Swansea, IL is about 19 miles
(30 minute drive), but no traffic. Deaconess parking is free in garage
(just say you're a med student)
How bad were the on call hours?
NONE!
What were your weekday hours?
Mon-classes. Tue/Thu-Deaconess,
only a few patients but good teaching. FREE LUNCH every day, good noon
lectures. WED/FRI in clinic 9-6 nonstop, LOTS of patients (up to 45 a
day!) but a great variety of stuff. Too busy for much teaching.
What were your weekend hours?
NONE
What should we know about the attendings and residents?
Dr
Feldner is a DO in sports med, so lots of osteo manipulation and sports
injury stuff. Cool guy. At Deaconess you work with a few attendings and
residents, all pretty cool. Very friendly, overall, no bad guys.
Did you learn any new procedures or skills?
Stitch removal, took
a stone out of a kid's ear. sawed off a cast. Observed a few paps. Saw
some OMT.
What books were useful for the shelf exam?
I used the huge
textbook, $5 rental, not sure how helpful it was. i think i'd stick with
Outpatent Recall and PreTest.
How was your shelf exam?
7/10
Did you have enough time to study for it?
yep. But it was still
very very hard, barely finished on time. Just like an internal med exam.
those shelfs suck, makes it hard to honor anything!
What pearls of wisdom should an incoming student ABSOLUTELY know?
Get used to reviewing the main diseases AND drugs, the most common
ones including doses and side effects. And be nice to drug reps and always
ask for free things. I got CDs, suntan lotion, morphine. Actually, I lied
about the CDs.
How would you rate the stress level?
mellow
Are you now more or less interested in this specialty as a career?
More
Any other comments?
mondays are usually boring, often low yield.
But it's an easy schedule, so take advantage of it and enjoy! Lots of
good, basic medicine.
