1) What specialty are you going into?
2) What electives did you take during 4th year?
3) What away rotations, AOCs, research, international work, etc. did you do during 4th year?
4) How did you plan your 4th year schedule?
5) If you had to plan your 4th year schedule all over again, what would you do differently?
6) Best time to take the Step 2 CK and Step 2 CS
Enjoy Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata while you read the comments.
Anonymous said
Thanks for your comment!
Anonymous said
1) What specialty are you going into?
OBGYN
2) What electives did you take during 4th year?
Anesthesia – Mt. Zion
ED – SFGH
Med Sub-I – SFGH
Benign Gyn – Mt. Zion
Lab Medicine – SFGH
Allergy and Immunology – Parnassus
Advanced Physical Exam – Skill Center
Pelvic Dissection – Parnassus
Palliative Care – Parnassus
Family Planning – UCLA
STD Clinic
Radiology (4 weeks) – Parnassus
3) What away rotations, AOCs, research, international work, etc. did you do during 4th year?
Family Planning – UCLA
4) How did you plan your 4th year schedule?
I had limited time off (4 weeks since I had used some in my 2nd year), so I made sure that it was around interview time. I wanted to do things that I wouldn’t have exposure to during my residency combined with things that I thought might help a little during my intern year. I tried to front load all of my sub-I’s, which worked out and I can say that was the best thing that I did.
5) If you had to plan your 4th year schedule all over again, what would you do differently?
I would have tried to plan my some of my sub-Is a little earlier, there were problems getting my evaluation comments into my dean’s letter.
I would have done anesthesia earlier (3rd year).
Interview dates seem to be getting earlier and earlier. I probably would have taken more time off in November and less in January. I am not sure if that is specific to the field I am going into, so check it out with your peers and classmates ahead of you in your field of interest.
Anonymous said
1) What specialty are you going into?
Dermatology
2) What electives did you take during 4th year?
Intro to Dermatology – 2 weeks
Radiology @ Parnassus – 4 weeks used to study for Step 2 CK
Year off for research
Dermatology advanced – 4weeks at SFGH plus research planning
ED @ SFGH
Derm Research – 12 weeks
Allergy/Immunololgy – 2 weeks
8 weeks off for interviews
Med Sub-I @ SFGH
Surgical subspecialties
Primary care sports medicine – 2 weeks
ID @ SFGH – 2 weeks
3) What away rotations, AOCs, research, international work, etc. did you do during 4th year?
No away rotations because I wanted instead to focus on continuing research I had started during my year off. I participated in the Physician-Scientist AOC and MD with thesis program.
4) How did you plan your 4th year schedule?
I talked to people in the year above me and to Dr. Berger who probably had the biggest influence. One important thing to know is that most Derm interviews are in January with some in mid to late December. I received the advice to try to get all my prelim year interviews done in December which ended up being a very good plan since there would have been almost no time in January. Depending on how many prelims you are interviewing at I would recommend 2-4 weeks vacation in December or at least an elective (such as research) that allows for frequent travel. I would definitley recommend taking 4 full weeks off in January to maximize your time for travelling to Dermatology interviews, if you only have 2 weeks to spare then the 1st 2 weeks of January are usually a bit busier. It can also be helpful to refer to the interview calendar on the DIGA website which gives you a pretty good idea of which schools interview when.
In terms of choosing the actual rotations, you don’t have to do too many Derm blocks, residencies don’t care so much about your Derm knowledge as they presume they’ll have to teach you everything anyway. I would instead do medicine electives that could be helpful for Derm (allergy/ID/rheum) or use to time to explore other areas of interest. I think Dr. Berger recommends everyone applying in Derm do some research. This can be done in a month or two elective in the fall and is very useful in terms of having something to discuss in interviews.
5) If you had to plan your 4th year schedule all over again, what would you do differently?
Not a whole lot, but if you do a lot of research early you have to pay for it in the spring with some heavy rotations while classmates are off travelling.
anonymous said
1) What specialty are you going into?
Internal Medicine
2) What electives did you take during 4th year?
I took a year off to do clinical research between 3rd and 4th year. Before the year off (in May and June), I took:
ID elective at SFGH for 4 weeks
Derm elective (multiple sites) for 2 weeks
When I returned, I took:
Anesthesia 110 (2 weeks)
Cardiology elective at SFGH (4 weeks)
Renal elective at Moffitt (2 weeks)
Medicine Sub-I at SFGH (4 weeks)
Clinical Therapeutics (4 weeks)
Radiology elective at VA (2 weeks)
ICU at Moffitt (4 weeks)
Research elective (3 months)
CODA
3) What away rotations, AOCs, research, international work, etc. did you do during 4th year?
I am in the Global Health AoC (spent most of my year off in Uganda), and I am currently doing a 3-month research elective.
4) How did you plan your 4th year schedule?
I talked with my Internal Medicine advisor, and I tried to select electives in fields outside of medicine (e.g., radiology, dermatology) that would be helpful to me during residency and beyond. I also knew I wanted to continue my research from my year off, so I scheduled 3 months of research time.
Finally, I made sure I had a significant amount of time off for interviews (I ended up having from before Thanksgiving through the beginning of January off for interviews and taking Step 2, which was very helpful.
Anonymous said
Dear MS4,
1) What specialty are you going into?
Emergency Medicine
2) What electives did you take during 4th year?
Toxicology
Anesthesia
Year off for research (critical care/pulmonary)
Emergency medicine – SFGH
Pediatric ICU – Parnassus
Dermatology – 2 weeks
Pediatric anesthesia – 2 weeks
Medicine SubI – SFGH
Pediatric emergency medicine – Children’s Oakland
4 weeks off for interviews/Step 2
Research block – 12 weeks, critical care/thesis
Endocrinology – 2 weeks, SFGH
3) What away rotations, AOCs, research, international work, etc. did you do during 4th year?
I did an away rotation in pediatric emergency medicine (my long-term interest in EM) at Children’s Oakland. I also continued my critical care research from my yearlong research fellowship and completed an MD with Thesis.
4) How did you plan your 4th year schedule?
When I was planning to come back from my year of research, I wanted to start with a rotation that would quickly throw me back into the clinical world – EM is great for that! For me, however, I was also deciding between two specialties -EM and pediatrics. Doing the two SubIs back to back was a great way to compare how I felt about both of them and see which was a better fit for me.
I spent some time rounding out skills I felt would be useful in the ED but that I might not get as much exposure to early on in my residency – tox, anesthesia (peds and adults), endocrine. I also wanted to try out a field I thought would be a fellowship interest of mine down the line, so I searched out an away rotation in peds EM.
I also tried to plan lots of flexibility for interviews– a full 4 weeks off for studying/interviews in December and a research block during January (easy to arrange the schedule to fit my flights). Finally, I tried to get all my hard-core rotations out of the way early to allow plenty of time for relaxation and enjoying life during the second half of the year. Best decision ever!
5) If you had to plan your 4th year schedule all over again, what would you do differently?
I might try to fit in some more rotations that I hadn’t originally thought of when I was planning to apply in peds – radiology, EKG, ortho. Otherwise, everything worked out well.
Anonymous said
1) What specialty are you going into?
Emergency Medicine
2) What electives did you take during 4th year?
(Not in order)
ICU- 4 weeks Fresno
EKG class
Outpatient gyn- 4 weeks SF
Radiology- 2 weeks VA
Anesthesia- 2 weeks SFGH
Psych emergency in PES- 4 weeks SFGH
2 EM sub-is- SFGH and Stanford
Pathology- 2 weeks Utah
Psych and the law-4 weeks SF
Ortho for primary care- 2 weeks MOffit
Medicine sub-I- VA
3) What away rotations, AOCs, research, international work, etc. did you do during 4th year?
My year was kind of weird because I took time off between third and fourth year, but not a whole year. I took 7 months off, and did a few of my electives before taking time off for research. During fourth year, I was able to take the rest of the time off, five more months from Nov-April, which gave me plenty of time off for interviews and studying for boards. I am currently finishing my research that I started during my time off.
4) How did you plan your 4th year schedule?
I definitely talked to my advisors about what electives they thought would be high yield for EM. I also did a few away rotations, particularly my EM sib-i at the place I want to go for residency. I also took electives I thought would be fun and more low-key, because let’s face it, now is the time to do it!
5) If you had to plan your 4th year schedule all over again, what would you do differently?
I would do more courses that I might not be able to do again. I did a path rotation for two weeks. Although I will never need that, seeing how autopsies are done has actually proven to be useful, and was super interesting. I will get plenty of ortho and anesthesia during my intern year. I would’ve taken more courses outside of my future field.
Anonymous said
1) What specialty are you going into?
Pediatrics
2) What electives did you take during 4th year?
Pedi GI
Radiology (4 weeks)
Dermatology
Renal
Outpatient pediatrics
3) What away rotations, AOCs, research, international work, etc. did you do during 4th year?
Community Health and Social Advocacy AOC
4) How did you plan your 4th year schedule?
Front loaded my harder sub-is into the beginning and left AOC to the end. Took radiology and dermatology prior to Step 2 so I had more time to study.
5) If you had to plan your 4th year schedule all over again, what would you do differently?
Perhaps give more time to interview if you have a lot of interviews scheduled.
Not much! Just enjoy 4th year as much as possible
Anonymous said
1) What specialty are you going into?
Pediatrics
2) What electives did you take during 4th year?
Peds ID, ophthalmology for primary care, dermatology (2 wk general one), research blocks, allergy and immunology, laboratory medicine-hematology
3) What away rotations, AOCs, research, international work, etc. did you do during 4th year?
International rotations: PUMC (2 months in Beijing at PUMC hospital, with flight, room and board paid for)
Research: I took a year off between 2nd and 3rd year and in my 4th yr I took 2.5 months worth of research elective to finish up my stuff
4) How did you plan your 4th year schedule?
I planned it quite a bit, mainly bc my spouse was not going to be with me for a large part of it and we have a child, so planning ahead was important (ie. no call without spouse being here type of thing)
5) If you had to plan your 4th year schedule all over again, what would you do differently?
Nothing, I liked the way it turned out
Anonymous said
Dear MS4,
1) What specialty are you going into?
Radiation Oncology
2) What electives did you take during 4th year?
Rad Onc, Med Onc, Radiology, Urologic Oncology, Ortho Sports Medicine, Research, ICU, Med Sub-I
3) What away rotations, AOCs, research, international work, etc. did you do during 4th year?
Away at MD Anderson Cancer Center; research
4) How did you plan your 4th year schedule?
with careful help from Maureen, advisors
5) If you had to plan your 4th year schedule all over again, what would you do differently?
be sure to do away electives early to secure LORs; apply early to popular visiting sites
Anonymous said
1) What specialty are you going into?
Internal Medicine
2) What electives did you take during 4th year?
Infectious disease at Parn
ER at Highland
GI at SFGH
Palliative Care
EKG
Intro to Primary Care Optho
Sports Medicine
Radiology at Parn
3) What away rotations, AOCs, research, international work, etc. did you do during 4th year?
I had an extra 2-3 months of 4th year because I took a year off for an MPH. I withdrew for the winter quarter to do a Global Health AoC project abroad.
4) How did you plan your 4th year schedule?
Because I knew I would have enough credits left over from my MPH year and extra summer, I decided to save my tuition and withdraw for the winter quarter. I made sure to get my medicine sub-i in the summer before applications were due, and then i also left November and December relatively open for interviews.
5) If you had to plan your 4th year schedule all over again, what would you do differently?
Optho for Primary care was not a well run rotation. While I got some practice with the eye exam, clinic time was not very productive at most sites.
Also, if you are travelling outside California, make sure you take ample time to interview, it took me about a month without rotations to interview at 10 places across the country.
Cindy Oparah said
1) What specialty are you going into? PEDIATRICS
2) What electives did you take during 4th year? NICU, FAM MED, ED SFGH, PSYCH CONSULT ALL AT SFGH; CURRENTLY DOING PALLIATIVE CARE AT MOFFIT; HAVE ENDO, ORTHO SUBSP, ID LEFT
3) What away rotations, AOCs, research, international work, etc. did you do during 4th year? DID MY MPH AT BERKELEY AFTER 3RD YEAR
4) How did you plan your 4th year schedule? WITH MANY ADVISORS (IE PEOPLE IN THE CLASS ABOVE ME, THE PEDS RESIDENCY DIRECTOR FOR UCSF, MY CAREER ADVISOR ETC)
5) If you had to plan your 4th year schedule all over again, what would you do differently? THINK I WOULD HAVE BEEN MORE AGGRESSIVE ABOUT SETTING UP AWAY ROTATIONS EARLY AT PLACES I MIGHT BE INTERESTING IN GOING FOR RESIDENCY. WOULD HAVE FRONTLOADED MY ROTATIONS MORE SO THAT I HAD AT LEAST 2WKS OFF BEFORE GRADUATION
anonymous said
1) What specialty are you going into?
Emergency Medicine
2) What electives did you take during 4th year?
Medicine Sub-I
Anesthesia
Child Abuse
EM sub-I Fresno
EM sub-I Highland
Clinical Therapeutics
Radiology Parnassus
Cardiology VA
Toxicology
Pediatric Infectious Disease
Palliative Care
Dermatology clerkship
3) What away rotations, AOCs, research, international work, etc. did you do during 4th year?
None, unless you count Highland and Fresno EM
4) How did you plan your 4th year schedule?
Talked to my career advisor, picked electives I thought would be useful. I did two low-key electives in row (radiology and clinical therapeutics) so that I had time to study for Step 2. I took the last fall block off to do interviews.
5) If you had to plan your 4th year schedule all over again, what would you do differently?
Add some vaction in the Spring
Anonymous said
1) What specialty are you going into?
Internal Medicine
2) What electives did you take during 4th year?
Medicine sub-I VAMC
Ambulatory Women’s Health elective- 4 weeks
Radiology- 4 weeks
Research- 4 months
1 month for interviews and Step 2 CK
Gastroenterology SFGH- 2 weeks
ED at SFGH – 4 weeks
Surgical Subspecialities Optho VAMC- 2 weeks
Dermatology- 2 weeks
Infectious Disease SFGH- 2 weeks
3) What away rotations, AOCs, research, international work, etc. did you do during 4th year?
I did 4 months of basic laboratory Immunology research on HIV in the laboratory of Doug Nixon at SFGH. No away rotations.
4) How did you plan your 4th year schedule?
I spoke with a couple of career advisors.
Alex W. Pastuszak said
1) What specialty are you going into?
2) What electives did you take during 4th year?
Urology – UCSF & Baylor (1 month each)
ICU – CPMC
Wilderness Medicine – Fresno/Yosemite
Derm – Mt. Zion/Parnassus
Diagnostic Radiology – Parnassus
Vacation – 6 weeks
3) What away rotations, AOCs, research, international work, etc. did you do during 4th year?
- Urology away at Baylor
- Clinical research with Paul Turek
- Otherwise, schedule was full as a result of having to complete 3rd year cores (came back from PhD 4 months after everyone else had started clerkships)
4) How did you plan your 4th year schedule?
I planned things with the possibility that I may match in urology. As a result, I frontloaded with courses that would meet my requirements for the uro match (uro electives, medicine sub-I, etc.), and permit me the time later in the year to 1) do my interviews, 2) take step 2 as late as possible, 3) give me some time off. In addition, I still had 3rd year cores to take (which is very different from most 4th years), which I placed at the very end of my year. That was perhaps the toughest thing to do, as I had to take my boards without having done 2 core rotations (neuro/psych and FCM) and I hadn’t touched that material in about 6 years. However, all was well – don’t be afraid to do it!
5) If you had to plan your 4th year schedule all over again, what would you do differently?
I would do my best to permit more time for interesting electives that I may not pursue in the future but that might be important in my future work (i.e. for referrals, typical presentations of certain conditions within my specialty that may not necessarily be obvious, etc.). I would also really work to take more time for myself and afford myself the opportunity to travel and reflect on the past and future. We get caught up in the rat race of med school and can sometimes carry that through 4th year, which I think is a mistake given what we hear about the toughness of residency.
Anonymous said
1) What specialty are you going into?
ophthalmology
2) What electives did you take during 4th year?
research elective (8 wks)
stanford bay area ophthalmology course (4 weeks)
ophth sub-i (4 wks)
er sub-i (4 wks)
radiology (2 wks)
vacation (6 wks)
ent (2 wks)
vacation (2 wks)
medicine sub-i (4 wks)
pain consult (4 wks)
vacation (2 wks)
GI (2 wks)
vacation (2 wks)
CODA
3) What away rotations, AOCs, research, international work, etc. did you do during 4th year?
4 wk away rotation for bay area ophth course at stanford
research in ophthalmology
4) How did you plan your 4th year schedule?
asked 4th years who were going into ophth. heard er at sfgh was awesome, which it was. heard radiology at va was low key, which it was. take august/sept easy b/c that’s when you are working on sfmatch application. interviewed in mid november, early december.
5) If you had to plan your 4th year schedule all over again, what would you do differently?
possibly do medicine a bit earlier…i waited until the last possible slot. however, it all worked out
Anonymous said
1) What specialty are you going into?
Internal Medicine
2) What electives did you take during 4th year?
Palliative Care (2wks)
ID SFGH (2wks)
Derm (2wks)
Research (4wks)
ED at SFGH (4wks)
Radiology (2wks)
Clinical Therapeutics (4wks)
Research (4wks)
Advanced Physical Exam (2wks)
Lab Medicine (2wks)
GI (2wks)
Optho for Primary Care (2wks)
anesthesia (2wks)
Hematology (2wks)
Toxicology and Pharm (4wks)
3) What away rotations, AOCs, research, international work, etc. did you do during 4th year?
none
4) How did you plan your 4th year schedule?
I had only 2wks vacation all of 4th yr as I used it in 3rd yr. Because I moved a clerkship to 4th yr, I also started on an off schedule and ended up needing a lot of 2wk blocks to fill in the blanks. I tried to do a lot of different things and take things a little lighter so I could spend time with family. I also needed to surround my interview season with flexibility and I did a research month and a couple 2 wkers.
5) If you had to plan your 4th year schedule all over again, what would you do differently?
Complete my sub-Is earlier. I didn’t have much of a choice- but that would be the main thing. Also- do anesthesia early!
anon said
1) What specialty are you going into?
psych
2) What electives did you take during 4th year?
-child psych (not very hands on.)
-outpt psych at VA (this was a great one. rare to have outpt experience during med school. great computer system.)
-ophtho for primary care (just ok. great to look into dozens of eyes and get better at the eye exam. otherwise, kind of blah.
-child abuse (good to get exposure to child abuse. but the elective is hit or miss depending on if there are any cases to see.)
-ER SGFH (great elective. lots to do and learn.)
-medicine sub-i at VA (this is the best place to do your sub-i.)
-sports medicine (fantastic elective. finally learned the proper approach to the knee and shoulder.)
3) What away rotations, AOCs, research, international work, etc. did you do during 4th year?
-indian health services elective in chinle, arizona for one month in psych and family medicine.
-mission neighborhood health center family medicine elective. (fantastic elective. spanish speaking.)
4) How did you plan your 4th year schedule?
-i looked at the things that i needed to learn and hadn’t yet: ophtho, ENT, sports medicine (the MSK exam). and i also just took a couple electives to help me decide on my residency choice.
5) If you had to plan your 4th year schedule all over again, what would you do differently?
nuthin.
Jake Robson said
1) What specialty are you going into? Pediatrics
2) What electives did you take during 4th year?
Pediatric Surgery-1 month-Tier 1B
Med ED Independent Research-1 month-Tier 2
Pediatric Endocrinology-1 month-Tier 1B (included 2 weeks of Diabetes Summer Camp)
NICU SFGH-1 month-Tier 1A
Radiology, Parnassus-1 month-Tier 2
Away, Peds ED @ Northwester-1 month-Tier 2
Med ED AOC Course-1 month-Tier 2
1 month off to interview
Medicine Sub-i VA-1 month-Tier 1A
SFGH Heme-2 weeks-Tier 1B
Ophtho for Primary Care-2 weeks-Tier 1B
Anesthesia-2 weeks (3rd year clerkship)
1 month vacation
Derm-2 weeks-Tier 1B
Coda
3) What away rotations, AOCs, research, international work, etc. did you do during 4th year?
See above
I did Med Ed AOC (1 month course and 1 month independent research) and I did a 1 month away at the Northwestern Children’s Hospital.
4) How did you plan your 4th year schedule?
I wanted to have all of my Peds stuff done so that it would go on the Dean’s letter (and would be out of my hair so I wouldn’t have any pressure electives after October), then I wanted to be done interviewing by X-mas, so that I could have a chill Med Sub-i and then a series of chill electives + vacation throughout the entire Feb-May period. 3rd and the first half of 4th year are pretty intense work wise, so I just wanted to relax during the last few months of 4th year, enjoy myself, spend time with friends, and get mentally prepared for internship.
5) If you had to plan your 4th year schedule all over again, what would you do differently?
No. Only advice is that if you’re taking an elective to work with a certain attending, make sure they’re on service at that time.
Anonymous said
1) What specialty are you going into?
Med-Peds
2) What electives did you take during 4th year?
Palliative Care (Moffitt) – 2 weeks: This was the best thing I did all year, a genuinely moving experience. It really reminds you why you wanted to be a doctor to begin with. I believe everyone should have some exposure to this service before finishing med school.
Radiology (VAMC) – 2 weeks. SO laid-back…Dr. McCowin is a great teacher, and you only really need to go in about 3-4 hours most days, so it’s ideal!
Sports Medicine (Mt Zion) – 2 weeks. Dr. Luke is fantastic, and this rotation made me much more comfortable with the MSK exam.
Hematology (SFGH) – 2 weeks. Worth doing…Dr. Lewis is a great teacher, and the fellows tend to be really good too.
Advanced ENT (SFGH) – 2 weeks. SKIP this one…really busy clinic time, boring surgeries.
Endocrine (SFGH) – 2 weeks. SO slow…two consults in two weeks. I actually liked that…it’s a good one to take later in the year.
Dermatology – 2 weeks. Very worth doing…helps you get a handle on derm, which we just don’t learn otherwise.
Outpatient medicine rotation at SF Free Clinic – 2 weeks
Substance Abuse – 2 weeks
3) What away rotations, AOCs, research, international work, etc. did you do during 4th year?
I started my year with a PICU sub-I at Moffitt, followed by 8 weeks of Peds research at SFGH (working with surfactant in Dr. Taeusch’s lab), followed by my medicine sub-I. I didn’t do any aways/AOC/international work this year.
4) How did you plan your 4th year schedule?
I had to get my two sub-Is (medicine and peds) done before the end of September, and I wanted to enjoy myself and have a flexible schedule during the summer. So, I sandwiched research in between the two sub-Is (I HIGHLY recommend doing some research during 4th year…the flexible hours are amazing).
After that, I just scheduled a bunch of interesting-sounding 2-week electives for the rest of year, with 2 weeks vacation before and after winter break (leaving a total of 7 weeks to interview/take Step 2), and all of April off for vacation.
I would really stress what my medicine advisor told me at the beginning of the year, which is that I should only take things during 4th year that I wanted to take (ie, in general, don’t schedule tough electives because you think they’ll bolster your resume…just do really well in your sub-Is, and you’ll be fine).
5) If you had to plan your 4th year schedule all over again, what would you do differently?
I would have planned some international time far in advance…as it was, I couldn’t make up my mind about going abroad and ended up missing the funding deadlines, which forced me to cancel my abroad month. Otherwise, I was pretty happy overall.
Anonymous said
1) What specialty are you going into? Pediatrics
2) What electives did you take during 4th year?
Derm
Peds Heme/Onc Outpatient
ID @ the VA
Child Abuse @ SFGH
Radiology @ the VA
Ophtho for primary care
3) What away rotations, AOCs, research, international work, etc. did you do during 4th year?
ED at CHO
AoC in Medical Education
4) How did you plan your 4th year schedule?
I needed vacation at the beginning of July (for a wedding) and I was wanted to do my Peds and Medicine Sub-I relatively early as I was still considering Medicine. So those were my priorities. After that, I just filled things in with rotations that I thought would be interesting and useful and that maybe I wouldn’t be able to get during residency.
5) If you had to plan your 4th year schedule all over again, what would you do differently?
Nothing. I definitely front-loaded and ended up with a lot of vacation in the end and am now really really enjoying that. Do give yourself time to work on your application somewhere in the late summer.
Anonymous said
1) What specialty are you going into?
Emergency Medicine
2) What electives did you take during 4th year?
In chronological order:
SICU @ SFGH (4 weeks)
Rads @ parn (4 weeks)
EM sub-I @ HGH (4 weeks)
Research (4 weeks)
Derm (2 weeks)
Pulm @ St. Mary’s (2 weeks)
Medicine sub-I @ VA (4 weeks)
vaca for 1 week (cuz UCLA’s schedule is off ours by a week)
EM sub-I @ UCLA-Harbor (4 weeks)
vaca for 3 weeks (interviews)
xmas for 2 weeks
vaca for 2 weeks (interviews)
ID @ SFGH (2 weeks)
Cards @ VA (4 weeks)
PE skills (2 weeks)
vaca for 4 weeks (travel for fun)
Ophtho prim care (2 weeks)
CODA
3) What away rotations, AOCs, research, international work, etc. did you do during 4th year?
EM @ UCLA-Harbor (4 weeks)
EM Research (4 weeks)
4) How did you plan your 4th year schedule?
I tried to front-load Medicine and EM as much as possible, so that I could hammer down some good connections/letters/evals before Dean’s letter went out. I also made sure that I gave myself a couple of low-intensity rotations during the Fall to work on my personal statement, research plan and packets for letter-writers.
I did an away EM sub-I after the Dean’s Letter was down, mostly to feel out LA again. I treated it more as an interview month (me of them and them of me), which worked out well.
I also gave myself a ton of time from Nov-mid Jan for interviews. Contrary to what I heard as third year, interview season is mostly November-December, with only a smattering in January (at least in EM).
5) If you had to plan your 4th year schedule all over again, what would you do differently?
Everything worked out really well the way I had it. I would have like to have had my Medicine Sub-I before Dean’s Letter, but the lottery can only work for the lucky few.
I loved the fact that I had the full 10 weeks of vacation to use during fourth year. If you can hold off on taking vacations in third year, do it.
6) Best time to take the Step 2 CK and Step 2 CS?
I took CK the day after Xmas, which was great, because I could study while I was home, and interviews get shut down during that time.
I took CS in early February. All I have to say about CS is…never mind. I’m still trying to find a way to shut it down for future classes. It is a total slap in the face, and a slap to the wallet. I have very strong feelings about the CS exam, but this is not the forum for that.
Chris Potter said
1) What specialty are you going into?
Radiology
(Feel free to email me if you want advice about the application process)
2) What electives did you take during 4th year?
Diagnostic Radiology at Moffitt
Interventional Radiology at VAMC
Research month in Radiology
GI/Endocrine Surgery (Blue team)
Neurovascular ICU
Hematology SFGH
ID SFGH
EKG
Remember, you need to apply for prelim year, too. I had a letters from a 3rd yr medicine attending and a surgery attending from 4th yr, as well as two non-clinical letters. It is helpful to have a letter from one radiologist. Four letters is pretty standard. If you don’t have letter writers from 3rd year, schedule rotations that you’d like letters from early in 4th year.
If you don’t need a medicine letter from 4th year, try to do medicine after October so that med applicants can get their letters early.
3) What away rotations, AOCs, research, international work, etc. did you do during 4th year?
Research month in radiology.
I didn’t feel that away rotations in radiology, other than in interventional, were a worthwhile investment. They are certainly not expected. Better to do something fun. Doing research in radiology, at least a month, is very helpful in getting to know people in the field, finding people to write letters who know you and having someone to support you along the way in case you need someone to make a call on your behalf.
4) How did you plan your 4th year schedule?
I scheduled radiology electives and my surgery elective early in order to have letters in time for application. In radiology it’s not necessary to have a letter from a radiologist, but it’s good if you can. Since it’s important that your letter writer knows you well, a letter from a radiologist is good from either research or an interventional rotation, where someone can get to know your work. Diagnostic rotations are great for learning and finding out how interested you are in a career in radiology, but I don’t think you’ll get to know someone well enough for a good letter.
5) If you had to plan your 4th year schedule all over again, what would you do differently?
I would have done only two 1A rotations, instead of 3. Although it doesn’t sound like a lot, it’s a busy year.
6) Best time to take the Step 2 CK and Step 2 CS
I took CK in early December. The timing depends on your Step 1 score. If you have a lower than average Step 1 score for radiology, you should consider taking it earlier so that it can be considered with your initial application review and can help get you an interview.
Studying for Step 2 was much less painful than for Step 1 and the exam goes by quickly. At times it was even fun.
Don’t bother studying for the CS. Schedule it so that you can at least have a little fun in LA while you’re there. It was very expensive, completely useless and absolutely devoid of learning potential. Let’s try to get rid of this thing…
Julia said
1) What specialty are you going into?
Family Medicine
2) What electives did you take during 4th year?
ED at Highland, Family Medicine in patient service at SFGH, GI consult, Radiology (4 wks), Lab medicine, Cardiology Consult, Surgical ICU, nephrology consult, autopsy and surgical pathology, and international rotation (working at a clinic in Guatemala)
3) What away rotations, AOCs, research, international work, etc. did you do during 4th year?
I will be goind to Antigua, Guatemala to work at Common Hope clinic.
4) How did you plan your 4th year schedule?
I plan it to eliminate different specialites and took time during winter break for interviews. However, I was able to finish my interviews in two wks period by interviewing every other day.
5) If you had to plan your 4th year schedule all over again, what would you do differently? I would plan my international elective in advance and apply for funding.
6) Best time to take the Step 2 CK and Step 2 CS
I took it in December for CK and February for CS.
Alex Aminoff said
1) What specialty are you going into?
Pediatrics
2) What electives did you take during 4th year?
Ophtho for Primary Care (VA), Medicine subI (Parnassus), Pediatric Genetics (Parnassus… very interesting, get to see lots of unusual things), Pediatrics SubI (Parnassus), ICU rotation (CPMC), ECG class, Radiology class (4wk, Parn), Derm (2 weeks), research month, Anesthesia 110, lab medicine (2wk SF General), pathology (parn.. cool, get to work on autopsies)
3) What away rotations, AOCs, research, international work, etc. did you do during 4th year?
one month research project (researching/writing a case report)
4) How did you plan your 4th year schedule?
I wanted my subIs early on and in the same location (to help me decide on my specialty) and then tried to put some lighter rotations (ie ECG) around August/September in order to work on applications. Otherwise I just chose stuff that I thought would prepare me well for internship (radiology, ICU, derm) and stuff that I thought would be interesting (peds genetics, pathology).
5) If you had to plan your 4th year schedule all over again, what would you do differently?
I might try to get experience in the ER, since i have not had any exposure to that, however I already did 3 subIs (ICU, peds, medicine) and doing any more would have been too much. So maybe ER instead of ICU. Otherwise, I think my schedule was pretty good and had good alternation between busy rotations and lighter ones. I recommend doing a light rotation after the end of third year before starting subIs to recover from the stress of 3rd year.
6) Best time to take the Step 2 CK and Step 2 CS
Not sure what the best time is… I kept rescheduling Step 2 CK and ended up taking it 29 December, pretty much as late as possible. It was useful to have derm and subIs prior to taking it since that material was on the exam. For Step 2 CS, I chose to take it March 7th which was fine. I think CS can definitely wait until applications are in and until the second part of 4th year, since the firs part is more stressful and busy.
genie kim said
Dear MS4,
1) What specialty are you going into?
anesthesia
2) What electives did you take during 4th year?
ed, renal, pulmonary, derm, optho, icu, ekg class
3) What away rotations, AOCs, research, international work, etc. did you do during 4th year?
lab research x 3 months
4) How did you plan your 4th year schedule?
advisors and maureen
5) If you had to plan your 4th year schedule all over again, what would you do differently?
schedule less rigorous rotations in the spring, also i would have tried to do better planning of rotations during the winter to schedule for interviews
6) Best time to take the Step 2 CK and Step 2 CS
CK- later rather earlier, dont wait until the end of december or the holidays to take it. it totally ruins your holidays.
CS- whenever
Anonymous said
Dear MS4,
1) What specialty are you going into?
Neurology
2) What electives did you take during 4th year?
- Child Neuro at Moffitt — fantastic
- Neuroradiology at Moffitt — I set this one up myself with Dr. Dillon. Pretty good, but entirely “self-directed” learning, with all the pros and cons that go with.
- Infectious Disease at SFGH — great chance to brush up on antibiotics and their uses while seeing some really interesting pathology
- Endocrinology at SFGH — REALLY slow, which was good for me at the time.
- Palliative Care at Moffitt — should be a requirement for all medical students. One of the best experiences I had in med school, though don’t be fooled into thinking that this will be an easy elective because I ended up working pretty hard during those two years (but, as with any consult service, the workload fluctuates almost randomly)
- EKG — coming up next, I’ve heard it is useful and I scheduled it near the end of the year so I wouldn’t forget everything before intern year starts.
3) What away rotations, AOCs, research, international work, etc. did you do during 4th year?
- no away rotations, didn’t seem to affect me during the interview season
4) How did you plan your 4th year schedule?
- Maureen was my savior. I started one block late when returning from doing my Ph.D. and I took a month off during my third year when my wife and I had a baby. I still managed to squeeze everything in and have plenty of vacation time for interviews, holidays, etc.
5) If you had to plan your 4th year schedule all over again, what would you do differently?
- nothing different. Definitely try to get your hard sub-I’s out of the way early.
6) Best time to take the Step 2 CK and Step 2 CS
- I took Step 2 CK in October because I didn’t want to deal with it during peak interview time in December. I took Step 2 CS at the beginning of March. CS was more challenging than I thought, and, although I don’t recommend studying a lot for it, I was pretty relieved that I at least flipped through First Aid. Still the extremely high pass rate makes this one very low stress.
Anonymous said
1) What specialty are you going into? Pediatrics
2) What electives did you take during 4th year?
Before I took a year off, I did Trauma surgery in May, NICU in June and Clinical Genetics in July. When I came back from a year off in July of 2007, I took an elective in peds in Uganda in July, the TICR course in August, Peds ID in Sept, Radiology in Oct, Med sub-i in Nov, AoC in January and March, Child abuse and Endocrine in February.
3) What away rotations, AOCs, research, international work, etc. did you do during 4th year?
I was in Uganda on gen. peds ward in July as a clinical elective. I am in Laos doing research for my AoC in global health for most of January, March and April.
4) How did you plan your 4th year schedule?
I returned from a year off, and i had done my sub-is in peds and surgery already. I wanted to do global health research.
5) If you had to plan your 4th year schedule all over again, what would you do differently? Nothing
6) Best time to take the Step 2 CK and Step 2 CS
I took CK before I left for a year off in July of 2006. I took CS in january 2008. It worked for me.
Anonymous said
1) What specialty are you going into?
Medicine
2) What electives did you take during 4th year?
ICU SFGH
Anesthesia
ID Moffit
Heme-Onc, away from UCSF
STD clinic
3) What away rotations, AOCs, research, international work, etc. did you do during 4th year?
international AOC
lots of research months
Heme-Onc at Cornell
4) How did you plan your 4th year schedule?
Three months before my year off (one month of actual rotation and then 2 months counted as research)
Did my sub-i in July after my year off
Lots of time away during the year, last few rotations right before graduation
5) If you had to plan your 4th year schedule all over again, what would you do differently?
Nothing: was worried about sub-i as first rotation back from year off, but it was fine
6) Best time to take the Step 2 CK and Step 2 CS
I took step 2 CK at the beginning of my year off, which was great (fresh in my mind) and took CS in February (it will be annoying no matter when it is)
Amber Lerma said
1) What specialty are you going into?
Psychiatry
2) What electives did you take during 4th year?
See below.
3) What away rotations, AOCs, research, international work, etc. did you do during 4th year?
See below.
4) How did you plan your 4th year schedule?
I front loaded my year with the most demanding rotations.
5) If you had to plan your 4th year schedule all over again, what would you do differently? Nope.
6) Best time to take the Step 2 CK and Step 2 CS. As early as possible, so that you can enjoy the majority of your fourth year without the anxiety of knowing you need to pass more standardized exams.
My Fourth Year Schedule:
June: Medicine Sub-I at the VA (4 wks)
July: Inpatient Psychiatry Sub-I at LPPI (4 wks)
August: AoC work (4 wks)
September: Toxicology (4 wks)
9/24-10/07: AoC elective (2 wks)
10/08-10/21: Palliative care (2 wks)
10/22-11/18: STD clinic (4 wks)
11/19-1/2: Vacation (including time off for holidays)
January: AoC work (4 wks)
2/4-2/16 Anesthesia (2 wks)
2/18-2/29: Med 198 independent studies, planned Transition to Clerkships curriculum with faculty (2 wks)
March: Epid 140.07 elective with MA Dept of Public Health, Youth Violence Prevention Program (4 wks)
3/31-4/12: Peds 140.19 Child Abuse (2 wks)
4/14-4/26: Med 198 Teacher/Group Facilitator for Transition to Clerkships (2 wks)
4/28-5/16 CODA (2 wks)
5/19 Graduation!!!
Brian George said
1) What specialty are you going into?
General Surgery
2) What electives did you take during 4th year?
In order:
ENT subI (4wks)
Ortho 2-week thingy
EM @SFGH (4wks)
(Went to S. America for 10 months here)
August: SICU @ Highland (4wks) – awesome learning, tons of teaching
Sept: MedEd AoC course (1mo)
Oct: Red Surg SubI – not structured for students, difficult to take active role
Nov-Jan: MedEd AoC research + vacation (2.5mo)
Feb: Medicine SubI @Moffitt–awesome learning, don’t fear the MotherShip.
Mar: Physical Exam (2wks) – surprisingly good, very clinically useful.
Mar: Lab Medicine (2wks) – basically a vacation. waste of time.
April: Palliative Care (2wks) – remember again what it means to be a doctor
3) What away rotations, AOCs, research, international work, etc. did you do during 4th year?
1mo MedEd AoC classroom, 2mo of MedEd AoC research. Took extra year between 3rd and 4th to live in S. America.
4) How did you plan your 4th year schedule?
Plan? What plan?
5) If you had to plan your 4th year schedule all over again, what would you do differently?
I decided to do surgery very late, so I took my surgery subI later than most, and I only did one. If you know you are going into surgery, do a couple of subI’s early. I would not suggest Red Surg @Moffitt–but also know that you absolutely do not need to do Blue in order to get a good residency spot. I got two great surgery letters out of my SICU rotation at Highland, which was honestly the highlight of my 4th year.
I would also plan to have at *least* one full month off (December or January) for interviews…there is no way in hell that you can get them all done in just 2 weeks. I had 2 months, which made interviewing leisurely–I liked that.
6) Best time to take the Step 2 CK and Step 2 CS
No opinion.