Thursday, January 18, 2007

Rotation Nightmare

I've just spent the past hour and a half looking up rotation sites and I am no closer to figuring out where I want to go than I was an hour and a half ago. I am getting to the point where I just feel overwhelmed with the amount of options I have.....yet, the lack of options I want. Does that make sense?

Let me try to explain a little bit about how my third year is arranged:

1. It is divided into 3 blocks...Sep-Dec, Jan-April, May-Aug.

2. We have to spend 1 of those blocks in a core hospital...I will be at Broadlawns Hospital in Des Moines during the 3rd block.....May-August.

3. We have to spend 1/2 of another block in a core family practice clinic...I will be in Webster City during the first 1/2 of the 2nd Block.......Jan-Feb

4. The rest of the time is spent in electives.....OB/Gyn, Peds, Pysch, Primary Care......with a couple other choices of my liking.

So basically, I have to figure out what I am doing during Sep-Dec and Mar-April.

Back to my opening statement about being overwhelmed with my options yet lack of options I want: I feel like every rotation type I look up, there are tons of locations....but nowhere I really want to go. Or, I find a place I want to go and they are not accepting students. It is quite frustrating.

The other thing that is frustrating is the lack of guidance I receive. I have felt VERY pleased with my school and am VERY happy to be where I am....however, any time a question is brought up about rotations, no one seems to give a straight answer. That, or they give answers that aren't correct. I wish I had someone who was able to sit down with me, just me, and help steer me in the right direction. I don't know if I am supposed to find a rotation in a place where I want to do residency....heck, I don't even know how to find residencies! As far as I'm concerned, that is 2 1/2 years away! To be honest, I don't even know what kind of doctor I want to be!!! How am I supposed to arrange my schedule to "get my foot in the door" when I don't even know what door I want to go through???

Man oh man....I can't wait to get this stuff all figured out!!! This is a nightmare!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I think you'll figure out which type of doctor you want to be, soon enough. It would be nice if there were someone to help guide you through it, but unfortunately, life doesn't seem to be like that. I'm not a doctor, or anything close to it, but I wish they let residents work 8 hour shifts. I don't like the idea of someone who's new to the business, making decisions regarding life and death, when they've been working for days on end without proper rest. When I am in charge of the universe, I will make sure that residents are able to get some sleep. I wish you the best in your endeavors.
Maureen