't been to Boston before. My rotation there felt quite different from other rotations, so I would recommend a few other rotations to help in your comparisons and judging what you are really looking for.
Aside from that unpleasant experience on inpatient (which I think is probably an isolated incident I hope), I enjoyed just about every other aspect of the inpatient service. Also, the outpatient experience was great. I split my two weeks with different attendings working in the same clinic doing pain management. It was just about the right amount of time to see different approaches in the clinic, spend a little time to see what their fluoro suite facilities were like, and even get to spend some time working with the pain fellow.
While I was there in the summer, there were lots of opportunities for workshops and lectures to attend while I was there. I liked the emphasis on the amount of "organized" education that was allowed for the residents and the fact that the services weren't necessarily resident-dependent. On the flipside, I did question the amount of management and actual "doing" that residents did there versus other programs.
It's definitely a worthwhile experience to see what Spaulding is all about as well as checking out their outpatient clinics, pain fellowship, and everything else in the Boston area if you haven't been to Boston before. My rotation there felt quite different from other rotations, so I would recommend a few other rotations to help in your comparisons and judging what you are really looking for.
- Joined
- Nov 20, 2000
- Messages
- 1,795
- Reaction score
- 86
What other places did you do electives, then? And why were they so much different than Spaulding?
-savealife
As a third year, I did a rotation at Rancho Los Amigos and in my final year, I did other electives at Hopkins and UC-Davis. Each clinical rotation has different plusses and minuses when you rotate as a student just like any rotation on any other specialty. Letting the faculty know of your interests early in the game and working to expose yourself to as many aspects of PM&R as possible will help you get your bang for the buck for your few weeks at a clinical site. Obviously, if you go to a facility that has strengths in a particular area, it would be great to get a feel for what makes them stand out, but sometimes it works out where you don't always get what you want.
- Joined
- Nov 20, 2000
- Messages
- 1,795
- Reaction score
- 86
the above doesn't sound like a positive experience from Spaulding... or am I just reading it incorrectly 😱
I believe in posting honest opinions with both positives and negatives of experiences so others may gain a little insight into my short time as a medical student rotating through Spaulding, even if it was two years ago. Everyone will have something different to say, but that's my two cents for this thread.
