Doing Canadian electives summer after 2nd year - worthwhile?

[Jochi1543]

I'm wondering if anyone here has done Canadian electives between 2nd and 3rd year and whether they thought it was worth their while or a waste of time. We get 10 weeks off next summer and word on the street is that if you do summer electives, you'll get some time off during your 3rd year (which can be used either for more electives or for R&R), so I'm planning to do one - either here or abroad. However, the opportunity I have abroad has nothing to do with my specialty of choice, so I'm wondering if I should do an elective in something that interests me in Canada. However - our LINK block (transition block right before clerkship) is at the end of the summer, so I'd be doing my elective without those 2 weeks of hands-on training on how to perform certain procedures, write chart notes, etc.

 

Given all that, do you think it's worth it to do a summer elective? I'm not necessarily looking for letters, but I don't want to look like an idiot, either. Assuming I do something general like family or internal medicine, will this make the transition into regular clerkship a bit easier? Anyone totally bomb and get terrible evaluations after doing an elective before starting clerkship?

 

Thanks!

[Lactic Folly]

Definitely worthwhile. Link block is all nice and such, but you will only get comfortable writing notes and seeing patients by actually doing these on the wards, i.e. on a rotation, clerkship or elective. I think that if you can get your feet wet in a clinical rotation before starting 3rd year, it will make the transition that much easier. Your preceptors should take into account that you have no previous clerkship experience.

[Jochi1543]

Cool, thanks! Gonna get the ball rolling on that then. Also, on a related note - I heard we can't do any internal med subspecialty electives until we do the actual IM core rotation, is that indeed the case?

[Lactic Folly]

That sounds familiar but I never confirmed it for myself. Even if that is the case, you may be able to do an IM subspecialty elective at another school like Calgary. (I did neurology clinic and rural family medicine electives between 2nd and 3rd year.)

 

I will also add that if you have completed your elective requirements (aided by those weeks between 2nd and 3rd year), you can take your remaining elective weeks during 3rd/4th year as vacation. This is very nice to have should your elective weeks fall around CaRMS interview and end-of-school year (studying for LMCC and moving for residency) times.

[A-Stark]

First, I think doing an elective in the summer before clerkship is a good idea - I did one in neuro this past summer. Just make sure to have some interesting other plans - have fun and don't spend too much of the "last" summer in the hospital.

 

Cool, thanks! Gonna get the ball rolling on that then. Also, on a related note - I heard we can't do any internal med subspecialty electives until we do the actual IM core rotation, is that indeed the case?

 

I expect that would only apply for actual clerkship electives. Since any summer elective coming before the beginning of your Link program would be considered "pre-clinical" or "pre-clerkship", I don't expect this would apply (certainly not at Dal anyway).

[Lactic Folly]

I expect that would only apply for actual clerkship electives. Since any summer elective coming before the beginning of your Link program would be considered "pre-clinical" or "pre-clerkship", I don't expect this would apply (certainly not at Dal anyway).

At U of A, the electives between 2nd and 3rd year can count towards your clerkship electives requirement, so this stipulation might well apply. IIRC, you do need to register and pay to gain credit for the summer elective.

[A-Stark]

Yeah, we certainly can't get out of core rotations by trying to do them in the summer. In any case, my very last rotation is MTU, so I don't know that it should matter whether you do selective first.