Happy Sunday friends!😁
As we close out August, I thought this would be a good time to share some tips and takeaways regarding emergency medicine away rotations🥼.
By now, many medical students who are applying to emergency medicine for residency have had at least 1 EM rotation🚨. Hopefully you've read my article on how to excel on audition rotations and things have been going well!👍🏿
I've been working with students in the department for several months🏥, and a few interesting things have popped up🤔.
So how are things going? What are some areas of focus to ensure you crush your remaining audition rotations? Here are my thoughts⬇️
- Differential diagnoses are hard😵. Most medical students can rattle off the scary diagnoses when it comes to complaints like chest pain or abdominal pain🫀. When it comes to more obscure complaints or complex patients though, some students have a harder time. Keeping a wide list of differential diagnoses in emergency medicine is key, so be sure to read this short article on how to create a high quality differential diagnosis📃. When medical students start to pick up on more subtle diagnoses and include them in their list, I'm immediately impressed😲.
- Your confidence counts💪🏻. I get it...being a medical student on your first away rotation in EM in an unfamiliar hospital can be scary😱. While I don't expect medical students to be at their peak confidence, it is nice to see confidence on display when discussing their exam findings and plan🤨. Attendings are under no illusions that medical students will have every answer, and that's okay! I like to see students make a thought out, educated guess rather than just asking me what I think. I already know what I think!😂
- Premature closure is dangerous⛔. This is true for everyone in medicine! On occasion I've heard students say things like "the patient is just anxious" or "they're being dramatic", when in reality something more serious was happening🛑. Even if you're 100% certain that is what's going on don't say it, even just in passing😶. When I hear that, it makes me think that the student doesn't care, and I'm going to doubt everything else they say and do for the rest of the shift📉.
- Good attitude is rewarded🏆. Just like I mentioned in that audition rotations article, the most important thing about these sub-internships is having the right attitude. When I'm working with a student who is genuinely excited to see patients😷, helps out the nurses and techs🫱🏽🫲🏽, and always looks for ways to contribute, it makes me try to find ways to include them more, whether that's helping out with procedures, chest compressions...whatever comes through the door!
While these are not all of the things medical students need to be mindful of on EM rotations, following this list and making the necessary changes can absolutely help you perform better and get noticed☑️.
Good luck on those audition rotations!🍀
💚 Something I love: This Whitecoat MedInfo Clipboard was a necessity for me as a medical student to stay organized and have a quick references while on audition rotations.
💙 Something I love: I bought these CAVN LED Pen Lights in medical school and I've been using the same one for about 6 years! They are super durable and have a handy pupil gauge and ruler for measuring wounds.
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