Tips for the 4th year medical student and beyond

[Dr1216]

I just thought that it would be nice if there was a thread dedicated to tips and tricks for the 4th year medical student going into psychiatry ( or psychiatry intern). So for all of you who have crossed over to become interns, residents, or attendings, please share any advice that you have or things that you wish you would have done as a 4th year student. Information you could include are:

Books to have on subI's/electives
Making yourself stand out on SubI's
Electives or books (leisure & medical) that help to best prepare for intern year and beyond
Applying to programs (choosing, how many, etc)
Interviewing
The Match
After the Match
....and whatever else you think is important for the 4th year medical student (or intern, if you guys want to add your own questions)


Thanks!!

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[fgh123]

As another 4th year student I would really like to know more about the skills I should be developing now before starting internship. The obvious things that come to mind are developing a system for writing notes, putting in orders, etc. Any other suggestions?

 

[Bartelby]

As another 4th year student I would really like to know more about the skills I should be developing now before starting internship. The obvious things that come to mind are developing a system for writing notes, putting in orders, etc. Any other suggestions?

Seconded. I'm a little nervous about procedures, for example I have never done a spinal tap or central line and the sense I get from some on SDN is that some students do it all the time (which could be complete BS). What are the most intense procedures you do on medicine and neurology months, and what if you don't really know what you're doing?

This thread has potential, looking forward to some intern/resident/attending input!

 

[notdeadyet]

As another 4th year student I would really like to know more about the skills I should be developing now before starting internship. The obvious things that come to mind are developing a system for writing notes, putting in orders, etc. Any other suggestions?

Speaking as a brand-spanking-new intern, I can say that I had similar worries that you folks are suggesting, but they never amounted to anything. Your psych residency program is going to be made up of interns from all over the place. Some from med schools that gave great clinical training, and some from med schools that didn't. Same with interns in the medicine program and every other program offered at your new home.

At the end of the day, if you don't know how to do something, ask someone. If you aren't sure if something is safe, speak up. If you feel in over your head, talk to others. You aren't going to be put in a room with a seizing patient and be told to do an LP from across the room. Don't sweat it. While you may be scared of hurting someone as an intern, your R2 is also scared of you hurting someone on their watch, and the attending is scared of you hurting someone on theirs.

I wouldn't sweat too much developing "a system" for any of what you're talking about, because it's going to be entirely location-specific. Better to spend time on learning how to do a good h&p, a thorough differential, and a sound treatment plan. The other systems level stuff is pretty irrelevant. You can cross town and find yourself going from a humming EMR through which you can dance like a tango, to a paper-and-pencil charting system in which orders are written on what look like post-its.