away rotations

[ForensicPsych]

hi,

i had a question. my psych rotation at my school is 1 month. on top of this, i have an opportunity to either take a vacation month now during 3rd year or to take an elective (preferably in psych) during that vacation month. if i take an elective during this "vacation" month during my 3rd year, that vacation will be pushed to my 4th year and then i would get 3 months of vacation during the 4th year.

the reason i was thinking of taking a psych elective during this year is b/c then i would have 2 months of psych under my belt before applying to an away rotation.

is this a good idea? or would it really matter?

any thoughts would be nice. thanks.

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[TX515]

Three months off sounds nice.

 

[whopper]

I mentioned this a few times in the past, but not in the recent few months. This question has been asked before. In fact several questions here are often repeated because with each new year brings in new medstudents & residents with similar if not the same questions. You might be able to find some past threads that can help you.

(no criticism of you-this is life. I fit in this category too, just that I'm a few steps ahead of you because I'm farther up in my career.)

IMHO, if you are planning on going into psychiatry, you should get as much exposure as you can to fields that are important to psychiatry that aren't psychiatry before residency starts. My logic is that for 4 years minus your IM & neurology rotation, and for the rest of your life, you'll have psychiatric centered education. Some of these fields are neurology, endocrinology, IM, primary care, ER medicine, family practice, & ob-gyn. You will more than likely have very limited if any oppurtunities to study these fields one psychiatry residency starts.

More specific examples--a radiology rotation where they actively do MRIs & CT scans of the brain, an GI clinic that regularly gives out Pegasys (which treats Hep C, but is known to cause serious psychiatric side effects), endocrinology-has several psychiatric correlations-e.g. prolactin levels, people who inject themselves with insulin because they have factitious disorder, thyroid regulation etc.

There are advantages to doing a psychiatry elective. It can open a door into a place you are considering for residency, it will put you a few weeks ahead in knowledge vs other psychiatry residents, it can help you better decide if you want to go in the field or not, its another oppurtunity to get a letter or recommendation.

I would advise not doing a psychiatry elective simply to gain psychiatric knowledge if you know you want to go into psychiatry. Like I said, for the rest of your life you'll have plenty of oppurtunities to learn more in this field. I get grand rounds once a week (actually more) where I work, I get mailed invitations to psychiatry conferences several times a month. If however you need more exposure for the other reasons I mentioned, then I'd strongly consider the psychiatry elective.

So weigh all this together, and make your decision. In terms of your vacation time, at least the way I handled it, I strategically placed it in the ideal study time for attacking USMLE Step II. Of course for your own situation and interests, that may not be what is best for you.

 

[ForensicPsych]

Thanks for the responses! The advice helps!

 

[FRSAA]

whopper

Thanks for your beneficial participation

I have a quesion ;

Which place do you think is the ideal place to be in ,
e.g ; out patient clinic , In-patient , Emergency ....etc

I'm goining to have an elective program for one month ,and
I have to choose which place i'd like to be in .

I need to know the best place , so I can get more exposure and experience to help me to put my final and sure dicision of choosing psychiatry as a speciality .

Thanks