What you guys do during your PGY-1 in IM?

[kevinkwon84]

Hello, people!
I'm an undergraduate student who is now preparing for
medical school (probably Queen's) next year.
After getting my MD degree, as all of other students would
do, I want to go further into postgraduate medical education.
Rather than specializing in just one specific area of study
(e.g.: dermatology, opthalmology, etc), I want to
study General Internal Medicine. It is only my guess
that GIM consist of studies in Cardiology, Gastroenterology,
Nephrology, Neurology, Respirology, Rheumatology, and etc.
After 3 years of GIM, I understand that you have study
approx. 4-5 years more to "specialize" in one of these branches.
Am I guessing it right (cuz the word, "general" internal medicine
made me think that it consists of medical studies in almost all
of the areas in human body)? If what I'm guessing is right,
then I am definitely going for GIM :) .

Oh, and one more question!
How's the life of a PGY student?
Do they spend majority of times at the hospitals, or do they also
do lectures at the university? Although spending a lot of time @
the hospitals would be fascinating, I don't think going to the
lectures at the university campus (UBC campus is just beautiful!)
occasionally would be bad. :)

Thnx ppl!

[Kiel]

Hello, people!
I'm an undergraduate student who is now preparing for
medical school (probably Queen's) next year.
After getting my MD degree, as all of other students would
do, I want to go further into postgraduate medical education.
Rather than specializing in just one specific area of study
(e.g.: dermatology, opthalmology, etc), I want to
study General Internal Medicine. It is only my guess
that GIM consist of studies in Cardiology, Gastroenterology,
Nephrology, Neurology, Respirology, Rheumatology, and etc.
After 3 years of GIM, I understand that you have study
approx. 4-5 years more to "specialize" in one of these branches.
Am I guessing it right (cuz the word, "general" internal medicine
made me think that it consists of medical studies in almost all
of the areas in human body)? If what I'm guessing is right,
then I am definitely going for GIM :) .

Oh, and one more question!
How's the life of a PGY student?
Do they spend majority of times at the hospitals, or do they also
do lectures at the university? Although spending a lot of time @
the hospitals would be fascinating, I don't think going to the
lectures at the university campus (UBC campus is just beautiful!)
occasionally would be bad. :)

Thnx ppl!
I'm sorry, I hate to be a sore thumb, but how do you know for sure you will get into medical school? Have you deferred for one year? I don't mean to sound rude or anything but medical school applications are quite competitive. Just because you have the marks doesn't mean you will get in!

Anyways, good luck with the application cycle, although you obviously don't seem to need it.

[Kirsteen]

It is only my guess
that GIM consist of studies in Cardiology, Gastroenterology,
Nephrology, Neurology, Respirology, Rheumatology, and etc.
After 3 years of GIM, I understand that you have study
approx. 4-5 years more to "specialize" in one of these branches.
Am I guessing it right (cuz the word, "general" internal medicine
made me think that it consists of medical studies in almost all
of the areas in human body)? If what I'm guessing is right,
then I am definitely going for GIM :) .

How's the life of a PGY student?
Do they spend majority of times at the hospitals, or do they also
do lectures at the university? Although spending a lot of time @
the hospitals would be fascinating, I don't think going to the
lectures at the university campus (UBC campus is just beautiful!)
occasionally would be bad. :)

Thnx ppl!
Hi there,

Yes, GIM generally consists of taking care of patients who can have any one (or more) of a broad range of issues which fall into any of the Internal Medicine fields which you mentioned above.

As for the life of a resident, i.e., PGY trainee, it depends on the program and the year. During the first year, most residents rotate through a number of different specialties, the foci of which differ depending on the specialty type, e.g., surgery or internal medicine. Some lectures are offered, but they tend to be called "rounds" and can occur multiple times per week, but again, this differs based on the program and school.

Cheers,
Kirsteen

[crackers]

My first year of IM was:

2 months inpatient geriatric general medicine
1 month community general internal medicine
1 month Med Onc
2 months ward cardiology
1 month emerg
1 month inpatient general internal medicine
2 months nephrology (1 month inpatient, 1 month clinics)
2 month rheumatology

add in some combinations of 1-2 months of endo, haem, ID, resp, GI and neuro, and you'll have the general first year IM possibilities. Some programs have ICU in their first year... I did mine in early part of second year...

Hope that helps!

[Rome]

Hey Kevin,

From what I understand, subspeciality training after 3 years of IM residency is usually about 2 years. This means, you can finish your training in any of the IM areas in about 5 years after med school. Now there are further training opportunities and fellowships available, which is dependent on what speciality you get into.

Rome

[ffp]

This was my first year of IM:
CCU - 4wks
Neuro - 4wks
CTU - Clinical Teaching Unit - looking after IM inpatients, doing ER admissions - 6months total
Endocrine - 4wks
Pulmonary - 4wks
Rheumatology - 4wks
ER - 4wks
and of course Vacation - 4wks

[Dr Medicator]

For me its...

4 weeks ER medicine consults
12 weeks CTU
4 weeks respirology consults
4 weeks Nephrology consults
2 weeks IM consults
4 weeks geriatrics
6 weeks ICU
2 weeks GI consults
3 weeks ER
4 weeks CCU
3 weeks Neurology

and 4 weeks of vacation

[JSS02]

1 month ER
1 month geriatrics
4 months CTU
2 months respirology
2 months cardiology
2 months nephrology