Learn how to get the most out of your third-year as a medical student. Most would assume that upon reaching your third year of medical school, you’d pretty much have things figured out. But what they may not realize is that third-year is like medical school part two—and a totally different ballgame. After completing two years of textbook education in a classroom, you are all of a sudden given the opportunity to have patient experiences all day, every day. Is it overwhelming? Yes. Is it amazing? Yes. Does it make the first two years of sitting at your desk, listening to lectures, and studying for tests worth it? Definitely. Here are a few tips based on one medical student’s experience to help prepare you as a third-year medical student: How third-year is different for medical students Third year of medical school is divided into six clerkships: Internal Medicine, Surgery, Pediatrics, OB/GYN, Family Medicine, and Psychiatry. Clerkships last between 6 and 12 weeks and are conclude with a “Shelf Exam.” At our school, we are able to choose our clerkships schedule, which quickly becomes a “who can click the fastest on the computer” race. Scheduling third year is an art. I met with four deans and talked to about five upperclassmen when scheduling my rotations. Some people say to do Internal Medicine first because it provides a good foundation for the rest of the year and leads to better evaluations from your clerkships. Some say to do it last so you can be better prepared for the USMLE® Step 2 exam at the end of the year. Choose whichever order makes most sense to you. The objective of third year in medical school The objective of third year is to help students get exposure to all fields of medicine and aide in their decision on which field to pursue for residency. Most students have absolutely no idea which field they will pursue when entering their third year, but by the time February rolls around and students are applying for away rotations, most have narrowed it down to two at most. Advice: If you have any idea of what field you want to go into, schedule these rotations towards the beginning of third year. Otherwise, in February, you end up applying to away rotations in multiple fields which becomes tedious, exhausting, and takes away from your study time. Schedule more intense rotations early on For example, I started my third year with a Surgery rotation. For me, this consisted of three weeks of Urology, three weeks of the Burn ICU, and three weeks of Trauma Surgery. Though I never decided to pursue Trauma Surgery as a specialty, it was one of the most demanding and fascinating rotations ever. I got experience helping patients with everything from lost limbs, burns, gunshot/stab wounds, suicide/homicide attempts, and unfortunately, some unavoidable deaths. Thus, I encourage you to schedule rotations that will expose you to many things early on. That way, it will be easier to narrow down your options based on your experiences rather than your assumptions. Source
