Hi All
As a second year medical student with only a few moths to go before I am really let loose on patients- I am to choose my clinical school for 3rd year (possibly 4th year as well). By "choosing" I mean placing my top 3 preferences in a mysterious SOM hat with the 400 odd other students hoping to get their first preference. I have been wondering if the clinical school you get really matters, as the content taught at all of the eight(?) places on offer is meant to be at the required standard. The smaller, more rural schools sell themselves as able to offer unmatched "hands on" experiences that you wouldn't get in the larger tertiary centres; while the larger hospitals offer rare and wonderful diseases and a strong academic presence, as well as the opportunity to get to know some of the sub-specialty gurus. Now as the intern year is "supposedly" a fair ballot system, contacts should have nothing to do with chances at getting a training spot later on...or will they?
With the increasing numbers of medical students and the well known bottleneck for specialty training places, I am all too aware of the need to set yourself apart from the crowd, or at least develop some competitive edge. I was wondering how others felt? Are clinical experience so early on likely to influence career opportunities? Has any one had a great (or terrible for that matter) experience training either at a major hospital or outer/rural centre?
I realize that what you get out of the training spot ultimately comes down to what you make of it and as I really have little choice in where I end up anyway, it is more for discussions sake. But I would be interested in what you think...
Cheers,
Rob
