What timing and process are appropriate for finalizing career choice? (Louis Binder, MD)
Some students will be fortunate enough to identify their career choice over the course of the junior year (whether in Emergency Medicine or another field). If so, congratulations!! This affords ample time over the spring and summer to contemplate subsequent questions regarding senior year organization, whether to take a rotation away, and which residencies to apply to.
Probably the majority of students are not able to make a final choice of specialty by the end of their junior year. In most cases, this may be due to needing to take a senior year experience to confirm an intended choice, or to take two or three early experiences in the senior year to finalize a choice among several possibilities. In general, a good objective for students to strive for is to narrow down your possibilities for career choice to two or three related possibilities by the end of the junior year. The early part of the senior year can then be used to take confirming clinical experiences to finalize specialty choice.
What is an appropriate career development time line for the senior year? (Louis Binder, MD)
Career choice: Spring or July/August
Senior schedule and sequencing: Spring
Decisions on electives away: Spring/Summer
Where to apply for residency: Spring/Summer
Completing paperwork (CV, personal statement, ERAS, application letters): August/September
Interview preparation: December/January
Sequencing and inputting match rank order lists: January/February
When are the best times to place unscheduled time during the senior year? (Louis Binder, MD)
This is an individualized consideration for each student, and there is no right or wrong answer. Students may wish to or need to utilize unscheduled time to complete make-up requirements for clerkships, research, organizational involvements, additional training, personal commitments, etc. that could occur at virtually any point in the senior year.
However, having stated the above, a few logical points for placement of unscheduled time for the majority of students exist:
* July of senior year - relax and undertake "a breather" after a rigorous junior year.
* A month in late summer or early fall for "paperwork" related to residency applications - compiling a curriculum vitae, personal statement, recruiting letters of recommendation, completing residency applications, finishing ERAS diskette, setting up away rotations, etc. May be especially effective if coupled with USMLE II preparation, complete two priorities with one unscheduled month.
* December or January to allow dedicated time for interviews.
* And of course, at the end of the senior year as terminal leave.