Which ward based rotations?

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manny99

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I am currently an MSII very interested in EM and we are getting close to setting up our 3rd year rotations. Most of our rotations are Preceptor based but we can do Ward based if we specifically request it. I was wondering if there are rotations (besides IM) that definitely need to be done/would be best to be done Ward based if EM is the ultimate goal. Surgery?FM?OB/GYN?PEDS?Doesn't matter?
 
All of them. Seriously. Don't forget psych!
 
Good knowledge of all major areas of medicine are required to be a good ER doc. If you offer a few choices, we can help you in deciding which will be the most benefit to you, though.
 
Sorry I guess my question didn't come across very clear. I know all rotations are very important, but I may only be able to do one other Ward based rotation (we already do Ward IM) which would be the most beneficial?
 
Sorry I guess my question didn't come across very clear. I know all rotations are very important, but I may only be able to do one other Ward based rotation (we already do Ward IM) which would be the most beneficial?

Are you serious? Only 2 of your core clerkships include any inpatient time? That is the most ridiculous setup I've ever heard of. You need to out this school because this setup is insane.

Who has time to do more than the most cursory teaching in the outpt setting? Nobody. And you're definitely not going to get any useful outpt teaching in Surgery or OB, maybe a little in Peds and a decent amount in Psych. But you're not going to experience anywhere near the breadth of pathology in any specialty (other than Derm, which I assume isn't a core) that you need to even pretend to understand it in the oupt setting.

OK.../rant. If you already have an IM requirement, I vote for surgery. Surgeons teach in the OR and sometimes in the ICU. Clinic is an obstruction to getting more OR time so clinics are packed solid (30-50 patients a day) which means no teaching.
 
Are you serious? Only 2 of your core clerkships include any inpatient time? That is the most ridiculous setup I've ever heard of. You need to out this school because this setup is insane.

Who has time to do more than the most cursory teaching in the outpt setting? Nobody. And you're definitely not going to get any useful outpt teaching in Surgery or OB, maybe a little in Peds and a decent amount in Psych. But you're not going to experience anywhere near the breadth of pathology in any specialty (other than Derm, which I assume isn't a core) that you need to even pretend to understand it in the oupt setting.

OK.../rant. If you already have an IM requirement, I vote for surgery. Surgeons teach in the OR and sometimes in the ICU. Clinic is an obstruction to getting more OR time so clinics are packed solid (30-50 patients a day) which means no teaching.

Thank you for your reply.

Yea the setup is not ideal. But most of the rotations are not just in outpatient clinics. Most are with hospitals and include inpatient and outpatient but they just aren't at teaching hospitals(with residencies).
 
Thank you for your reply.

Yea the setup is not ideal. But most of the rotations are not just in outpatient clinics. Most are with hospitals and include inpatient and outpatient but they just aren't at teaching hospitals(with residencies).

OK. Assuming the surgeons are going to take you with them into the OR, preceptor-based sounds like it could be a good deal for the surgical specialties (including GYN) because you will probably get to do a lot without a resident competing for operating experience, although you probably will not be seeing some of the exotic procedures that you would in a teaching hospital.

Peds (and neurology, if offered) you probably want to do ward-based. Sick kids are rare, so once you're out in practice, when you run across a kid who is actually sick, you will be drawing on all the experience you have, including med school.
 
The system you're describing sounds incredibly foreign to me (and probably most of the attendings). The only rotation I had that was preceptor based in med school was FM, and 2 weeks of gyn-onc. I would think that doing ward-based rotations would be better for almost everything (+/- psych), but that's probably not an option. What I would do is try and talk to the class above you and find out what rotations have a high percentage of engaged preceptors.
 
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