Every Rotation

1. Read the section corresponding to your upcoming rotation in First Aid for the Wards prior to the start of the rotation (or at least within the first week). If you learn nothing else on your rotation, make sure you know this information.
2. Practice questions are a great way to quiz yourself during each rotation. More students are leaning toward a year subscription to an online Step 2 question bank such as: Kaplan or USMLEWorld, but there are also decent Q&A review books divided by specialties such as: Lange Q&A: USMLE Step 2 CK.
3. No matter how tired you are, make sure you study at least one hour every day. Many students learn easiest when they study a chief complaint they encountered that day.
4. Listen and take notes on rounds.
5. Always be on time.  Act interested.  Be a person that others like to have around.
6. Ask your resident and/or attending what is expected of you and how they like to hear you present. Do this within the first week of the rotation.
7. Learn the art of being concise and presenting pertinent information in your presentations. This will endear you to your attending, resident, and the rest of any team of which you might be a part.
8. Don't be too hard on yourself. Third year is all about doing something wrong every single day. So just relax, and continue to do stupid things because that means you're learning. It is OK to do things wrong now, because you are not the one making the final decisions. If you don't mess-up now, you're going to mess up later when it matters. So now is your chance.
9. Determine on DAY ONE how many pages of your basic text you need to read every day to achieve your reading goal. Then stick to your daily reading assignment.
10. Try to get as many letters of recommendation during 3rd year as you can. If you are not 100% certain what field you will go into, have the attending write a generic letter. More letters mean that you will have more to choose from when applying to residency programs next year, and having multiple choices means you can choose the best program to fit your needs. You should try to walk away from every rotation with a letter of recommendation. If it turns out to be a poor letter, then trash it. But in the majority of cases you will be surprised at how good a letter an attending will write for you. Additionally, when your attending writes a letter for you, he or she will be forced to look at you in a more positive light, so you may end up getting a better evaluation because of it!
11. For every rotation you will need Tarascon Pocket Pharmacopoeia, The Doctors In Training Resident Handbook, Maxwell Quick Medical Reference pocketbook, and a smartphone or PDA loaded with Epocrates Rx. Additionally, here are some iPhone applications students have recommended: Monthly Prescribing Reference (aka MPR, free app), AHRQ ePSS (free), Mediquations ($4.99) or MedCalc (free), ABG (free), Hypermunes Pregnancy Wheel (free), iMurmur2 ($2.99), ECG Guide ($0.99), and Diagnosaurus DDx ($.0.99). 

If you are a medical student and have additional information that you think 3rd & 4th year medical students would find helpful or questions about success in medical school, please send your comments/questions to support@doctorsintraining.com  

Third Year Rotation-Specific Advice

Surgery

Internal Medicine

Pediatrics

OB/GYN

Psychiatry

Family Medicine

On studying for the USMLE Step 2 CK

Doctors In Training USMLE Step 2 CK Online Review Online Access will begin on April 26, 2010 or on a date you specify! This will be a 3-week comprehensive lecture series in the same format as our Step 1 Review. Most students take about a month to study more intensively for step 2. If you did not do as well as you wanted on Step 1, this is your chance to show residency programs you have improved. If you need to cover your Step 1 blemish, then take Step 2 early (before October of 4th year) so residency programs will have a chance to look at it. If you think you might do worse on Step 2 than you did on Step 1, then take the test later so residency programs only have your Step 1 score when making their decision. If you plan on this second option, make sure the residency programs you are interested in do not require a Step 2 score for ranking, because some do. Here are some of the best resources for Step 2 study:

• Doctors In Training USMLE Step 2 Review
• Step-Up to USMLE Step 2 (Yes, it's better than First Aid for Step 2)
• NMS Review for USMLE Step 2 and/or online question bank
• USMLE Step 2 Secrets

On scheduling your 4th year rotations

1. Know that your first few rotations will appear on your transcript and Dean's Letter (now called the medical student performance evaluation or MSPE). So you may want to either adjust your schedule to overshadow your 3rd year grades with better 4th year grades or take more P/F classes during this time to not mess-up your current transcript.
2. Most residency interviews take place October through January. Schedule easy rotations or time off during these months to go on interviews.
3. When going through rotations in your desired specialty, use The Doctors In Training Resident Handbook to manage patients better than the interns!
4. If you are undecided between 2 career choices, do rotations in these fields first so you can hurry-up and make up your mind. You don't have much time left to decide!
5. If you still need letters of recommendation, rotations that will provide you with strong letters should be scheduled early in the year.
6. If you are going into a competitive field and have not yet done research, you need to schedule a research rotation early in the year.
7. You should make every attempt to do a rotation at your first choice residency program. This will help you decide if you really want to spend the next 3-5 years at that program. Also, this lets the program know that you are a very serious applicant, and they will place you higher on their rank list because of it (unless you make a fool of yourself while you are there). Again, use The Doctors In Training Resident Handbook to manage patients at least as well as the interns. Some programs will not even rank an applicant unless that person rotated through their program. If you are a medical student and have additional information that you think 3rd and 4th year medical students would find helpful or questions about success in medical school, please send your comments/questions to support@doctorsintraining.com

On Writing Your Personal Statement

• Use Iserson's Getting Into a Residency

Steps to Applying to Residency

• Use Iserson's Getting Into a Residency

Fourth Year Rotation-Specific Advice

Neurology

ICU

Emergency Medicine