Electives

[medgirl2014]

Hello,

 

We got an email today to introduce the Med 1 electives unit. I know that there is a wide variety of options available but I'd like to hear a few examples.

 

Can anyone share what they did for their electives or what they are planning to do?

 

Thank you

[A-Stark]

I don't know if electives will be exactly the same in the new curriculum, but here's what I did:

 

Med 1:

Full-year elective in Infectious Diseases - I went to clinic or accompanied the team on the ID consult service depending on the week. I enjoyed it, but it's a pretty steep learning curve if you're just starting out. I wish I'd done two half-year electives, which is what I did in Med 2...

 

Med 2:

Fall - General Surgery (Surgical Oncology) - I loved this, and occasionally went in for something in the evening or on call with my preceptor.

Winter - ENT (Head and Neck Surgery) - This was good, and I was really happy with how my elective project turned out, but I also determined that ENT wasn't for me. Still a great experience, with a lot more time spent in clinic/minors than in the OR.

 

Summer:

After Med 1 - Plastics (just a week) and Anesthesia (IFMSA exchange in Austria)

After Med 2 (now) - Neurology - This has been my longest elective experience so far and I've spent a lot of time seeing patients on the floor as well as in clinic, and I've even followed a few of them into the OR. I've been spending time mainly on the stroke service, which tends to be much busier.

 

I also went to see a CABG and spend a day in the urology OR during Med 1. Feel free to PM me if you'd like to get some specific recommendations for preceptors.

[Madz25]

Med1 - Full year cardiology elective (included rounding with the team, going to clinics, ECHO lab)

 

Med2 - Full year pediatric general surgery elective (clinic, OR). I got to present the project for this elective at the Pediatric General Surgery annual conference.

 

You can do a clinical elective in any specialty you'd like. A research elective is another option. Some classmates even did a humanities elective. Don't ask me what that entails because I have no clue! You have a lot of freedom to do what you'd like.

[2014?]

Are you an NB student by any chance? I'll be at the Halifax campus.. but I didn't receive this email...

[medgirl2014]

Yes I am at the NB campus.

 

I've done some research during my undergrad but I did not really enjoy the process. If I want to get into a specialty such as Cardiology or neurology, would a research elective be better then a clinical elective?

[doc2B]

You might want to do research in the summer time. Any kind of research experience is good for certain specialities. But I would suggest doing at least 1 clinical elective. It's good to get your feet wet, so to speak.

 

My electives were:

 

Med 1: full-year elective in cardiac anaesthesia - I mostly spent time in cardiac surgeries doing things like intubations, IVs, other airways, etc and a few shifts in other ORs like 1 pediatric day, a couple days in urology, etc.

Summer after Med 1: small elective in pediatric emergency medicine - I did about 5 to 8 shifts in peds emerg seeing patients, doing suturing, etc

I also did a few adult emerg shifts that summer as well, doing similar things

Med 2: full-year elective in admissions - I really loved this elective but I do feel like I missed out on doing some clinical time this year. But it is possible to get in and do some clinical stuff in your spare time if you're not doing a clinical elective.

This summer (after Med2) I'm not doing an elective - I'm doing some informal work with an emerg doc but not doing anything clinical - more academic/research to do with one particular area of the new curriculum and I'm also working outside of medicine.

[medgirl2014]

Thanks for the advice Doc2B.

 

There are so many possibilities, I'm going to have a hard time making up my mind.

[doc2B]

Don't let it way to heavily on you. I would suggest just finding something that sounds interesting that you might be interested in doing in the long run (or not) try to find a preceptor and then just have fun in elective time. You'll get plenty of time to find other electives later, in the summer or what have you so just pick something and go with it.

[Madz25]

i agree with doc2b. it can seem overwhelming but the idea is to have fun and try something you have an interest in to see if it's a good fit. i'd recommend asking senior colleagues for preceptor recommendations. your preceptor can make or break your feelings about a specialty - which sucks but thats how it goes. as well, even if you dont end up liking the specialty, at least with a good preceptor thats interested in teaching, you will learn something.