b"Emergency Medicine as a core clerkshipin the third year By Taylor Manthey, MS3 LKSOMAt the very least, any decision coulddont encounter - the urgency, the help avoid the chaos of organizing alack of information, the constant need schedule around a dual application.to decide and move on to the next I cant imagine the stress of trying topatient. Is this really the kind of thing prepare for two different specialties.people should match into as a failsafe? What if a student that originallyHow will that affect attrition and burn plans on going into EM completesout rates, which are already rising after the rotation and realizes it is not forthe COVID-19 pandemic? Will people them? How are they meant to fulfillwho ended up in EM as a second choice the requirements and expectations forto surgery, or anesthesia, or ortho still another specialty with their currentbe in EM in ten years time? Twenty? EM-focused schedule design? Or theDid they know what EM was really like Taylor Manthey, MS3 LKSOM flip side, what if a student thinks theybefore they applied? Would they have PACEP Medical Student Council want to go into Family Med or Surgery,made a different decision if EM was a Secretary-Editor and ends up loving the ED? Even if theyrequired third-year rotation? As we approach the end of thirdhave that experience Its incredibly in the very firstdifficult to form year clerkships and prepare for theblock of fourth madness of pre-ERAS season, I findyear, its already theWould the relationshipan opinion about myself wishing that Emergencybeginning of June.between EM andEmergency Medicine were a core rotation inHow do they regroupMedicine without the third year. At first, I was onlyand give themselvesinpatient admittingbeing in the ED thinking about this in the contextthe best chance atspecialties be different,itself. I was lucky of making my fourth-year schedulematching with suchif everyone had earlyenough to have planning easier. At Temple, we havea late realization?exposure to EM and couldexperience in EMS four months in which to completeThe argument couldand know about our home EM rotation, do an away (orbe made about anybetter empathize?EM through my two), take Step 2, and find anotherspecialty that isntdad, who is an letter of recommendation beforea core clerkship in the third year, butEM physician. ERAS is due in September. Having myI would ask, do five to ten percentBut if I didnt, I would have to rely on rotation complete before fourth yearof graduates enter that field? In thisshadowing experience and the stories would certainly make my life easieryears match, only Family Medicine, IM,Id heard of EM from other specialties as someone who is set on going intoPediatrics, and Psychiatry had higherto decide. If Im honest, the things that EM, but I think it would be helpfulpercentages - all of which are requiredother specialties have to say about for students interested in otherin the third year.EM is not always the most flattering - specialties, too.whether that's from frustrations about I worry, too, about how many studentsconsults or a misunderstanding of For those who are undecided, spendingapply into EM as a backup. Its beenwhat the ED does, Im not sure. I have time in the ED earlier may help thema common idea amongst medicalpersonally heard residents venting figure out what specialty they want tostudents recently and is especiallyabout how the ED didnt wait to decide pursue. Maybe they would fall in lovesomething touted on the medicaluntil they had all the information, or with something they saw in the variedstudent Reddit forums. EM is ahow its unfair that all the ED does environment of the ED, or maybe theydifficult field and presents a lot ofis triage - but is that not the entire would decide they loved EM itself. challenges that other specialties justpurpose of the specialty? To make 12 PACEP News | Spring 2024"