Two-weekers: What are they good for?

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Kaci McCleary, Dylan Todd, Amy Young and Corbin Weaver are on hand this time to talk about the two-week specialty rotations, like Ophthalmology and Radiology.  You see, as Kaci entered her clinical clerkships, she had four of these short rotations in a row, and found herself hating them.  They seemed like a waste of time, and weren’t offering her much in the way of hands-on experience.  While her experience isn’t universal, we thought some might question the utility of these short rotations, especially if one isn’t going into a specialty but is more focused on primary care.  Fortunately, there’s some hope on the horizon in the form of instant learning through brain stimulation.  Will future med students even need two-weekers?  This leads us into a discussion on the place of rebellion in medical school.  Does medicine need people who buck the system?   How should someone who sees herself as firmly outside the box react when they’re surrounded by it?

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The opinions expressed in this feed and podcast are not those of the University of Iowa or the Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine; nor do they reflect the views of anyone other than the people who expressed them.  If you have feedback on anything you hear on the show, positive or not, let us know.

2 thoughts on “Two-weekers: What are they good for?”

  1. As a fourth year med student, I could relate to a large amount of the subject matter on the show. I totally felt the same exasperation with the grading system. Most students I speak to eventually stop caring about evaluations as a result of the randomness. Interestingly, a lot of people state that clinical rotations become a lot more fun at that point and that their performance actually improves paradoxically. Additionally, in terms of reflection and sad experiences, I felt that there just isn’t enough time for reflection. My grandfather passed away right before 3rd year, and I couldn’t help but see him in every patient that somewhat resembled him. It caused some really rough days. It wasn’t until I did a hospice rotation that I finally had time to grieve and heal. Finally, my school does 2 week rotations as well, and I actually found my specialty by accident through these. I think they do have value for those of us who are not planning on going into one of the core rotations.

    1. There’s no good time to lose a loved-one, but during rotations it’s got to be tough. Thanks for your comment, Matthew.

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