Specialties for "doers"

[TexasRose]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Hi all. I'm trying to decide what Pedi electives to take. I've done my Pedi core rotation, surgery, general medicine and neuro. I know I want to do a pedi residency, but I'm not sure what electives I might enjoy the most. I really liked the "doing" aspect of surgery and was wondering if y'all might have some thoughts on what specialties might mesh well with liking procedures and making somewhat fast decisions. (as opposed to hours of discussion... 😉 I was not a fan of neuro at all.)

Thanks!

 

[mendel79]

I'd recommend Peds ER and PICU - both are fast paced, and you'll get to do (or see -- depends on where you are) a lot of procedures. Or, if you really liked surgery, do a rotation in peds surgery or peds ortho.

 

[oldbearprofessor]

Hi all. I'm trying to decide what Pedi electives to take. I've done my Pedi core rotation, surgery, general medicine and neuro. I know I want to do a pedi residency, but I'm not sure what electives I might enjoy the most. I really liked the "doing" aspect of surgery and was wondering if y'all might have some thoughts on what specialties might mesh well with liking procedures and making somewhat fast decisions. (as opposed to hours of discussion... 😉 I was not a fan of neuro at all.)

Thanks!

You'll get tons of ER experience as a resident - I don't recommend it much as an elective for med students planning on pedi. NICU and PICU really depend on the locale - you'd need to find out what you're LIKELY to get to to there as a med student. Will they teach you intubation, umbilical catheters? You'll have a better chance at learning these procedures in a place without fellows and potentially without residents. Whether you can arrange that and still get academic credit depends on your institution and where you'd like to go. I'd start early on arranging those. I think the chances of getting much procedure experience as a med student in a PICU is small, but others here might know of places where it's possible.

In the academic center, two places you might get some procedure experience are cardiology and GI. In particular if you can do a rotation directly with someone doing cath lab or endoscopies. Might get boring for a whole month, but a unique experience.

If you can do a pedi anesthesia rotation and they promise to teach you some IV and intubation skills, that might be worth it.

Non-procedurally, pedi ID is usually a good experience for senior med students. Renal can be another good elective learning experience, although I'd not want to spend a whole month at it.

I strongly recommend people considering pedi do a rotation in another country.🙂 You may get lots more procedure experience than in a large US Children's Hospital and for sure you'll learn a lot about pediatric care in the world.

Regards

OBP

 

[TexasRose]

Thanks for the thoughtful reply, OBP.

I'm requesting a pedi ID rotation before my required sub-I. I'm sure it will be very useful for the sub-I as well as pedi in general.

The NICU sub-I is in the works. Too bad it doesn't count towards my school's required sub-I.

A rotation in another country?? Wouldn't I need to be fluent in another language? (I'm assuming you're referring to places other than England and Australia. Although, I spent a semester in Aus in college and would always love an excuse to return. 😉

 

[oldbearprofessor]

Thanks for the thoughtful reply, OBP.

A rotation in another country?? Wouldn't I need to be fluent in another language? (I'm assuming you're referring to places other than England and Australia. Although, I spent a semester in Aus in college and would always love an excuse to return. 😉

I did my international rotation in Birmingham, England. I spoke the language, although I'm not sure I was fluent.😛

Lots to be learned from seeing pediatrics in Europe or other "developed" countries. It doesn't have to be somewhere with limited resources. Of course, much of the medical care in Africa is conducted in English (or Spanish, if Castro has sent his representatives there, as in The Gambia), so language isn't always an issue in developing countries.

Do the required sub-I as a ward month. NICU is for fun!

Regards

OBP

 

[oldbearprofessor]

Although, I spent a semester in Aus in college and would always love an excuse to return. 😉

On further consideration, I've realized that you not only SHOULD go to Australia for a rotation (or NZ), but, I would consider it an educational imperative!! You may quote me to your spouse on this.

 

[TexasRose]

On further consideration, I've realized that you not only SHOULD go to Australia for a rotation (or NZ), but, I would consider it an educational imperative!! You may quote me to your spouse on this.

Done!

 

[notstudying]

Although I almost always agree with OBP's advice, peds ED as a medical student can be a great rotation to do. We have 2 sites-one where you are useless, and one where if you are interested and decent, you are very independent and will get a ton of procedures-sutures especially, pelvics, even LPs. It can be very confidence building to have that under your belt! He is right-you'll get a ton as a resident, but if you are so inclined, it can be a good experience.

 

[siempre595]

I'd recommend NICU. There's a lot of procedures, which tend to be done by higher level residents or fellows, but you can get them if you push for it. It's high-tech medicine also, lots to calculate and learn. I loved the rotation here, can't speak for other hospitals, but it's a different world from the pediatric floor for sure.

 

[us-aussie]

I go to med school in Australia, so of course I think it's wonderful! But really, I was able to do WAY more things and learn a lot more pediatrics when I returned to the states to do sub-I's. Only go to OZ if you want to have fun and relax.

I have lots of people in my class that do international electives (great thing about my school) and they only speak English. I know people who went to Kenya, Thailand, India, Papa New Guinea, South Africa, Nepal, Vanawatu (sp?). There are TONS of hospitals that speak english, just look on the internet. My friends found refugee camps in Thailand to work at, they had interpreters. They all learned so much and were able to do so much.

If you are into OB/Gyn, then in Kenya my friend was delivering 20-30 babies a day on her own, very cool!