I'm having a lot of trouble studying for the MCAT while working a full time engineering job and dealing with a shit ton of family issues. I guess I just have to eat the elephant one spoon at a time. At this rate it will take me at least 9 months.
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Medicine-ERA: Any Docs/Nurses/other medical professions around here?
- Thread starter Ambient80
- Start date
I've been in between jobs and been doing some Locums work. It's interesting to say the least. If anyone's interested in my experience with it, I can go into more detail.
I'm applying in for school in June and I'm interested in what kind of travel opportunities locums provide.
Wondering when this thread was going to show up. MS4 here just finishing up residency interviews and now struggling to make my rank list.
Not at all, going into General Surgery. Didn't like any other specialty as much as surgery.
Finished dentistry a few years now but it was so fucking boring, money is great but wanted something more. Just started the Maxfax programme and had my January exams, if dentistry was boring then medicine is straight dogshit. It will all be worth it at the end because maxillofacial is something I've thought hard and long about for some time, but the current motivation is not there to get it done. It's all in university at the moment, will be fucking off onto wards soon enough but lot's of lectures to get through and chilling with 2nd/3rd year medical students that are so enthusiastic.
It will all be worth it I tell myself, being a 26 year old out of work though does not feel very good especially with family pressures, but you only live the once and might as well do something you enjoy! Thankfully I bypass a lot of shit the undergrad med students have to go through thanks to the dentistry, straight route to make me a maxfax surgeon which is really good. The core surgical training posts are okay but specialising seems very competitive, me being able to get past all that is something I am very thankful for. But it's not going to be 4 years for me and done, there is still more training to do after that. :/
How do you lot keep yourselves motivated though? It's a questions I don't want to be asking at university for obvious reasons but yeah, it's a huge struggle at the moment forcing myself to that university and wards will be dealing with all kinds, seen enough of that shit in dentistry to know it's gonna be a hassle.
It will all be worth it I tell myself, being a 26 year old out of work though does not feel very good especially with family pressures, but you only live the once and might as well do something you enjoy! Thankfully I bypass a lot of shit the undergrad med students have to go through thanks to the dentistry, straight route to make me a maxfax surgeon which is really good. The core surgical training posts are okay but specialising seems very competitive, me being able to get past all that is something I am very thankful for. But it's not going to be 4 years for me and done, there is still more training to do after that. :/
How do you lot keep yourselves motivated though? It's a questions I don't want to be asking at university for obvious reasons but yeah, it's a huge struggle at the moment forcing myself to that university and wards will be dealing with all kinds, seen enough of that shit in dentistry to know it's gonna be a hassle.
Sure.
Basically, for others that may not know, working locum tenens (latin for placeholder) is basically temp work. This could be because of slow recruitment for permanent positions, leaves of absence from staff, vacation, etc. I can only speak on my experience in the U.S, but it was a good fit for me over these last few months as I left one job before starting a new one (which I'm starting this Spring). I was actually expecting to start last year in November/December, but this got pushed back for logistical reasons, which I won't get into. I stopped working at my old job in October so I could have a month off with my then 3 month old, but seeing as how I needed to fill in the gaps until Spring, I sought out some Locums positions.
The way it works is that a hospital realizes there's a need or lack of coverage for whatever specialty; this can be anything from outpatient clinic work to inpatient coverage/call/surgical coverage. They then tend to put out their ad to the Locums companies. If you're in residency or practice, you're probably already familiar with their recruiters; they will call/email/stalk you and you can get cold calls from multiple different agencies. These agencies work as middle-men that then try to find docs for temporarily placements with their specific dates. There's dozens of these companies out there as well, although the jobs they offer do tend to overlap. While there are now services to take out the middle-management step of the Locums companies, I'm not sure how that works as the companies provide transportation, arrangements, and probably most importantly, malpractice/tail coverage.
I think it's been an interesting experience. I've done a couple stints, and have a few more coming up. Things that I like:
- The temporary coverage means you can largely go in and do your thing with the hospital's understanding that you're there solely for coverage. No getting caught up in the hospital, etc.
- You can see how other hospitals operate which is refreshing.
- Get to travel to some different places; a lot of the places that are looking for coverage are in remote areas which I think is interesting to discover
- As above, the Locums company covers airfare/car/gas, state licensures, housing, and malpractice and tail insurance.
- It allowed me to be fluid and make some money while I was in a period of transition. I've met other Locums physicians that were doing it just to figure out what they wanted to do next (one guy that was in the Peace Corps that got disillusioned with international medicine in some 3rd world countries).
- The pay is really strong. In about a 1-2 week period, I made what I was making in a month at my old job.
- You can go at your own pace; if you want to kill it for 4-6 weeks, you can do that. If you want to do a week here and there, you'll likely find a placement.
That being said, it's not all rosy. The negatives:
- Probably the biggest is that you tend to be really busy. As you can imagine, coming in as a sub means that many of these places are strapped as it is. I could see me getting burned out if I were doing this for a long time.
- Some places may not have a ton of resources. I went to a place that literally had no MRI (which makes a lot of Neurology kinda difficult).
- You have to start over with each new place. Not only the physical space, but the records, EMR, orders, paging system, etc. Even the cultures in the specific placements can get some getting used to.
- Asking specific questions to the locums recruiters is difficult, since they really aren't in medicine; by the time you get your answer, the position may have been filled.
- Also, the positions do tend to get filled pretty quick so you have to commit pretty quickly and early.
- All the negative that come with being at a place only for a short period of time; no patient follow up, etc.
- The pay is good, but all the stuff that potentially comes with other jobs (benefits, retirement, etc) isn't included at all.
- The paperwork can be a lot. I used two different companies, and I really should've stuck with one; not only that but my references need to fill out not only forms for the company, but each individual hospital I was going to be placed at. I felt really bad having them do all that work.
- The quality of other Locums doctors does tend to be somewhat hit or miss. One signout I got, I needed to basically start from scratch on a bunch of patients.
For me, it's been a good experience. I have a total of 3 more weeks I think before my new job in the Spring, and I think that'll be good enough for me, at least for the forseeable future. One thing is that I do miss my family; I wish I could've done this when I was single as I probably would've done this for a year or so, and just traveled to different hospitals. All in all, if you want to kinda travel around, don't want a commitment to one particular place/location, are between jobs (like myself) or are trying to figure things out, it's a pretty good option.
What do you guys think about Robbins Basic Pathology? It reads quite nicely and is 57€ on Amazon for the latest edition. I wouldn't need it per se, but it would be interesting to read a proper Path-book.
Officially matched today! Now all that's left is to find out where. Congrats to all the other US med students on ERA that matched today!
Attending pediatric anesthesiologist in the United States, practicing at a small tertiary care center in a mostly rural area that does everything except complex pediatrics and complex hearts. Best specialty out there (anesthesia in general; pediatric anesthesia is its own beast), IMO, save for the constant threat of being replaced by nurse anesthetists and/or propofol injecting machines. In all honesty, though, if any medical students or RNs are considering anesthesia, definitely do it. Rewarding field with a good lifestyle.
Two cents for all those frustrated with medical debt - check out the White Coat Investor, Physician on FIRE, and other physician-focused finance blogs. Do this early. Unfortunately, hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt is not uncommon in American medicine. One such article focuses squarely on the plight of the pediatrician. There are things you can do in residency to supplement your income - moonlight, review medical cases, telemedicine, etc... I did this during residency and often found ways to while at work (essentially, anytime there was downtime during my day), although it did cut into some of my free time. Still, it felt great at the end of the year seeing how much more I had made than my "resident salary." Many physicians continue these side-gigs into post-residency. It's unfortunate this is what we've come to (somehow, even doctors need second jobs to feel like they're earning 'enough' money / effectively paying off their debt), but... c'est la vie.
Two cents for all those frustrated with medical debt - check out the White Coat Investor, Physician on FIRE, and other physician-focused finance blogs. Do this early. Unfortunately, hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt is not uncommon in American medicine. One such article focuses squarely on the plight of the pediatrician. There are things you can do in residency to supplement your income - moonlight, review medical cases, telemedicine, etc... I did this during residency and often found ways to while at work (essentially, anytime there was downtime during my day), although it did cut into some of my free time. Still, it felt great at the end of the year seeing how much more I had made than my "resident salary." Many physicians continue these side-gigs into post-residency. It's unfortunate this is what we've come to (somehow, even doctors need second jobs to feel like they're earning 'enough' money / effectively paying off their debt), but... c'est la vie.
I just came out of Anesthesia, and boy, lots of things risk children getting into a freaking cardiac arrest.
I do want to study anesthesia. It's very practical. Thankfully in my country nurses don't apply anesthesia.
I've done chest compressions on pediatric patients a handful of times now - which is a handful more than anyone should ever hope for. That having been said, they are incredibly resilient and can tolerate low perfusion states much better than your average sixty or seventy year old vasculopath with a bad heart.
Best of luck to you, friend!
Man, I attended the match day ceremony. Our seniors did amazing, i hope our class can do just as good if not better lol. I'm still an M1, but seeing many match in competitive specialties 4 match in derm, 3 in IR, 2 in rad onc, and 12 in orthopaedic as well a great number in other fields gives me hope lol. I can't wait for that day
If you have even a slight interest in path I'd say it's a must have.
Matched into anesthesiology at my top pick on Friday! After a weekend of celebration, I am now counting down the days with dread until June 15th.
Now working in Gynaecology. It's an...interesting world.
There's 7 months left until the end of my residency and still no thesis subject in mind...
There's 7 months left until the end of my residency and still no thesis subject in mind...
Have my Internal Medicine shelf tomorrow and then I'm officially an M4. They're giving us a 3 week break before 4th year starts but I'm using most of it to study for Step 2 CK. I think having Medicine beforehand helped, since a lot of the test is medicine. Really need to review Peds/OB/Psych pretty well in the next few weeks. And reset UWorld, hopefully I'll be fine.
You'll be fine. Just get through as much of uworld as you can before the test. I did literally nothing but uworld and scored better than my equivalent on Step 1 (and above average).
I'm going to start my internship in internal medicine tomorrow. I don't know where they actually put me, so I'm a little excited. I recapitulated ECG just in case if it'll be cardio. :D
I feel like Step 2 CK was much easier to prepare for than Step 1. I don't know if it was the material or the fact that I approached studying way differently. I didn't stress myself out with 12+ hour study days like I did with Step 1 (sometimes forgetting to eat, shower, etc. It was awful). Gave myself hard cutoff times, made sure I ate, got some exercise in, etc. Ended up doing way better on it too. Whatever you didn't like about studying for step 1, don't repeat it for step 2.
Step 1: 2 months
Step 2: 2 weeks
Step 3: 2 pencils
I guess the old adage doesn't work in the computerized age but still.
I wish i had gotten 6 weeks to study for step 1. My school only gave me 6 weeks, which wasn't enough. Its amazing that I managed to pass with a score good enough for surgery
Belated congrats! I remember you posting on GAF 2 years ago when we were both studying for Step 1 about your panic leading up to the test. I definitely commiserated with your experience as my school only gave us 4 WEEKS to study for it! Very cool that you're going into surgery. Maybe I'll have the opportunity to put our patient into Trendelenburg for you in the future.
well, I'll try this then. I've been thinking lately this isn't the route for me but this could be a nice hangout. anyway.
do pre-OT students count? Am running behind schedule so I think I'm stacking chem, A&P (2nd time due to transfer sequence), and psy stats the upcoming Fall. I think that'd check my prereq boxes but it's intimidating right now. Although it seems like a peasant schedule compared to what I'm up against later on.
do pre-OT students count? Am running behind schedule so I think I'm stacking chem, A&P (2nd time due to transfer sequence), and psy stats the upcoming Fall. I think that'd check my prereq boxes but it's intimidating right now. Although it seems like a peasant schedule compared to what I'm up against later on.
I just applied, everyone is welcome I suppose
Is he a Scientologist or something?
Going into my 6th year as medicine student, I'm currently finishing the part of my OB/GYN rotation at a delivery room which has honestly been one of the worst experiences of the last few years for me (aside from internal medicine). Aside from my absolute lack of interest in the field, I'm cooped up in... well, a chicken coop is probably the best way to describe it. The obstetricians there gossip all fucking day long, complain about how difficult their lives are and expect me to have all the skills nurses have. And 90% of the time, there. is. nothing. zero. nul. to. do.
Sorry for my rant. I just despise my life at the moment.
Sorry for my rant. I just despise my life at the moment.
Hey, I'm just needing some help on some stuff.
I'm a second year medical student. I deferred my exams in June to the late summer due to personal difficulties. Summer hasn't been great for me either, this it was very difficult to focus on my studies.
I had my exams last week and the results came out yesterday. I did well in my spotter and osce exams, however scored 49% on my written exam. This means I'll have to retake the entire year to sit the paper again next june, for the sake of 1%.
I'm not sure whether my hearts in it to continue. For context I'm a graduate entry student on a 5 year course. Redoing the year now means graduating at 28 - which i struggle with the idea of.
Second year was greatly taxing on my mental wellbeing and cost me my relationship with an amazing woman, of 4 years.
I'm a second year medical student. I deferred my exams in June to the late summer due to personal difficulties. Summer hasn't been great for me either, this it was very difficult to focus on my studies.
I had my exams last week and the results came out yesterday. I did well in my spotter and osce exams, however scored 49% on my written exam. This means I'll have to retake the entire year to sit the paper again next june, for the sake of 1%.
I'm not sure whether my hearts in it to continue. For context I'm a graduate entry student on a 5 year course. Redoing the year now means graduating at 28 - which i struggle with the idea of.
Second year was greatly taxing on my mental wellbeing and cost me my relationship with an amazing woman, of 4 years.
I am a trauma surgeon. I went to med school in Berlin and also completed my residency and fellowship there. I did not intend to become one at all when I started university. I wanted to become a psychiatrist like my mother and chose the Charite because of their psychiatry/sexual medicine program. During my first year of clinical studies (programs are six ears and three months in Germany with 2 years for pre clinic, four years for clinic, and the rest for final examinations) I fell in love with surgery and haven't regretted the decision since then.
I am at the tail end of the Swedish internship system (psychiatry and primary care left). I have a PhD from 2016 that focused on stroke epidemiology. I am still involved in some research projects, but nothing that will catapult me forward.
I am not sure that I would be happy as a clinician without ongoing research (have seen many miserable attending doctors in this position), so I am trying my best to start something before I am out of the game. I am not sure that I will succeed, though. Would be much simpler if I moved from the relatively small city where I live, but not sure that I am ready for that at the moment.
I am not sure that I would be happy as a clinician without ongoing research (have seen many miserable attending doctors in this position), so I am trying my best to start something before I am out of the game. I am not sure that I will succeed, though. Would be much simpler if I moved from the relatively small city where I live, but not sure that I am ready for that at the moment.
OP
OP
Ah, I'm not really sure I can help too much, that's such a personal decision. That's a bummer you have to repeat the entire year for the sake of 1% on an exam. If you decide to stay, take it as an opportunity to truly master the content. You're gonna learn more the second time around and really start to connect the dots between different conditions and meds and everything else (this is assuming you put in the work, obv, and I'm not suggesting you didn't do so before).
But, if you're really just not enjoying it or it's putting too much stress in your personal life, don't feel like you absolutely HAVE TO continue. There's no shame in going that far and saying "You know, this just isn't for me, and that's ok." It's better for you mentally, and if your heart isn't in it then it's better for prospective patients, too. There are several different avenues one could go from this point that are excellent careers!
Anyway, if you feel like you just need to talk it all out with a neutral party, feel free to DM me. I don't mind! I had my own struggles with exams (COMLEX III, specifically) so I've been there before.
Been a CNA for two years and schooling towards Occupational Therapy. CNA is hard, grunt work, but it's satisfying and less mentally stressful than what I see LVN's, RN's and above deal with. I love ADL's and Therapy, so OT seemed like a perfect fit. I decided just to stick with CNA during school because LVN/RN loans and time investment for the schooling probably wasn't worth it if my end goal is OT anyway. I work at a Rehab SNF on the evening shift 15:00-23:30. Did day shift for a while, learned a lot and worked my ass off with brutal patient/nurse ratios, but evening shift is more chill after dinner time and schooling during the day is far more efficient.
The schools are top notch. Hence the world rankings and high number of foreign students. So too many of the health care systems. They're just expensive.
Socialized systems are admirable however they come with their own concerns. Many of the international medical graduates I've worked with come to the US to escape socialized healthcare systems due to a lack of cutting edge treatments/procedures, research, resources, pay, opportunities for career growth, and/or respect. These are places like India, South America, Egypt, Africa, China, and others. They tend to be among the smartest and most capable individuals.
Working in a socialized system is a great service to those in need. At the same time it comes at a great personal cost for a physician in what is already one of the most demanding careers, regardless of nation. You can't blame such people for wanting to be well cared for in terms of time and money. Imagine what would happen if you didn't compensate fairly.
There are different answers to the current faults in the US education and health systems, and they don't start/stop at a simple "socialize everything" answer. I do think we should have heavily subsidized schooling available to all. So too basic healthcare needs. It's just more nuanced and difficult to change than "raise taxes; make everything free."
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Good luck, you'll do great ! What specialty if u dont mind me asking?
I finished my med school. I'm nearly free, once I pass my PHD.
But that feeling of freedom, of working with patients and treating...
...it's pretty damn great.
But that feeling of freedom, of working with patients and treating...
...it's pretty damn great.
Psychiatry! You're the same Rando from GAF right? Because I remember you helping me get over my nerves before I started medical school...I've come a long way haha.
Hi everyone . This question is for my wife. She has been trying for the longest time to get into medical school but because of family issues (she currently works as a nurse and has help siblings & family) and im in school, it's been pretty difficult.
She took the mcat and didnt do so well. Anyone here had to get into med school as a non traditional? Any advice on how to study for mcat? Words of encouragement /advice....?Pleae help :-(
She took the mcat and didnt do so well. Anyone here had to get into med school as a non traditional? Any advice on how to study for mcat? Words of encouragement /advice....?Pleae help :-(