Once you are done with your 2nd year of medical school, you will have to spend the remaining 2 years doing clinical clerkship training & experience in the USA in multiple medical specialties.
The process of scheduling clinical clerkship training & experience in the USA will vary from one medical school to another, with some schools providing greater flexibility than others. Unlike the first half of medical school that consists of objective examinations, the 2nd half is a combination of subjective and objective exams. Moreover, your grades during your 3rd year of medical school will be an essential part of your residency application. Hence, doing well in your 3rd-year clerkship is very important.
Also remember, the people you interact with during clerkship training & experience in the USA may be those who will be writing letters of suggestions for you or will be your advisors in the 4th year. So, you might want to get along with them as well.
Tips for scheduling clinical clerkship and rotations
- Consider scheduling a rotation early in your 3rd year in a specialty you are interested in. This will offer you a chance to have hands-on experience in that particular field and enable you to make a more educated decision on whether or not to select that specialty.
- Gaining general clinical experience before starting your rotations may be important to equip yourself with the skills, knowledge, and abilities to succeed in the rotation.
- If you have identified your programs of interest, doing elective rotations can offer you with a chance to work directly with resident physicians present in those particular program.
- For people taking part in early matches and the military selection board, make sure you select rotations beforehand to accommodate their timelines.
- Health professions scholarship students can optimize their applications to the residency programs they are interested in by completing one rotation in their 4th year and the other just before the selection board meets.
- If you are not sure about the specialty you have chosen, doing rotations that consists of both surgical and nonsurgical disciplines can offer you with a lot of experience to help you in the decision making the process.
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