What is the advantage of doing 4 week versus 2 week elective rotations?

[Terpskins99]

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We have 4 weeks allotted during MS3 year for electives. And in MS4 year, we have 12 weeks of electives and 8 weeks of sub-i's.

I was wondering what would be the negative of trying to spread yourself out by doing all 2 week electives (besides the obvious cost of moving around so much... and the fact that many hospitals do not offer 2 week electives). Is it a simple matter of 4 week sub-i/electives making more of a positive impression to residencies than a mere 2 weeks?

I'm interested in doing a residency in a pretty competitive field, and since I know I will probably have to apply to a wide number of locations I figure it might be in my best interests to try to be physically at as many locations as possible.

Thanks!

 

[Law2Doc]

We have 4 weeks allotted during MS3 year for electives. And in MS4 year, we have 12 weeks of electives and 8 weeks of sub-i's.

I was wondering what would be the negative of trying to spread yourself out by doing all 2 week electives (besides the obvious cost of moving around so much... and the fact that many hospitals do not offer 2 week electives). Is it a simple matter of 4 week sub-i/electives making more of a positive impression to residencies than a mere 2 weeks?

I'm interested in doing a residency in a pretty competitive field, and since I know I will probably have to apply to a wide number of locations I figure it might be in my best interests to try to be physically at as many locations as possible.

Thanks!

I would think the problem with really short electives is (1) that all specialties see busy and slow weeks and it would be really lame to do a 2 week rotation where there weren't many procedures going on, and (2) it usually takes a little time to understand how various people like you to do things, so it's difficult to get up to speed and impress, the less time you give yourself. Also folks aren't going to take time out of their schedule to show you things and teach you if they know that you'll be gone in like a week.

 

[Biscuit799]

I'm also a third year, so I don't have much direct experience to draw from. There are good points already mentioned, so all I can add is that the danger of doing a four week elective is that you become part of the "routine," part of the "wallpaper" so to speak. Thus, maybe you made a good impression by the time 2 weeks were over, but by the end of the month, you're just another member of the team, and thus don't stand out as much.

 

[smq123]

I'm also a third year, so I don't have much direct experience to draw from. There are good points already mentioned, so all I can add is that the danger of doing a four week elective is that you become part of the "routine," part of the "wallpaper" so to speak. Thus, maybe you made a good impression by the time 2 weeks were over, but by the end of the month, you're just another member of the team, and thus don't stand out as much.

I guess it depends on which "competitive specialty" you're doing you sub-I in . On a surgical specialty (like ENT, ortho, neurosurg), it can take at least 2 weeks for the team to trust you, and let you actually do enough stuff to prove yourself. In other words, I think it's the other way around from what you were saying - the FIRST two weeks, you're part of the wallpaper. After that, you kind of start becoming (sort of) part of the team.

It might be different for other specialties, like derm or radiology.

 

[Law2Doc]

It might be different for other specialties, like derm or radiology.

There's always going to be a learning curve. 2 weeks means you have to be impressive from day 1 to actually get acknowledged before the time is up.

 

[Ashers]

My school has some 2 week electives, but the major downside of doing one of those is that they're not graded electives. Basically, if someone does a 2 week elective during the elective/vacation month 3rd year, that person won't get the extra month of vacation in 4th year, like they would if they would've had if they did one of the graded electives.

 

[Terpskins99]

I guess it depends on which "competitive specialty" you're doing you sub-I in . On a surgical specialty (like ENT, ortho, neurosurg), it can take at least 2 weeks for the team to trust you, and let you actually do enough stuff to prove yourself. In other words, I think it's the other way around from what you were saying - the FIRST two weeks, you're part of the wallpaper. After that, you kind of start becoming (sort of) part of the team.

It might be different for other specialties, like derm or radiology.

Thanks guys. This looks like something I'll have to post in the specific specialties I am interested in.

But if anybody else has thoughts on the matter... I'm open ears.

 

[CLIF]

But you have to be careful with 4 week electives, it can sometimes be a little "too long." I agree that with two weeks you might be leaving just you're getting the hang of it, if you start hot, you can be leaving just when your performance is peaking.

 

[HealingDoc]

This was also my dilemma during 3rd year- ultimately I decided to do 1 4-week elective and 2 2-week electives. I also took a vacation, but I could have used that time to complete an additional elective. I don't really regret taking the vacation, though... got in some much needed family time after taking step 1 😉

My 4-week elective was in OMM, and I found that having 4 weeks allowed me continuity of care- my preceptor runs a student clinic for her medical patients, many of whom suffer from chronic pain. So I was able to treat a few people more than once during my elective and then catch up with them during the compassionate pain management group to see how they are doing post-treatment. If I had only spent 2 weeks there, I might not have seen the patients more than once.

My 2-week electives were in PM&R and cardiology. I chose PM&R because I am deciding between that and FM (I didn't know this when I first started 3rd year). My preceptor only worked M-W, so this was a disadvantage to me because I only had 6 days of exposure to a field in which I would potentially be applying for audition rotations 1 month from that time.

My 2-week elective in cardiology was just dumb- I can't believe I thought I was going to learn what I needed from my preceptor in that amount of time ;( For something like cardio, I really encourage students to do 4 weeks.

So in retrospect- I would have rather done two 4-week electives and saved cardiology for 4th year.