I started this thread as a spin-off from postings on this thread:
The thread seemed to be digressing, and I wanted to maintain the spirit of that post (which was to get info about away electives) in order to keep it useful for its intended purpose. At the same time, I feel like this is an interesting topic to just discuss ... so here goes ...
I see what you're saying, but vehemently believe that you are oversimplifyinng way too much. You yourself make my point ... "it's amazing how many socially inept MDs there are." The problem is that our grades in 3rd year are largely based on the opinions of those doctors who may be socially inept, as well as very human in many many other ways. While I am in adamant agreement that "if you have to ask, you don't have it" in *some* way -- knowing what you need to get good grades in 3rd year is vastly different from knowing what you need to be a good person (which is what i equate with being a good med student and doctor -- share, help people, listen, work hard, etc etc).
Your point is well taken in some cases ... for example, classmates of mine who complain "there's just no way to honor these rotations," while at the same time *not* reading ahead, *not* asking questions, *not* going the extra mile, *not* staying late. But I also see many classmates who are amazing with patients, stay late to do extra work that no one will ever know about, read like crazy, and then get shafted by toxic residents, oblivious resident, or residents who are out to prove they're the bomb by setting unrealistic expectations.
I'm sure students who ask on this forum how one can honor rotations, are really asking how they can maximize the chances that the hard work they planned on doing anyway will be noticed.
There are *very* few residents I have met this year whom I want to be like ... when *I'm* a resident (as you said), I will do as they did. They made it clear up front what I need to do to do well, and then what they felt was the "extra mile". Then they showed that they were as enthusiastic about teaching me as I was about learning. Then they took time to notice what I did well, and where I could improve, and they let me know every step of the way. When things are laid out that clearly ... the good students will meet and then exceed whatever is laid out ... the bad ones, even having been told how to excel, simply won't.
You could look at it that way if you think the boards are excellent measures of your potential ... if that were the case, residencies would just base their choices on those scores. I view them as very rough measures of how well you represent your potential on one single day. If you just happened to have a bad day when you took step 1, you would expect that you should be able to make up for it by doing well on step 2. It seems unfair then that people who did well on step 1 should have to take a second test, where the best they can do is "the same", and where there are many more ways to do "worse". I worked my butt off to do well on step 1 ... you're telling me that I should risk having a bad day to take a second test, where the best I can do is "not bad"? Why should I take that gamble with my hard work?
As far as aways ... my questions came about because you can only do so many aways ... usually about 2-3 ... which means the vast majority of places where you apply will be places where you didn't rotate. In that sense, the "you should rotate to prove yourself" theory doesn't hold up. In addition, as I mentioned before ... my issue is that the whole 3rd year grading system blows ... I'm not sure how to make it better, but fact is, we might as well draw straws (not quite that bad, but pretty bad).
Anyway ... sorry if I'm pissy today. I just stayed 2 hours late today doing what should have been a 10-minute job, because the resident screwed up and didn't do what she should have done ... and then got scolded by her because it took me so long ... even though I could have just gone home because I *volunteered* to do it. See what I'm saying?
Oh well ...
