What exactly do 3rd and 4th year medical school students do?

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jtimmer1

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I know that I am only a college freshman, but I cannot help to wonder about medical school life. I know that the first two years of medical school consist of rigorous classwork. I have heard different things from different sources, but on average it seems that it is the equivalent to 30 credit hours worth of undergraduate classwork. So, I have the concept of what the first two years of medical school is like.

My question is as follows: what are the internship years like? Besides being in the hospital for a vast amount of time, what else do these medical students do? Must they write papers on certain things that they have encountered, or is it just an experience that medical schools feel their student need before they initiate residency? I suppose, simply, after two years of constant coursework, do medical students just jump right in to "practice" without having to do any more formal schoolwork?

Thanks in advance.

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Shadowing half the time, the other half filling out templates (history or physical, soap notes) and talking about them for a little while to the team, often presenting the intern/resident's ideas as your own.
 
First off, don't go comparing M1 and M2 year to college with credit hours. That doesn't really work; it's true you sit in lecture a lot, but it's not like undergrad unless you mean 30 cr/semester M1/M2. That my equal the amount of work.

I've had to make powerpoint presentations about specific topics or case presentations on rotations. Do brief presentations for the team over lunch on a journal article, etc.

There are exams in just about every 3rd year rotation, and some rotations had tons of busy work like essays and group stuff.

I'm looking forward to the part of M4 year where I just have to show up.

I was kinda annoyed when I had to do the powerpoint presentation. I made it through college and almost through M3 year without ever using powerpoint before.
 
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1) Internship year is not MS3-4. That's for the first year after graduation (aka PGY1). Confusing this in front of medical types will probably get you made fun of, since we have nothing better to do.

2) people who think the first years of med school are "30 hours of undergrad work" must have gone to a pretty relaxed undergrad, because I averaged 16-18 hours at a liberal arts college and it was about 80% of the work I do now. The best thing is, you don't have to write lab reports any more.

3) The clinical years are reserved for a ton of learning. You essentially learn nothing about how medicine ACTUALLY works in the pre-clinical years. Tons of procedural stuff, practical management issues, etc etc etc, are learned in MS3 especially. Also, many rotations have lectures once or twice or three times a week. MS4 is reserved for elective rotations, elective classes, interviews, and best of all, bumming around doing little to nothing for the last time in your life.
 
I meant 30 credit hours per semester, sorry If I was unclear. I was told that by an actual doctor also.

That is is basically what I thought it was. But keep em' coming.
 
I meant 30 credit hours per semester, sorry If I was unclear. I was told that by an actual doctor also.

That is is basically what I thought it was. But keep em' coming.

This is relatively accurate. Just pretty much expect to study until between 8 and 11 every night. I would say that this is about what it would be like to take 30 credit hours in a semester.
 
they start regretting their career choice
 
Throw wild parties
 
4th years do about the same thing you do...sit on their ass 90% of the time, slack off, and still manage to make As (except for rotations in the field that you want to go into, then you actually work).
 
I meant 30 credit hours per semester, sorry If I was unclear. I was told that by an actual doctor also.

As someone who actually took some 30+ credit hour semesters in undergrad, I can tell you that medical school is nowhere near that difficult (in my personal experience, at least). There is less variety in what you learn, which is frustrating, and there are a lot of things to memorize, but it doesn't have to become a full time job for all MS1/MS2 students.

Some MS3 rotations, on the other hand, require extreme amounts of work. Basically, you are assigned to a department or clinic for a certain number of weeks, and you do what they tell you to. You take patient histories, perform exams, write notes, and research whatever you need to in order to avoid looking like an idiot in front of your attendings. There are also exams to take, and there may be presentations or mini-projects to do, but the bulk of the experience is clinic time.

MS4 rotations have more spread when it comes to the level of difficulty. Some elective rotations require less work, and some require more. It depends on what you pick, but in general students seem more OK with slacking off once their residency apps are completed and submitted.
 
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