trouble choosing core hospitals?

[BMW19]

Hope someone has some insight on this issue. We have choices for our core rotations (which is great I guess) and I am really stuck deciding:

Hospital A: No med students, No residents. We will be the guinea pigs! Probably get lots of one on one attention from attendings (which could be good or bad I guess). We will be under the microscope. Level II trauma center with a peds ER (I want to go into EM).

Hospital B: Tons of students from all over, residents in OB, IM, FP and Gen surg. Gets all the trauma that does not go to our major trauma hospital. 15 miles from my house as opposed to 35. NO EM residents though (don't know if this is good or bad). Teaching hospital.

So I guess the dilemma as one student put it is "Do you want to learn and watch or do lots of procedures and get baptized by fire?"

Any thoughts?

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[kito]

My rule of thumb is go where you can have fun, that way it won't feel like work. If you can go to a place where there is trauma and few students you will be able to do more and your work will mean more. That responsibility is empowering and invigorating and ultimately more fun, so that's what I would choose. Besides, you will have many more sick and ridiculous stories to tell others for the rest of your life if you go with the first choice.

 

[MadameLULU]

Is Hospital A a private hospital? It kinda sounds like it. I find that I don't get to do anything in the private sector at all, so you may want to look into that.

 

[BMW19]

Why is that are they more afriad you will screw up and cost the hospital money?

B-

Is Hospital A a private hospital? It kinda sounds like it. I find that I don't get to do anything in the private sector at all, so you may want to look into that.

 

[MadameLULU]

I don't think there is as much hands-on opportunity for med students at private hospitals compared to public hospitals. Think of it this way, would you really want a med student attempting to suture you or perform some type of procedure if you were a patient at a private hospital? Probably not.

Why is that are they more afriad you will screw up and cost the hospital money?

B-

 

[BMW19]

Well then why would a private hospital accept students? So they can stand in the corner?

B-

I don't think there is as much hands-on opportunity for med students at private hospitals compared to public hospitals. Think of it this way, would you really want a med student attempting to suture you or perform some type of procedure if you were a patient at a private hospital? Probably not.

 

[MeowMix]

I don't think there is as much hands-on opportunity for med students at private hospitals compared to public hospitals. Think of it this way, would you really want a med student attempting to suture you or perform some type of procedure if you were a patient at a private hospital? Probably not.

This has not been my experience at all. I have been able to do a lot at private hospitals, including a whole lot of suturing. The patient is anesthetized; my attending is not going to let me do anything without supervision; my suturing looks beautiful. Now, outpt clinic, that's where you end up doing a whole lot of shadowing with a private physician vs actually doing something @ public clinic.

The choice the OP is making has good and bad on both sides. I'd recommend doing some rotations at each hospital, if that choice is available. I've done about half my rotations at each of these 2 types of sites. If I could choose only one, I'd go for the one away from the whole intern-resident hierarchy; it's great to get the 1:1 attention.

 

[MadameLULU]

This has not been my experience at all. I have been able to do a lot at private hospitals, including a whole lot of suturing. The patient is anesthetized; my attending is not going to let me do anything without supervision; my suturing looks beautiful. Now, outpt clinic, that's where you end up doing a whole lot of shadowing with a private physician vs actually doing something @ public clinic.

The choice the OP is making has good and bad on both sides. I'd recommend doing some rotations at each hospital, if that choice is available. I've done about half my rotations at each of these 2 types of sites. If I could choose only one, I'd go for the one away from the whole intern-resident hierarchy; it's great to get the 1:1 attention.

Students experiences on rotations are highly variable. At my school, most students that I've talked to on surgery don't get to do much at the private hospital except retract.retract.retract, whereas the the public hospital they're doing much more (but their hours are terrible).

OP, talk to 4th years at your school who chose the private hospital route and see what their experience was like.

 

[BMW19]

Unfortunately, we have no 4th years. Hence my need of advice. We are a new branch school of PCOM. We will be the first 4th years. We have great hospitals but the one without students or residents is unchartered territory. The one with the students and residents has been a teaching hospital forever to students from all over the country.

BMW-

Students experiences on rotations are highly variable. At my school, most students that I've talked to on surgery don't get to do much at the private hospital except retract.retract.retract, whereas the the public hospital they're doing much more (but their hours are terrible).

OP, talk to 4th years at your school who chose the private hospital route and see what their experience was like.