Choosing Elective Rotations & Need Advice!!!

[HM2PA]

I need to select two elective rotations & I am waffling between two extremes. Because I am uncertain about my career direction - I am having trouble picking elective rotations.

 

General Career Values: I know that I want to work in a field that is procedure heavy (but NOT surgery), brainy, challenging w/ variety.  I also speak Spanish & care deeply for the immigrant community in my hometown & would love to work for our local community health center - I love the idea of working primary care with people I connect with… My wife, however, is convinced that I would do well with routine primary care… I am a former corpsman & highly ADHD —- I come alive and think best under pressure and intensity.

 

My [perceived?] dichotomy: primary care vs. brainy/procedure/↑ intensity/↑ acuity

 

Current career ideas:

1) Work @ the community health center and moonlight in the local ED.   

2) Work my way into a critical access hospital’s ED   

3) Do something different altogether like IM/Critical care, Heme/Onc

 

My (2) electives as of now: Pediatric Heme/Oncology & Trauma/EM

 

My questions: 

1. What specialties have I not thought of that incorporate ↑procedures, ↑high-level thinking, ↑pace & acuity ↑?
2. Should I go with peds Heme/Onc & trauma/EM…. or do I go with something more pragmaticly advantageous for primary care like Derm/Ortho or GYN?
3. What other rotations have I not thought of?
4. Any other advice or thoughts… challenge my thinking & help me see my blind spots! :-)

 

 

CAVEAT: Just to be clear  - I have a profound respect for primary care!! I am not saying that their work does not require 'high-level thinking' -- I am only saying that I am interested in exploring the 'stuff' that is too complex for the office.

[SoCalPA]

Perform Well under pressure = trauma/ED/critcal care. Just my 2 cents.

[SoCalPA]

it's only a rotation. You can always change your mind as to what you want to do after you graduate. Maybe someone else can speak to the connection between specialties. It would seem to me that if you work in the ER that you might do well in primary care. But I don't know for sure.

[EMEDPA]

it's only a rotation. You can always change your mind as to what you want to do after you graduate. Maybe someone else can speak to the connection between specialties. It would seem to me that if you work in the ER that you might do well in primary care. But I don't know for sure.

ER work involves a lot of primary care, but most folks who like ER (adrenalin junkies, ok I said it), get bored by routine primary care. I could see doing a full scope primary care practice/only doc in town kind of thing at some point, but right now the monotony and low acuity of a typical primary care practice would bore me to tears. It's important amd I'm glad someone does it, but it's not for me at this point in my life.

[HM2PA]

Thanks for your perspective.... The question remains... should I go for fun & interesting i.e.  EM/trauma, Peds Heme/Onc, IM/CC or do I shoot for filling in my weaknesses, i.e. some combination of GYN/Derm/Ortho..

 

Or is there some other rotation that would prepare me well for EM?

 

Thanks!!!

[EMEDPA]

if you are looking at a future in em consider the following:

trauma surg

critical care/medical ICU

Peds EM

anesthesiology

 

I did peds em and trauma surgery. never regretted it.

[winterallsummer]

I think peds hem/onc and trauma are great rotations and I'd stick to them if I were you. You will see common problems all your life but the chance to work in hem onc you will learn a ton from specialists and there is a lot of critical care and challenging cases. Trauma is another great rotation and my advice is be as involved as possible when running codes, in the or etc.