Which track is best based on your experience?

[medlife2017]

Hey guys, I was wondering if you could tell me what track is best based on the options and if you could give reasons, that would be greatly appreciated too.

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[HomeSkool]

My preference is 4 > 5 > 6. That allows you to get the most basic building blocks (IM, peds, and surgery) down before you go into more specialized stuff.

 

[neoexile]

Hey guys, I was wondering if you could tell me what track is best based on the options and if you could give reasons, that would be greatly appreciated too.

View attachment 229122

I agree with 4 > 5 > 6

 

[831929]

I agree with 4 > 5 > 6

I would say 5 is best since you take family med at the end right before step 2 and I also heard it's the tougher shelf since it has peds, IM, and other questions.

 

[neoexile]

I would say 5 is best since you take family med at the end right before step 2 and I also heard it's the tougher shelf since it has peds, IM, and other questions.

I can be on board with that. However, it all honestly, you should just know all of the CK knowledge before shelves. The shelves have bad habits of asking general questions outside their specialty because all of medicine is connected in the end.

 

[ndafife]

What are you interested in?

 

[WedgeDawg]

If you want to do medicine, 1 is probably the best, because you get a lot of peripheral background knowledge in FM and you get to learn how to manage inpatients in neuro and obgyn.

If you want to do surgery, 4 is pretty much easily the best option because you get to medicine first which really helps with the surgery shelf and you do surgery somewhere in the middle.

The basic principles that I would recommend is don't do specialties you're interested in first or last and if you want to do surgery, try to do medicine beforehand. Other than that, doesn't really matter that much.

 

[19pieces19]

If you want to do medicine, 1 is probably the best, because you get a lot of peripheral background knowledge in FM and you get to learn how to manage inpatients in neuro and obgyn.

If you want to do surgery, 4 is pretty much easily the best option because you get to medicine first which really helps with the surgery shelf and you do surgery somewhere in the middle.

The basic principles that I would recommend is don't do specialties you're interested in first or last and if you want to do surgery, try to do medicine beforehand. Other than that, doesn't really matter that much.

Which one would give you the best chances of honoring every single rotation?

 

[ndafife]

Which one would give you the best chances of honoring every single rotation?

The one where you study your ass off and work hard and show genuine interest in every single rotation

 

[WedgeDawg]

Which one would give you the best chances of honoring every single rotation?

see the comment below you

 

[treebeardette]

I'll put in a plug for doing medicine last if you're not going into medicine (and honestly even if you are it's not an issue). Made studying for Step 2 the next month a non-issue. Two birds, one stone.

Try not to do the things you're interested in as your first rotation. You're just not that impressive at the beginning of 3rd year. But try to take the things you are interested in before February/March so that you can make sure that's what you like and make connections before the end of third year/set up aways/etc.

 

[19pieces19]

@WedgeDawg @treebeardette
What if you're interested in dermatology?

 

[Waterlover]

I'd actually do 3. It's a tough way to end the year, but you have all the hardest subjects (for Step 2) at the end (especially medicine) which will make Step 2 studying much easier for you.

 

[WedgeDawg]

@WedgeDawg @treebeardette
What if you're interested in dermatology?

You're basically asking the same question again. You're getting a wide variety of answers, which suggests that there isn't really a "best" path for you to take to maximaze number of honors without any particular emphasis on any one rotation.

The most important rotation to do well in for Derm is probably medicine, but since you need a lot of honors for Derm, its relative importance is probably not as high as in other specialties. Since you need to maximize the number of honors overall, the best way to go about this is probably to figure out whether you want to front load, back load, or intersperse the "harder" rotations.

Some people like to front load and end on an easy note, in which case you should pick between 4 5 and 6. Some people like to ease into it and finish on the tough ones, in which case pick between 1 2 and 3. Some people like to alternate easy and hard rotations, in which case 1 or 4 might be best.

At this point, it probably comes down to personal preference and knowing yourself and how burnt out you'll be at any given time.

 

[takeurmeds02]

You're basically asking the same question again. You're getting a wide variety of answers, which suggests that there isn't really a "best" path for you to take to maximaze number of honors without any particular emphasis on any one rotation.

The most important rotation to do well in for Derm is probably medicine, but since you need a lot of honors for Derm, its relative importance is probably not as high as in other specialties. Since you need to maximize the number of honors overall, the best way to go about this is probably to figure out whether you want to front load, back load, or intersperse the "harder" rotations.

Some people like to front load and end on an easy note, in which case you should pick between 4 5 and 6. Some people like to ease into it and finish on the tough ones, in which case pick between 1 2 and 3. Some people like to alternate easy and hard rotations, in which case 1 or 4 might be best.

At this point, it probably comes down to personal preference and knowing yourself and how burnt out you'll be at any given time.

To add on to this, I just got my schedule for third year and I purposely front-loaded. I start out with medicine, then surgery, etc. I figure I can ride the wave of excitement to push me through plus I've heard that medicine sets you up with a nice foundation. It would seem like hell for me to have the heavy hitters at the end when I'm over life lol.

 

[WedgeDawg]

To add on to this, I just got my schedule for third year and I purposely front-loaded. I start out with medicine, then surgery, etc. I figure I can ride the wave of excitement to push me through plus I've heard that medicine sets you up with a nice foundation. It would seem like hell for me to have the heavy hitters at the end when I'm over life lol.

I also front loaded and thought it was a good fit for me. I couldn't imaging doing something like obgyn or surgery as my last rotation.

 

[Stagg737]

I actually disagree with most of the above and would say that I wouldn't want IM or surgery to be first. I would go with something a little easier for your first rotation so you can get adapted to clinical rotations and figure out how you're going to study for shelf exams before jumping into what I thought was by far the hardest shelf. I'd also try and split the more time-consuming rotations (like OB/gyn and surg) with something easier (like psych or neuro) to prevent burnout and give yourself some breaks.

That being said my ideal given your rotations would probably be:

OB/gyn -> psych -> IM -> cap -> surg -> neuro -> peds -> FM

I like OB and psych early because I thought they were the easiest shelf exams by a lot and didn't require that much studying. FM last as a review for Step 2.

 

[Lawpy]

I actually disagree with most of the above and would say that I wouldn't want IM or surgery to be first. I would go with something a little easier for your first rotation so you can get adapted to clinical rotations and figure out how you're going to study for shelf exams before jumping into what I thought was by far the hardest shelf. I'd also try and split the more time-consuming rotations (like OB/gyn and surg) with something easier (like psych or neuro) to prevent burnout and give yourself some breaks.

That being said my ideal given your rotations would probably be:

OB/gyn -> psych -> IM -> cap -> surg -> neuro -> peds -> FM

I like OB and psych early because I thought they were the easiest shelf exams by a lot and didn't require that much studying. FM last as a review for Step 2.

I thought OB/GYN is considered to be a difficult rotation, like surgery.

In the end, it looks like the ideal rotation schedule depends on the person and their personal interests, strengths/weaknesses etc.

 

[Stagg737]

I thought OB/GYN is considered to be a difficult rotation, like surgery.

In the end, it looks like the ideal rotation schedule depends on the person and their personal interests, strengths/weaknesses etc.

In terms of time commitment, yes. In terms of shelf difficulty, I thought OB and psych were by far the easiest exams. I honestly think you could pass the OB shelf easily by watching the OME vids for gyn once and reading 5 chapters of blueprints (aka like 10-12 hours of total studying). Maybe I'm just biased because I really enjoyed that rotation though.

Agree that it varies by person though. I've had friends who did IM first and loved it and others who did it first and wish they'd had it later. YMMV.

 

[sovereign0]

For the most part, it doesn't really matter.

Some say to do "hard" semester first and save the easiest stuff for last because you might (will) get burnt out towards the end, and things like FM are good review for Step 2. Also some attendings have lower expectations because they know it's your first couple of rotations.

You could just as easily flip that around and say doing "hard" semester last will be better because you'll have gotten more comfortable with 3rd year / presenting patients / clinical medicine by the time you're on the harder blocks, and would get better grades.

I've heard fairly ubiquitously that the Surgery shelf is mostly medicine, but you have less time to study during Surgery. That might be one rule you can't flip on itself.

Another one I've heard is that doing OB before surgery can help you develop "surgical skills" (suturing skin, or, more likely would be cutting the surgeon's suture) before being on surgery. Less convincing IMO.

 

[mrbreakfast]

My $0.02: consider both rotation and NBME difficulty
Approximate rotation difficulty: Surgery/OBGYN >> IM/peds > Neuro > FM > psych. Highly dependent on your school.
Approximate NBME difficulty: FM >> peds/IM > surgery > neuro > OBGYN (because of lack of study time, not material)> psych.

Other considerations:
1) You don't want to fail any NMBEs. So, taking FM first is widely considered to be a bad idea due to the brutal NBME.
2) Don't do anything you're seriously considering first. At some schools, students are practically expected to get a Pass on their first rotation. The best time to take whatever you're interested in is in the middle. This should be the #1 consideration IMO.
3) You will work significantly more hours, and potentially be treated significantly worse, on surgery and OBGYN. Ask yourself if you're mentally ready to wake up at 4 am every day and work 13-14 hour days, often with almost no downtime, then go home and study for a few more hours.

I'd personally recommend taking IM first (track 4), as this will help you a ton for every other rotation, and if you just took Step, you'll do well on IM shelf.

Alternately, track 3 lets you do IM right before Step 2 and gets what is widely considered the worst rotation (OBGYN) out of the way on a rotation that no one cares if you just Pass.

Finally, if you're scared of the transition to M3, track 2 eases you in the most by far.

 

[mrbreakfast]

I thought OB/GYN is considered to be a difficult rotation, like surgery.

It's considered difficult less because of the material and more because of the hours (hour-wise, can be longer than surgery), and, unfortunately, because of how students are treated at many programs. The actual NBME is very straight-forward.

I will say this: if you do OBGYN before surgery, learn to suture and tie on your own beforehand.

 

[mrbreakfast]

I actually ended up having my specialty of interest first (again, got my last choice track lol) but it worked out great for me.

This is fair, but I'd be inclined to suggest trying to avoid this all the same if possible. Some attendings can be unforgiving to new students, and some residency programs screen for Honors in certain clerkships.

I honored my clinical evals (not the shelf, but let's be real I am never going to honor any of the shelves anyway).

Not directed at you but probably good general advice to anyone is to look into how clerkships are graded. While it isn't literally impossible to honor a clerkship at my program without honoring the shelf, it practically is. It seems to me that, regardless of specific rotation, your first shelf score is generally one of your lowest.

 

[libertyyne]

I actually ended up having my specialty of interest first (again, got my last choice track lol) but it worked out great for me. My school has a light schedule and some vacation time between Step 1 and the first rotation, so I had time to do a little reading/preparing before starting the rotation. I honored my clinical evals (not the shelf, but let's be real I am never going to honor any of the shelves anyway). It also gave me a chance to connect early with mentors in the field, the residents and faculty at my home program, potential LOR writers, etc. I could go back and shadow them whenever I had time, meet with them for advising, and get hooked up with research and networking opportunities, all because they already knew me and (I think/hope) liked me from working with me on the rotation. Granted, the specialty I'm applying to is less competitive and has more warm-fuzzy type of people to begin with. I wouldn't recommend it to everyone, but I don't think it's the end of the world if you get stuck with your preferred specialty first.

Peds?