summer plans

[dorian24]

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Hi all,

I'm a first year medical student, and I'm starting to think about what I want to do during my first year summer. I'm getting more interested in psychiatry, but I am not 100% sure how I should spend my time getting more familiarized with the field. I recently met a psychiatrist at my school who is a psychoanalyst (I hear those are very rare nowadays?), and I have really enjoyed spending time getting to know his style of practice. If you were in my position, what other things would you have done? Thanks.

 

[PizzaHog]

Didn't do this but it sounds fun and informative

http://psych.vcu.edu/other-education/summer-institute-in-psychiatry-for-medical-student.aspx

 

[psychhopefull2016]

I did a paid research summer program doing clinical psych research! Great exeperience for my CV, also great additional $3500 for me!

 

[Amygdarya]

Didn't do this but it sounds fun and informative

http://psych.vcu.edu/other-education/summer-institute-in-psychiatry-for-medical-student.aspx

I did this - it's a great program, especially for preclinical students.

 

[OrangeOrange]

Research is a good use of time no matter what specialty you end up doing. It's no big deal if the research you did is in a different field from the one you end up picking.

You can apply for a specific research program, or just cold email PIs to see if they need help with any projects. Stay at your home institution if you think you'd want to continue the research during MS2, or aim for an institution in a part of the country you've never lived in before and explore it (this is what I did).

In my opinion, nothing you do during the summer after MS1 is going to make or break your resume/applications later on, so the most important thing is to pick something you like and make sure you have time to recharge.