<p>GA - Isn’t it interesting where they “click” or where they don’t during rotations? NEVER would I have thought that D would end up in ob/gyn but halfway through her rotation she called me to say that she had “found her people.” She loved her surgical rotation (and is going into an area where there is a surgical component) but did not want to be a surgeon for the reasons in eadad’s post above.</p>
<p>I didn’t click with the neurosurgeons at my medical school. But when I got into residency, I was in awe of the neurosurgeons there. Genuinely the nicest people in the world. I kept wishing I would have chosen neurosurgery. But then again, the culture of the programs may vastly differ from place to place.</p>
<p>I didn’t click with the anesthesiology department at my medical school. Nevertheless, I hit it off with the attendings at my residency. The sad part is you can’t predict what experience you will have in medical school.</p>
<p>I love hearing these stories of finding the right fit! It never ceases to amaze me how most people “click” and know what specialty is right for them. I had no intention of doing what I do now (emergency medicine) but like a lightbulb appearing over my head - I knew I wouldn’t be happy anywhere else. I don’t believe in love at first sight, but I sure believe in following your gut rather than your brain in choosing a medical specialty. In this line of work, you need to have a “calling” and no matter how much sense a particular specialty makes for you, if your heart isn’t in it, you’ll be miserable. </p>
<p>On finding fit, some seem to just click and know what they want, some kids seemed to not really love anything-that can be rough, others seemed to like everything. And then there is the issue of scores, some specialty may be a good fit, but you need the scores to be considered.</p>
<p>GA2012, somewhere in the back threads is a group of worried parents talking, two years ago, about their kids all loving surgery. My DD loved her surgery rotation, but she was at a small peripheral hospital, because she had had no plans to go into surgery, she wanted to experience the real thing not the scut to help with her imagined specialty.<br>
She actually got to be the assistant, she did lots of operating ‘stuff’ but also liked her original perceived specialty and then liked one she discovered early in MS4 year. Ah, the conundrum when several options seem good, but there is not enough time to fully explore them all deeply. </p>
<p>I also remember when DD took a late in MS4 year neurosurgery rotation and the attending wished he had gotten to her sooner. It is a rough process in that one should be deciding by winter of MS3 what schedule to do over the summer, which sub-I to take, maybe apply for an away rotation. How is one to explore everything if you are choosing so soon in the process?</p>
<p>I’ll echo the idea of you know your specialty when it all finally “clicks,” and that I’m so beyond excited for my career as a pediatrician :)</p>
<p>At around 8:30 last night I got a series of IMs from my daughter. I don’t think she would mind if I shared…“A super stressful and amazing day.”, “my sr residents are so so amazing”, “med school prepares you to learn real medicine”, “you don’t actually learn that much as a student”. </p>
<p>The early part of residency in a nutshell.</p>
<p>Churchmusicmom – I’m so happy for your daughter and son-in-law. </p>
<p>Somemom and Elleneast – Sending good wishes to your daughters as they begin residency. They will be grateful for your love and support during these challenging years. </p>
<p>kristin5792 - We LOVED our pediatricians! I think you made a great choice. </p>
<p>D is entering her final year of residency. Hooray! She knows she made the right choice. She is, however, exhausted… When another resident (or resident’s spouse) has a baby, when there is a health issue, or when there is a family emergency and another resident can’t work, or can’t work a full shift, the remaining residents are asked (told) to pick up those shifts. It makes an already overwhelming work schedule even more difficult. It’s hard to believe that just two years ago she was just beginning this phase. She was so nervous. Those first few months she couldn’t sleep - she would have dreams about work. Now she is so tired that she can sleep any time, any place. After her first year, she decided to move closer to work and now has a five minute commute. That helped a lot. She would love to have a weekend off some time soon… My last text from D came yesterday at the end of her work day - 1:38 A.M.</p>
<p>D is complete oppeosite of “kids all loving surgery. My DD loved her surgery rotation,” - D. said back in HS, “never suregry”, she absolutely hated her surgery rotation and it was a mystery for her how she got an H in it (which she believed that she did not deserve). She still think of it as a negative experience and even talking how to minimize her OR experiences in her Prelim / Transitional year (if possible at all). She will do her best everywhere, but it will require whole lot of emotional effort to be in OR and she knows that already.<br>
I wonder how close AI position comes to the residency. D’s next rotation is an AI at VA hospital. She might have another one scheduled later, I am lost with all those short 4th year electives / AI’s. </p>
<p>I accidentally found this link:</p>
<p><a href=“http://career.ucla.edu/Files/PDF/MedStats/USApplicantsToMedSchool_StatisticsOnInternationalApplicants_2011-12_101613.pdf”>http://career.ucla.edu/Files/PDF/MedStats/USApplicantsToMedSchool_StatisticsOnInternationalApplicants_2011-12_101613.pdf</a></p>
<p>This got me curious about how difficult it would be for these students to apply to residency programs. These students are really not IMG because they study in a US med school. But, are they treated the same as US medical school students who are US citizens or permanen residents?</p>
<p>Internationals are not treated the same way as domestic (US residents and PRs) during residency applications because there is the issue of getting work permits/visas. Many hospitals will not sponsored visas (too much paperwork) and so wont’t even interview internationals for residency programs. And it’s not just smaller hospitals/programs; JHU, for example, won’t interview internationals.</p>
<p>Supposedly, the reason why Mayo stopped accepting internationals into their med school was the increasing difficulty of placing them into residencies.</p>
<p>The other issue is that not all states will license an international and getting a state medical license is a requirement to begin residency.</p>
<p>WOWMom, Thanks for the explanation.</p>
<p>It seems to me that at some more research-oriented med schools, especially for those with a larger MD-PhD program, may be more inclined to recruit a few internationals because they may more likely devote more of their time to the research side of medicine, which may help the school to bring in the research money and/or boost the research school’s ranking.</p>
<p>I once read an articleabout a med school, in which it is said that, every few years, a couple of them even do not participate in the match and forego the residency part of training altogether. Or, some of them seem to pursue a J-1 visa to receive the residency training in US and then go back to their home country to practice medicine there instead of US. This is because of the requirement of a J-1 holder to go back to where they come from for two years after the training - unless they become a government employee or serve in a rural area.</p>
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<p>THIS. </p>
<p>Two months in D feels that she read her program correctly when she interviewed and is very pleased to be there. She continues to view her co-residents as the salt of the earth. Every day is intense and extremely busy. She can’t believe how much she has learned in such a short time. </p>
<p>Elleneast: I believe that newly graduated MDs know a lot about medicine but don’t know anything about medicine. The hours of an intern are brutal and the learning curve is steep. S, a second year resident, freely admits he’s a different person than he was especially at start of intern year and is becoming much more comfortable and efficient in his role as an MD. If D’s experience is like S’s, tell her it gets better next year as new interns will be running around doing grunt work that she had to do as intern. The hours are better as well. Good luck to D.</p>
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<p>Thank you so much for the well wishes. D has mentioned a couple of times that she is looking forward to getting through this first year. She and her entire resident class can’t wait to reach that point. She has learned so much but is still terribly green. The upper level residents are very supportive and from her observation of them she knows that it will become progressively better. The occasional frustration (and fear) is perfectly natural and she knows that. Your comment “newly graduated MDs know a lot about medicine but don’t know anything about medicine” is very true. </p>
<p>All of the above being said, D thinks that she is at a residency program that fits her very well. I don’t know how a resident survives working as hard as they do in an environment that is toxic.</p>
<p>Had the opportunity to spend an afternoon with DD, now, 2+ months in, I can already see the difference. In July I could tell the requirements were stretching her physically and emotionally, now in her third month in the same specialty she is feeling more comfortable and organized. It has not been the work that is stretching, rather the time requirements and ability to exercise, eat, sleep, play, etc. She seems to be in a good spot now, but also, this is the first day off where she has been caught up on life such that it was worth the long drive to visit her.</p>
<p>Next rotations are supposed to be longer days and more call time, so I am sure that will be another adjustment.</p>
<p>DD seems to really be happy with her site & her fellow residents.</p>
<p>It’s great to hear positive reports. I can add to that by saying that my son-in-laws new situation (he switched specialties and is now in his SECOND intern year) is so, so much better than the old one. We are grateful every single day.</p>
<p>ERAS goes live on Monday.</p>
<p>D1 is ready–applications submitted, LORs uploaded, Dean’s Letter reviewed and uploaded, interview suit bought. </p>
<p>Yes, she has a list at least…and we got the warning about future need for a card to pay the fee. Still waiting for few things. Hopefully next week, at least to prelims/transitionals.</p>
<p>Wowmom: your post reminded me that it’s been 2 years since S submitted ERAS. What a day. By submitting ERAS, S had completed the heavy lifting and had just one final big push (interviews) to Match Day which came and went in a blur. Congrats to D1 on her accomplishment and good luck to her on interview trail.</p>
<p>Good luck to everyone hitting the final stretch to residency. </p>