What can I do as an M1/M2?

[realruby2000]

hey everyone,

I'm currently an M1 at an allopathic school and am really interested in EM. What are some things I can do now and next year that will look good and mabey even make a difference when im applying to different programs? Any advice will help!!

Thanks

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[mikecwru]

1. Meet EM attendings and residents. Do elective in the ED to shadow physicians at your local residency. Do a little, but less time, in a community ED also.

2. If you have an opportunity AND ARE INTERESTED do some EM research if you have a chance to be published.

3. Do as well as you can in all subjects and prepare for and do well on the boards.

4. Don't neglect your life. They'll be looking for people that turn it on/turn it off. They'd rather have an above average student who's into stuff at most places than a superior student who's a recluse.

5. When obtaining letters of recommendation (done later in med school) get as many as you can. You can sort through them later... stagger "important" ones to all the "best" programs, in case you unknowingly get a bad one... SAGE advice. Don't get burned.

6. Continue EMS experience if you have it, or have an easy opportunity to do it.

7. Become involved in your emergency med interest group.

mike

 

[tonem]

And most importantly...do very well on the USMLE.

 

[The White Coat Investor]

Start/Join an EMIG. (Be president, even if there are 10 co-presidents.) Join EMRA/ACEP and occasionally read the editorials in annals to see what's important to EPs. Rock Step 1. Play hard and remember that third year is really what matters, so now is the time to do what you love.

 

[realruby2000]

Since an EM rotation is done during 4th year, how is it possible to get a letter from an EM physician while you're applying? What if you honor in that rotation? How will you able to submit your grades and show them in time if you're interviewing? sorry, Im not really familiar with how the application process and match works

 

[codebrown]

Honestly, as a MS1 or 2 I would take the time to be open-minded about your specialty. Just a caveat, but there are a lot of people who entered med school fixed on being one thing or another, and who then changed their minds. Some people even changed their minds as they were nearing the end of the interview trail 4th year. Use the next few years to keep your eyes open, rotate through all the specialties and use pre-clinical shadowing visits, etc, to give yourself a comprehensive idea of what the specialties are like. Of course, do the things that the others suggested, but don't be in the position of scrambling for a position in, say, urology or proctology after you spent months blindly applying to programs in EM and realising late that you hate it. Just my 2c.

 

[DrQuinn]

Code Doo-Doo Brown is right... as an M1 or M2, i would definately keep my options open. I can remember when I was an M1, everyone was like... "I either want to be a pediatric endocrinological oncologic surgeon... either that or FP." Hah. Its great to be interested in a certain specialty, but unless you've been exposed to it before medical school (A decent portion of EM applicants that I've met were either EMTs or Paramedics or what not before... so they have a different skew), keep your mind open. Who knows you may love standing in the OR for 4 hours in front of a tiny 2" hole (size dependent on the pt) doing a total vaginal hysterectomy. Mmmm holding spreaders for 4 hours...

Q

 

[realruby2000]

Originally posted by QuinnNSU
Code Doo-Doo Brown is right... as an M1 or M2, i would definately keep my options open. I can remember when I was an M1, everyone was like... "I either want to be a pediatric endocrinological oncologic surgeon... either that or FP." Hah. Its great to be interested in a certain specialty, but unless you've been exposed to it before medical school (A decent portion of EM applicants that I've met were either EMTs or Paramedics or what not before... so they have a different skew), keep your mind open. Who knows you may love standing in the OR for 4 hours in front of a tiny 2" hole (size dependent on the pt) doing a total vaginal hysterectomy. Mmmm holding spreaders for 4 hours...

Q

yea, you guys are right.... i do wanna keep my options open. I was kind of leaning to em right now cuz of job flexibilty and lifestyle reasons. I did volunteer in the er before but i dont think I recieved enough exposure. I was wondering, what drove many of you to choose EM over other specialties?

thanks

 

[12R34Y]

I was a paramedic for the last five years before medical school and i also worked as a ER tech along with it....and frankly i fell in love with EM. I've worked at level I trauma centers and community hospitals and loved them both.

i'm sure you'll find something you love during your clinicals.

later

 

[The White Coat Investor]

Everything I liked in medicine happened in the ED. Lifestyles issues. Work hard, play hard. The attendings felt about medicine the way I did. I enjoyed being in the ED. I liked the pace, the chief-complaint based diagnostics, the occasional procedure, and the camaraderie. Plus I hate call.

 

[DrQuinn]

I was an EMT during college, and since I started medical school, I have been working as a medical malpractice defense paralegal, and our biggest clients are Emergency Medicine groups (not because they have more claims, but the insurance company that covers them does mostly EM). But ever since I was a wee little one, I"ve always wanted to do EM. Everything that can go on does go on in the ED, and I love the camaraderie of the staff down there (ward clerk, PCA, RNs, radiology). ANd I also TRULY believe that even though we only see the patient for a few minutes, we can definately do some preventive care in the ED (Dude, if you have one more foe-tee, you will kill your pancreas and you will die, so stay away from the O-E).

Plus I hate chasing K.
Q