hello there ,i found this topic on medscape and i wanted to share it with you ....
Thomas Robey -- Coming Out of the Closet
-- "I’m going into emergency medicine."
There! I said it.
I’ve been surprised throughout my third year by how clannish the practitioners of medicine are. I don’t mean the useful divisions of "You treat the hypertension, he’ll cut out the tumors, she’ll deliver babies and I’ll prescribe lithium." I fully expected medicine to be a team effort where highly trained individuals contribute to the common goal of patient health. But I have the feeling that all of the players don’t necessarily have complete respect for their teammates.
Enter into the picture the third year medical student. As with many other colleges, my school divides the third year into core clerkships. The purpose of rotating in all the major fields is to educate students in the basic principles of medicine. A secondary goal is to assist future doctors in knowing when to refer their patients for specialty care. The third objective is to help students decide which residency to apply to. I don’t know about you, but I hadn’t a clue which specialty I would gravitate to when I started my third year. (Granted, part of my disorientation can be blamed on my sudden realization that I didn’t want to run a basic science lab.) For a while, I could honestly report to my inquiring residents and attendings that I didn’t know what I wanted to do next.
Things have changed. Now that I’m confident of a career in emergency medicine, I understand the dilemma that students with good ideas of their career goals have when confronted with the, "What are you going in to?" question. We are told to be up front and honest about our career interests –- to not let that get in the way of our education. But it’s not that easy. Whether it’s comments about the brevity of surgeons’ notes, caricatures of radiology as a 9 to 5 career, of ER docs doing triage shift-work or internists as ruminating second-guessers, the observant student will recognize that it might not be a good idea to disclose her chosen profession to those evaluating her. Don’t even get me started about what people say about my one-time career choice of pathology!
As it gets later in the year, the legitimacy of an "I don’t know" answer decreases. You’ve scheduled the fourth year to cater to your next step and you’re already thinking about residency programs. Hopefully, you’re pondering what will go into your personal statement. Even if you’re considering three fields, at least that’s down from the "everything seems interesting" non-answer (but still honest reply) that I used to give.
So what’s the lesson here? I say be confident in your ability to identify what you are best at, what you enjoy the most, and what career will contribute to a happy and meaningful life. When you’re on a team with docs who don’t understand your view, that’s okay. In whatever clerkship you are in, you’ll be best served by working hard and studying. In the end, that will affect your grade more than your professional choices. And when you’re out on the field with your own practice, don’t forget the value of teamwork. I can’t think of any way that trash talk benefits patient care.
nice and reaaaaaaaaaaaal mo ?
Thomas Robey -- Coming Out of the Closet
-- "I’m going into emergency medicine."
There! I said it.
I’ve been surprised throughout my third year by how clannish the practitioners of medicine are. I don’t mean the useful divisions of "You treat the hypertension, he’ll cut out the tumors, she’ll deliver babies and I’ll prescribe lithium." I fully expected medicine to be a team effort where highly trained individuals contribute to the common goal of patient health. But I have the feeling that all of the players don’t necessarily have complete respect for their teammates.
Enter into the picture the third year medical student. As with many other colleges, my school divides the third year into core clerkships. The purpose of rotating in all the major fields is to educate students in the basic principles of medicine. A secondary goal is to assist future doctors in knowing when to refer their patients for specialty care. The third objective is to help students decide which residency to apply to. I don’t know about you, but I hadn’t a clue which specialty I would gravitate to when I started my third year. (Granted, part of my disorientation can be blamed on my sudden realization that I didn’t want to run a basic science lab.) For a while, I could honestly report to my inquiring residents and attendings that I didn’t know what I wanted to do next.
Things have changed. Now that I’m confident of a career in emergency medicine, I understand the dilemma that students with good ideas of their career goals have when confronted with the, "What are you going in to?" question. We are told to be up front and honest about our career interests –- to not let that get in the way of our education. But it’s not that easy. Whether it’s comments about the brevity of surgeons’ notes, caricatures of radiology as a 9 to 5 career, of ER docs doing triage shift-work or internists as ruminating second-guessers, the observant student will recognize that it might not be a good idea to disclose her chosen profession to those evaluating her. Don’t even get me started about what people say about my one-time career choice of pathology!
As it gets later in the year, the legitimacy of an "I don’t know" answer decreases. You’ve scheduled the fourth year to cater to your next step and you’re already thinking about residency programs. Hopefully, you’re pondering what will go into your personal statement. Even if you’re considering three fields, at least that’s down from the "everything seems interesting" non-answer (but still honest reply) that I used to give.
So what’s the lesson here? I say be confident in your ability to identify what you are best at, what you enjoy the most, and what career will contribute to a happy and meaningful life. When you’re on a team with docs who don’t understand your view, that’s okay. In whatever clerkship you are in, you’ll be best served by working hard and studying. In the end, that will affect your grade more than your professional choices. And when you’re out on the field with your own practice, don’t forget the value of teamwork. I can’t think of any way that trash talk benefits patient care.
nice and reaaaaaaaaaaaal mo ?