How does one prepare in preclerkship to be oustanding in Emerg rotations

[masterb]

I have looked through this forum and various online resources, and I am still trying to figure this out. I am in 1st year and have an interest in EM. I was wondering if there is anything in terms of pre-clerkship learning/education I can do to strengthen my ability to become an outstanding performer during the EM rotation and EM electives in clerkship? Right now I feel as if I am just learning to get through the blocks but I feel this is not enough in terms of being able to jump in the deep end and swim during clerkship or be able to look at the bigger picture. What should I focus on? What sort of extra-curricular learning should I do and resources can I use concurrently with the standard preclerkship curriculum? What sort of pre-clerkship experiences (beyond shadowing/getting a mentor) should I seek that will allow me to plug in and play right away as a useful member of the team and not be a burden to my future preceptors/clerkship educators especially in EM? What can I do to put me in a position to get the most out of clerkship during preclerkship?

I'd like to thank people for their responses in advance.

[Lactic Folly]

Try to do some clinical electives before clerkship (especially the summer between 2nd and 3rd year), if your schedule allows.

[rogerroger]

Read a chapter of this FREE book every night as a senior pre-clerk. Easy to do as each chapter is probably around 2-6 pages. You will be done the book by the time you start clerkship. You will also be a rock star med student in the emerg.

 

ABCs of Emergency Medicine

[masterb]

thanks! that resource is really nice and helpful

[rmorelan]

Try to do some clinical electives before clerkship (especially the summer between 2nd and 3rd year), if your schedule allows.

 

This is probably the best thing you can do - just get into the ER and see how things work. Observerships as well!

[Lactic Folly]

http://www.med.ualberta.ca/programs/md/curriculum/year2/~/link.aspx?_id=54DD6D0DD8E14003ACF06EB939070ED3&_z=z

 

These electives are done in the summer between 2nd and 3rd year.. so it is just like starting your clerkship earlier, and you would be doing the same things as someone doing an elective at the start of clerkship.

 

As for your other question: The awesome surgery clerk is assertive and proactive (the baseline is a bit higher than other specialties), takes initiative, and is always asking to do and see more. Never is overheard to complain about being tired. Always punctual, works quickly and efficiently. If given a choice between staying or leaving, always stays unless it is made clear that they should go home. Ideally already knows how to scrub in and tie knots, or learns quickly. Has a solid grasp of surgical anatomy and other frequently-asked questions (see Surgical Recall).

[tooty]

I've met guys who do observerships whenever they can during years 1-3 (even during their core rotations) to amass as much experience as possible before hitting their emerg electives.

[boringem]

Hey masterb,

 

I wrote a post on this awhile back that you might want to check out.

 

See here:

http://boringem.org/2013/01/02/top-10-ways-to-rock-em-clerkship/

 

If you're into emerg you'll probably also find some of the other mentorship posts informative.

 

Best of luck!

 

Brent Thoma

PGY-III FRCPC-EM

University of Saskatchewan