4th year: it's just not that great

[smq123]

3. in the end, it's still 4th year. i'll miss a couple of days for match, leave a couple days early (really? they're going to dock me points? who cares? are they really going to fail me beaause i missed afternoon rounds a couple of times?)

Heh, at our school, there IS an attending who is notorious for doing just that. Some students have failed that rotation for skipping out early - which is tough, because it's a required one.

So it depends on who you're working with, I guess.

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[NPR]

Heh, at our school, there IS an attending who is notorious for doing just that. Some students have failed that rotation for skipping out early - which is tough, because it's a required one.

So it depends on who you're working with, I guess.

UGHHHHHHH

Now you are making me paranoid.

So skipping out early, how many times is too many? I could understand if it was a routine thing with those students. Is 2-3x a week really crossing the line? I'm still taking q4 call, I'm still working weekends (gag).

I'm sitting around here today with ants in my pants waiting to leave. I do realize this is my sub-I but hey, it's March!

 

[smq123]

UGHHHHHHH

Now you are making me paranoid.

So skipping out early, how many times is too many? I could understand if it was a routine thing with those students. Is 2-3x a week really crossing the line? I'm still taking q4 call, I'm still working weekends (gag).

I'm sitting around here today with ants in my pants waiting to leave. I do realize this is my sub-I but hey, it's March!

It depends on the culture of your school and your team.

2-3 times a week would be a LOT at our school. And the particular attending that I talked about reported students for skipping the day after Match Day. (No, most of the attendings at my school are not like this; this attending is a bit of an exception.) It really depends on your senior residents and your attendings. Hopefully they're a little laid back about it.

 

[surrender903]

On my medicine sub-I last month, I had to do that too. My main hospital blocked facebook and outside emails. That's when my blackberry came in handy. I found out at the end of the month they had not blocked youtube. =)

Ha! during my sub i i surfed here, fark, somethingawful.com forums but no youtube i worked around that by having my ipod mini with me at all times to listen to during down time.

 

[PeepshowJohnny]

It depends on the culture of your school and your team.

2-3 times a week would be a LOT at our school. And the particular attending that I talked about reported students for skipping the day after Match Day. (No, most of the attendings at my school are not like this; this attending is a bit of an exception.) It really depends on your senior residents and your attendings. Hopefully they're a little laid back about it.

Time to bust out my thespian skills.

"Uh, Dr. Hardass? *Fake cough* Yeah...I'm awful sick *cough cough*. Won't be making it in today *cough cough*

...And, scene.

 

[NPR]

It depends on the culture of your school and your team.

2-3 times a week would be a LOT at our school. And the particular attending that I talked about reported students for skipping the day after Match Day. (No, most of the attendings at my school are not like this; this attending is a bit of an exception.) It really depends on your senior residents and your attendings. Hopefully they're a little laid back about it.

Not with the note from my family doc indicating I was suffering from a florid case of hantavirus that Friday.

Out of curiosity, what school do you go to?

 

[surrender903]

UGHHHHHHH

Now you are making me paranoid.

So skipping out early, how many times is too many? I could understand if it was a routine thing with those students. Is 2-3x a week really crossing the line? I'm still taking q4 call, I'm still working weekends (gag).

I'm sitting around here today with ants in my pants waiting to leave. I do realize this is my sub-I but hey, it's March!

why not just ask your attending if there is anything you can do? if there is nothing he needs to be done then peace out. he cant fail you for asking and then leaving if there is no work to be done.

if you know that you re team is a stickler for leaving at 430, 5 whatever, and you know you will have downtime during the afternoon then just dissapear. you have a pager right? they can reach you via pager. get your work done, make sure your stuff is done right and then go the conference room on the floor, or go to the library.

 

[NPR]

why not just ask your attending if there is anything you can do? if there is nothing he needs to be done then peace out. he cant fail you for asking and then leaving if there is no work to be done.

if you know that you re team is a stickler for leaving at 430, 5 whatever, and you know you will have downtime during the afternoon then just dissapear. you have a pager right? they can reach you via pager. get your work done, make sure your stuff is done right and then go the conference room on the floor, or go to the library.

the attending likes to conduct teaching rounds anywhere from 5pm to 7pm, i'm merely requesting to go home at 5pm, not start rounds at 5pm

he disappears after morning rounds so there really isnt an opportunity to ask him anything

ive started asking my senior resident if i can vamooose. at the very least, it'll be one other person to blame (think like a lawyer )

to be fair, the one day i skipped out, the attending made no mention of it the next day

what a slippery slope!

 

[Law2Doc]

Why would you do easy rotations early? doesn't make any sense. ...

Yeah it does for a lot of people. If you are somewhat undecided on a specialty, you will want to use the early months in 4th year to try electives in things for which there are no core rotations; many of these are "easy". The early months are also the best ones during which to do away rotations, so they won't interfere with interviews and are done well in advance of ranking. So that already pushes the harder stuff (sub-Is and mandatory rotation) back a few months.

While 4th year is often a lighter load than 3rd year, many people have enough difficult things to take (sub-Is that work you 80 hours/week) that it is hardly the cushy lifestyle some people talk about. You generally will have months you can take off, which is nice, but I think at a lot of schools you don't get to go brain-dead like others are suggesting.

 

[The Angriest Bird]

I'm a 3rd year but I can agree with you on almost every point. Application process of any kind sucks **** by its very definition. That's why I'm very much turned away from any fellowship residencies, because I know I would have to apply again.

But, there is something good. So far in 3rd year, the biggest stressor by far is shelf exam. I'm not very bothered by the hospital hours. In fact I had a lot of fun for the most part. But, going home after a trauma call night with 9 patients in blood rushing in, 100+ pimp questions, one write-up to complete, and going home to study for shelf just blew my mind away. And I know it's not going to happen in fourth year, so I'm looking foward to it.

 

[Impromptu]

4th year has been awesome, not because it has been easy, but because I am learning what I want to learn. The beginning was a bear. Applications, 3 rotations in my desired field anesthesiology, all the while constantly impressing everyone, though I got sick during the last 2 weeks.

Then came a pathology rotation, which would have been easy, except that is when I took step 2. I then took a PICU subI (I was sick again - colds can be vicious to those trying to perform at peak levels), then did trauma ICU (motorcyclists occasionally come in with their leg detached and in a cooler), then an incredibly hard infectious disease rotation...

But then it was just interview trail and fun stuff, an online morbidity and mortality elective, ophthamology so I know what those guys are doing (incredibly interesting), a derm rotation so I can finally answer the only questions I get from friends and family, an EKG reading elective.

Next week I start a microsurgery elective (suturing rat nerves and aortas under microscope). Then I chose to do an anesthesiology ICU elective (hopefully by this time of year the interns will let me do all the cool procedures). I'm struggling now to choose a final elective. I have all my credits, I could sit on my rear at home, but I get bored so easily and I'm paying good money to learn, so I'm searching for another interesting elective, but they all seem to be taken. Call me a glutton for punishment, but I've been thinking about another SubI.

Do Step 2 Clinical Skills early, right after 3rd year is over. It was just one more thing hanging over me in November, and with all my anesthesiology and ICU electives, I was a little rusty on some of the basic stuff. Do it early.

 

[Metfan2987]

I suppose it makes sense that match anxiety would vary a lot depending on the specialty...yeah the 10 programs/23 spots nationwide thing kinda makes me a little paranoid. It is definitely better than third year, just not as great as everyone says!

There are residencies that have only 23 spots nationwide?

 

[PeepshowJohnny]

There are residencies that have only 23 spots nationwide?

Yeah.

Getunconcious is (by his sig and numbers) applying for the Peds/Psych/Child Psych combo residency. For many of these "combined" programs, there are very few programs/slots. For example:

Med/Psych: 12 programs, 22 slots
Peds/Derm: 2 programs, 2 slots
Psych/Neurology: 3 programs, 4 slots.
EM/FM: 1 program, 2 slots.

For "noncombined", the smallest of the "major" residencies is probably Plastics (49 programs, 92 slots)