Where to do rotations?

[therhinoceros]

I apologize if this has been answered elsewhere, but I was not able to find it using the search function. I am currently a second year medical student. We will be submitting our clinical campus requests for third year in the next couple of weeks, and my school is affiliated with a few hospitals. We have been asked to rank the hospitals based on where we would like to work. Being interested in a competitive specialty has made it difficult for me to decide how to rank the hospitals.

Hospital A is known to give students much more free time to study, and as a whole the students perform better on the shelf exams. Compared to the other hospitals, students who work at hospital A also receive a greater percentage of honors. However, compared to hospital B, students receive far less clinical experience, and are much more hands off. Although the students at Hospital B love their experience, and are able to do much more than the standard med student, as a whole they receive lower scores on their shelf exams, and their letters are less "glowing." The other hospital we are associated with somewhere in between, but much closer to hospital B.

Would it be to my benefit to work at the easier hospital and honor more classes (this could help me clinch AOA), or get the hands on experience and learn more medicine at the other hospital?

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[mmmcdowe]

I apologize if this has been answered elsewhere, but I was not able to find it using the search function. I am currently a second year medical student. We will be submitting our clinical campus requests for third year in the next couple of weeks, and my school is affiliated with a few hospitals. We have been asked to rank the hospitals based on where we would like to work. Being interested in a competitive specialty has made it difficult for me to decide how to rank the hospitals.

Hospital A is known to give students much more free time to study, and as a whole the students perform better on the shelf exams. Compared to the other hospitals, students who work at hospital A also receive a greater percentage of honors. However, compared to hospital B, students receive far less clinical experience, and are much more hands off. Although the students at Hospital B love their experience, and are able to do much more than the standard med student, as a whole they receive lower scores on their shelf exams, and their letters are less "glowing." The other hospital we are associated with somewhere in between, but much closer to hospital B.

Would it be to my benefit to work at the easier hospital and honor more classes (this could help me clinch AOA), or get the hands on experience and learn more medicine at the other hospital?

Hospital A. Good clinical experience without any opportunity to integrate that into your greater fund of knowledge isn't all of that helpful. The theoretical increase in your clinical acumen at your paltry time at hospital B isn't going to make a difference beyond medical school, or probably even clinical year. Or probably even that rotation. I'll take the self study time please.

 

[Dr McSexy]

Hospital A would be fine.

Things I would consider:
-- if you have elective time in your 3rd year, or at least by your fourth year, you can do electives, AIs, etc. at the hospital B where you'll get more hands-on activity, but you aren't necessarily fighting for grades
-- if there's a particular specialty you are interested, you might consider choosing a hospital based on whether or not the big wigs in your department staff that location. Much easier to rub elbows.

All in all, it probably won't make that big of a difference either way. While I can only assume, I must think that there have been former students at your school who have rotated at both sites and it didn't have an effect on them being able to compete for a competitive residency spot.

 

[ArcGurren]

If it's just pass/fail go for Hospital B for the experience; if you're looking to get a good letter/grade out of it then go for hospital A

 

[b-real]

Hospital A. Doing well in your 3rd year clerkships (honors, great evaluations) and glowing letters of rec >> any marginal added experience you'll get with Hospital B. When applying for residency, program directors have a thousand applicants for their program. They won't care that you got a few more central lines or drained 5 more abscesses than the other guy. Evaluations (both subjective and objective) and Step 1 (and increasingly, Step 2) are pretty much the most important criteria for getting interviews.

 

[235009]

the responses in this thread are depressing.

getting good, broad clinical experience will help you on shelf exams and will make you a better physician. thinking that going to the "easier" hospital automatically means you get honors is also not true and if you get mediocre grades there then you didn't get the grade and you didn't learn anything worthwhile.

 

[hrandani]

Yeah that's how it should be. But it isn't.

I've never used this line before but I feel like for once it's appropriate.

Don't hate the player, hate the game.

 

[mmmcdowe]

the responses in this thread are depressing.

getting good, broad clinical experience will help you on shelf exams and will make you a better physician. thinking that going to the "easier" hospital automatically means you get honors is also not true and if you get mediocre grades there then you didn't get the grade and you didn't learn anything worthwhile.

Good broad clinical experience may help, but actually picking up a book to supplement a normal clinical experience (note that op didnt say hospital a was a bad learning experience only that hospital b let people do more than medical students usually get to do) is far better for the shelf and for clinical practice. Learning advanced skills as a medical student is less of a priority, to me, than developing a strong general understanding of medicine. Reading and self study are important for medical students.

 

[ArcGurren]

the responses in this thread are depressing.

getting good, broad clinical experience will help you on shelf exams and will make you a better physician. thinking that going to the "easier" hospital automatically means you get honors is also not true and if you get mediocre grades there then you didn't get the grade and you didn't learn anything worthwhile.

I don't think he said Hospital A is bad though, just that the evals there are better but students get to do "less". That doesn't mean they get to do nothing.

 

[therhinoceros]

Thanks for the help.