What do the M4's doing a rotation/sub-i in rad onc do at your institution?

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swaggy1090

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I am wanting to go into rad onc, and was curious what my M4 rotation would involve. I know it varies from institution to institution, but it seems like as a med student, there's not a whol lot you could do as a member of th team. Do you mainly just go see the patients who are follow up for radiation, and do a basic HPI on new patients being referred to rad onc?

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Our med students will typically see the patients, present to myself and my attending, and write the note. Sometimes I leave the last part out because most med student notes are bad and it's just easier/quicker for me to write it rather than correct it. They usually know what patients will be coming in the night before so I expect them to have at least a basic knowledge and to attempt to come up with a basic plan for that patient. I don't typically have med students bother with follow ups because they're often of limited educational value. Otherwise I try to give them an idea of what the field is all about in the most general terms, basic contouring principles, and to give them an idea of the radonc workflow. It may vary from institution and it definitely varies based on the quality/comfort of the med student but it's hard for med students to actually be useful so I just try to make sure that my students learn something and get a good feel for the field.
 
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