mei Posted August 27, 2007 Report Share Posted August 27, 2007 I am starting clerkship in a few weeks and I am terrified. Is this normal? It seems like all my other classmates can't wait to be unleashed on the patients, and start making treatment decisions. I am worried that I won't remember anything and will be horrible at performing procedures. I am scared that I won't be able to do anything right. Has anyone else felt like this? It makes no sense because I have always handled things well and been an excellent student. I am in the top 10% of my class academically and have always received excellent feedback from preceptors in our clinical teaching sessions. So why am I worried that, unlike the rest of the thousands of students before me-I won't be able to learn to be a doctor? Does it get better? Or do you just lost more confidence in clerkship? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazz Posted August 27, 2007 Report Share Posted August 27, 2007 Don't worry, lots of people feel that way. Once you spend a week or two on the wards and get used to how a hospital function, it gets easier. As a clerk, you almost never do anything without checking it over with your resident anyways, and nobody's good at procedures until they've done a bunch. Heck, half the rotations are glorified shadowing + getting pimped. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smiles Posted August 29, 2007 Report Share Posted August 29, 2007 I can empathize with you, Mei. The thought of entering clerkship can be overwhelming. But, believe me, you will quickly become adjusted to the way things are run. Being in clerkship is definitely different to the teaching that we would have received in the first couple of years of med school, but you are going to learn so much in this new setting. And yes, your confidence should definitely go up as you progress. I'm just starting my 4th year, and I can say with certainty that I am far more confident in my skills. Sure, you won't know how to do procedures or how to assess a patient initially. You're in clerkship so you will learn how to do those things. So what if you'll look stupid at first? Everyone of us will have stupid moments. Obviously you're a smart cookie, so I'm willing to bet you'll catch on really fast. Bonus for you! I was antsy about starting clerkship myself. As a matter of fact I was close to tears the night before (and I'm not an anxious type of gal). I was surprised that I was so emotional over the whole thing. I realized afterwards that I was almost in awe of how far I had come. I have wanted to be a doctor for as long as I can remember and the fact that I was actually going to be involved in patient care was a significant milestone for me. I had worked so hard to get to that point... I almost couldn't believe that I had reached the time where I would actually be taking care of patients. It's great when dreams start to come true (not that clerkship's a dream, but I hope you know what I mean)! There is no question that it will be a challenging year. You're going to be in lots of different situations and you're going to meet oodles of people (most of whom will be great and others that you can live without). You're also going to learn to dislike being paged at 3am for some mundane issue, but that all comes with the territory.There are many fun moments, but there are definitely moments when you might think (even for a split-second) that you don't know why you went into med. Always try to keep in mind the reason(s) why you wanted to get into medical school.Take everything one day at a time. Be proud of your little conquests- that can give you motivation to keep trudging along. If you ever start to feel a little down, talk to someone. Some of the people who will understand you the best are probably your classmates because they will be going through the same rotations, emotions, etc as you will be. It's always comforting to know that you aren't alone, isn't it? Just take everything one day at a time. You'll be ok It won't seem nearly as intimidating once you're into the swing of things. You'll be a clerkship pro sooner than you think. One last thing: if you're worried about being stuck by yourself with a really sick patient, don't be. Don't forget that as a med student, you will always have back-up. Don't worry about having to make life-altering decisions. While your opinion on a situation might be solicited by a resident or an attending (because people love asking med students questions), your job won't be to call the shots. You don't get paid enough for that! You're there to learn, so try to enjoy the whole thing as much as you can. Best wishes! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JewelLeigh Posted August 29, 2007 Report Share Posted August 29, 2007 I definitely agree with the previous posters. We all hear the scary stories of getting pimped in the OR, unfriendly staff, being left alone to do a procedure, etc. In reality, I found these stories to be far from the truth! Residents, attendings, nurses, other allied health professionals and patients were all, on the whole, incredibly welcoming and accomodating of us "low-level" learners They ask lots of questions, but as opposed to being mean when you get something wrong, they are often happy and somewhat surprised when you get it right! Expectations for clerks are basically that you show up, be humble and able to admit what you aren't comfortable with, as well as cheerful/enthusiastic and a hard-worker. Do that, and you'll pass with flying colours and impress a lot of people along the way. Do anything more than that, and you're a super clerk I am sure that you'll be pleasantly surprised at how fun and not intimidating clerkship actually is. I definitely felt similarly to you when I started, so I can sympathize. Best of luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ollie Posted August 30, 2007 Report Share Posted August 30, 2007 I was very anxious at this time last year. You are definitely not alone. Third year was great for me. I have no horror stories to speak of, and even some bad experiences some of my friends have had are not that bad. I found just about everyone I worked with to be very helpful and supportive. They know you are there to learn and don't expect you to have the answer to every question. As long as you focus on learning, you will do fine! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chemgirl Posted August 31, 2007 Report Share Posted August 31, 2007 You're not alone, mei. I'm ridiculously worried about starting clerkship even though my first rotation is something I feel quite confident with. I'm probably in the bottom 10% of my class due to trying to get through second year while suffering through some hellish symptoms. I was happy to pass, but now that we have started again, I'm burning the midnight oil to make up for my lack of knowledge. I wish I felt better about it, but I'm comforted by the fact that I've always loved the patient interaction, so at least I can focus on taking a kickass history and going from there. Hopefully that's enough... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JewelLeigh Posted August 31, 2007 Report Share Posted August 31, 2007 so at least I can focus on taking a kickass history and going from there. Hopefully that's enough... It'll definitely be more than enough! A kickass history gets you incredibly far...in clerkship and beyond I would imagine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ollie Posted September 1, 2007 Report Share Posted September 1, 2007 One piece of advice. Always, always, always be on time. In fact, be 5-10 minutes early. It's the easiest thing you can do to make a good impression. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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