MD rotations can be hit or miss too. My son rotated at a Level 1 trauma center and a couple rotations were awful. If you run into a poor rotation, try to make the best of it. Ask to give a presentation, or if you can tag along for a consult.
Can you elaborate on the "make the best of it" part? Like do we ask for some autonomous work? something like that?
Sure. First, see what you can do to be helpful. Chase down labs, if not assigned patients, do your own mini rounds. Have the answers to questions about the patients before others do. They might give you more responsibility. Ask to go along to see new admissions or consults with residents or attendings. Sometimes they will try and ditch you and this usually means they are going to perform an abbreviated consult and dont want you to see them cutting corners. Ask to present a case or pertinent topic on one of your patients if they do not assign you one. If you have a dud for a resident or attending, then all you can do is fall back on your intellectual curiosity and read about pertinent topics or study for boards. Any time doing that is not wasted. Try not to be out of site for too long, your evaluation will suffer if you dont appear interested.
I don't think it's necessarily related to urban or rural. It's more what @Goro describes per below.
I'm in a major city, urban. Right now, there is a person on rotation at the ER where I volunteer. My observation is that 50% of the time they are holed up in the physician's office peering at a computer screen (my guess is that they were not given anything better to do.) Another 25% standing around doing nothing (on the floor.) 10% watching nurses put in IV lines, 5% assisting the PA (could even be something like bringing the PA a towel or something from the Pyxsis) and maybe 10% (I'm generous) actually "doing" stuff. Did that add up to 100?
