Over the past few weeks, we've been talking about the upcoming transition of medical students starting their residency🩺.
That's not the only big change this time of year though.
For newly minted fourth-year medical students, these summer months are the time when many start sub-internships on the road to their own residency aspirations✨.
This is a critical time, but as always Med School Moose is here to help!😁
Today we'll cover some important tips to make sure you leave a lasting impression on your away rotations, and hopefully secure a letter of recommendation in the process.⬇️
- Bring the right attitude🤨. Unsurprisingly, these audition rotations start with having the right attitude. That means being kind to everyone in the hospital, showing interest and curiosity, and being open to feedback👂🏻. Notice that in that sentence there is no mention of medical knowledge. Among all the program directors and residency faculty I've spoken with, there is a consensus that programs would prefer the slightly less knowledgeable but teachable medical student rather than the introverted genius who listens to no one and thinks they're always right🤦🏽♀️.
- Honesty is the best policy🤥. Inherent in having the right attitude on sub-internships is being honest. It's okay to admit you don't know the answer. If you didn't ask the patient a particular question or do a certain exam, we want (and need) to know that. There's no faster way to burn a bridge with a program than to get caught in a lie🔥. Faculty will definitely bring that up when we are evaluating you later.
- Seek out specific feedback🙋. One month on an away rotation is not a lot of time to be memorable. The fastest way to show improvement during this month is to ask for self-directed feedback. At the start of the day, tell your attending the thing that you're working on or want feedback on. This not only helps them give you higher quality feedback as opposed to "continue reading"🙄, but it also gives you a clear blueprint of how to get better. If your attending identifies a weak point on day 1 but you've fixed it by day 10, that makes a huge impact and almost always gets mentioned in a letter of recommendation📄.
- Be a team player👥. In the Emergency Department in particular, one thing we use to evaluate medical students is what we call The 3:00 am Test🕒. The premise is simple: On a busy night at 3:00 am when the department is full and burning to the ground, who do you want on your team? When it's a decision between the medical student who is doing the bare minimum vs the one who is jumping up to see the next patient or ready to help the team in any way possible, the decision is obvious.
With these tips, you'll be sure to excel during your sub-internship, make an impression on the team, and take a big step towards matching into your dream residency.
Best of luck to everyone on your audition rotations!✈️
💚 Something I love: This Whitecoat MedInfo Clipboard never left my side when I was on away rotations. It helped me stay organized and is packed with helpful info, especially for the ICU!
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