Summer between M1 and M2

[MedGrl@2022]

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Is it better to do research between M1 and M2 or a Spanish Medical Immersion program? Or does it not matter?

About me: Currently, I think I want to go into pediatrics, possibly a sub-speciality of pediatrics, such as med-peds, adolescent peds, developmental/behavioral peds, or pediatric neurology (possibly internal or family medicine). I also have a strong interest in public health and I would like my career to be involved in public health and improving the health of the community. I have no desire to do a surgery residency. However, I am interested in some top pediatric residencies in the Northeast area.

I have always wanted to become fluent in Spanish as my families first language is Spanish. (I know it okay but I am not fluent. I also know that it will be a huge benefit to my future patients to be more fluent.) I am currently in the midst of setting up a community health research project in a Spanish speaking low income community (in a pediatric clinic which I have been to several times) in which I will have to administer the questionnaires in Spanish. I am hoping that the IRB process will go smoothly. Part of me really wants to just have fun though and I think that going to an exotic location to learn medical Spanish could be awesome. Part of me is also a little afraid that IRB is going to hold things up and then it will mess up my summer if I am planning to do the research.

I also have tons of research experience but no community health research experience which is something that I originally was excited about but I know that it is going to be a lot of work.

Anyone have any thoughts or insight?

 

[postbacpremed87]

Is it better to do research between M1 and M2 or a Spanish Medical Immersion program? Or does it not matter?

About me: Currently, I think I want to go into pediatrics, possibly a sub-speciality of pediatrics, such as med-peds, adolescent peds, developmental/behavioral peds, or pediatric neurology (possibly internal or family medicine). I also have a strong interest in public health and I would like my career to be involved in public health and improving the health of the community. I have no desire to do a surgery residency. However, I am interested in some top pediatric residencies in the Northeast area.

I have always wanted to become fluent in Spanish as my families first language is Spanish. (I know it okay but I am not fluent. I also know that it will be a huge benefit to my future patients to be more fluent.) I am currently in the midst of setting up a community health research project in a Spanish speaking low income community (in a pediatric clinic which I have been to several times) in which I will have to administer the questionnaires in Spanish. I am hoping that the IRB process will go smoothly. Part of me really wants to just have fun though and I think that going to an exotic location to learn medical Spanish could be awesome. Part of me is also a little afraid that IRB is going to hold things up and then it will mess up my summer if I am planning to do the research.

I also have tons of research experience but no community health research experience which is something that I originally was excited about but I know that it is going to be a lot of work.

Anyone have any thoughts or insight?

Do what you want to do. Pediatrics in and of itself is not hard to match into. If you want a top Peds program, then the research would definitely help. If your goal is to match into a mid-tier program, then it doesn't really matter.

 

[OnePunchBiopsy]

Research will never hurt you.

My fear of learning a foreign language in one summer is that if you do not use it frequently, you may lose the language skills you built over the summer.

 

[darklabel]

Maybe you can do both? IRB approval can take a while and it seems like the research project can continue throughout your 2nd year so why not go to the exotic location and then continue the research when you get back?

 

[TwinsFan]

Research + Rosetta Stone + Spanish free clinic volunteering to use the language skills

 

[LilKangaroo]

Do what makes you more excited. During interviews you have to be able to speech passionately towards your activities. If you can do that with the research that's great, but don't do it just because it looks good. <-- My $0.02

 

[CubsFan314]

Research + Rosetta Stone + Spanish free clinic volunteering to use the language skills

I agree with TwinsFan... except on what team to cheer for.

 

[wjs010]

Duo lingo is the best

 

[MedGrl@2022]

What would you all recommend for a self-study medical Spanish program? I decided to stick with the research because my school is paying and I have to stay there for a certain number of weeks regardless of IRB approval. Although, I am hoping it comes soon. I will probably get to shadow at least one doctor while I am there though and mostly everything will be in Spanish. My Spanish is 50% there. I would say that I can understand people 80% of the time as well as read 80% of the time. I can speak 65% but my grammar is not 100% nor is my fluency. My verb conjugations typically get messed up in speech and there will be the occassional word that I forget how to say in Spanish or cannot understand. Is Dou Lingo or Rosetta stone the best for this or is there something else that you recommend?

 

[BillrothI]

What would you all recommend for a self-study medical Spanish program? I decided to stick with the research because my school is paying and I have to stay there for a certain number of weeks regardless of IRB approval. Although, I am hoping it comes soon. I will probably get to shadow at least one doctor while I am there though and mostly everything will be in Spanish. My Spanish is 50% there. I would say that I can understand people 80% of the time as well as read 80% of the time. I can speak 65% but my grammar is not 100% nor is my fluency. My verb conjugations typically get messed up in speech and there will be the occassional word that I forget how to say in Spanish or cannot understand. Is Dou Lingo or Rosetta stone the best for this or is there something else that you recommend?

Absolutely not. Duolingo is great for practicing here and there and to brush up on your vocabulary, but it's pretty limited beyond that. Is there any way you can spend time with native speakers outside of shadowing? Having telephone conversations with your family members exclusively in Spanish would be a great way to start. You can also try to watch more Univision (or any other Spanish-language network) in lieu of English television.

My suggestion would be to try to converse with other Spanish-speakers as often as possible during the summer; your shadowing experience will be very helpful. If you can afford to spend $15-30/week, you can probably find a decent tutor (either online or in-person) to help with grammar. Then, during the school year, practice your skills with Duolingo or a similar free language app.

Good luck.

-Bill

 

[Osmosis Co-founder]

There's a great essay by Paul Graham that's relevant to this discussion: http://www.paulgraham.com/love.html

Prestige is especially dangerous to the ambitious. If you want to make ambitious people waste their time on errands, the way to do it is to bait the hook with prestige. That's the recipe for getting people to give talks, write forewords, serve on committees, be department heads, and so on. It might be a good rule simply to avoid any prestigious task. If it didn't suck, they wouldn't have had to make it prestigious.

Similarly, if you admire two kinds of work equally, but one is more prestigious, you should probably choose the other. Your opinions about what's admirable are always going to be slightly influenced by prestige, so if the two seem equal to you, you probably have more genuine admiration for the less prestigious one.​