Thread Rating:
  • 0 Vote(s) - 0 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
subI general question
#1
How does applying to sub-I process work? When do we do this? 
Is sub-I competitive? How many do we need to apply/complete internship? Is it paid?
Why can't we just do one in our home department? Do we have to APPLY to our own department sub-I as well? Are they allow to reject their own students..? 

What are the "tiers" for sub-I programs? Does it matter?

-naive 1st year medical student in California 
Thank you
Reply
#2
nope cant
Reply
#3
A sub-internship (Sub-I) refers to rotations a 4th year medical student will complete the summer prior to applying for residency in whatever field they chose. For those students applying to neurosurgery, the sub-I during 4th year is an important step for applying - many letters of recommendation included in their residency application will come from these rotations. For classically competitive fields (including neurosurgery), students will also apply to do Sub-Is at non-home institutions to 1. show particular interest in that program and 2. continue to "prove their worth" to other neurosurgery departments and obtain additional letters from those schools. Students traditionally apply for their away sub-I rotations throughout the spring of their MS3 year (places open application portals as early as late January).

As it is a part of your fourth year, these rotations are not paid - they are a part of your tuition dollars (so, you pay to participate), though travel and room/board at these away rotations are not paid and this process can get quite expensive.

You will absolutely rotate in your own department, and most students do this first - before journeying for away rotations. Anecdotally you hear of a handful of situations where students can't complete a rotation at their home institution, but for your purposes, no - you do not have to apply (you schedule through your school) and you will undoubtedly be allowed to rotate at home without an issue.

Regarding "tiers," there are many (MANY) posts on this site dedicated to the ranking and discussion of programs. There are programs of high impact to the field, both through research contributions and production of neurosurgical leaders.

As additional advice, neurosurgery is an exciting and fascinating field of medicine, and I applaud you for your interest and initiative in asking these questions. I would advise you to seek out those at your school interested in neurosurgery, and ask them how they approached the field/how they got involved. If you have a residency program at your institution, I strongly recommend reaching out to them to discuss the field further and, should you be interested, asking to get involved in research of some kind. If neurosurgery truly is for you, proving your interest, follow through, and ability to produce quality research will all be important characteristics for you as you continue your training.
Reply
#4
Agree with all of the above, but would also consider that the purpose of sub-internships is to learn how to manage critically ill patients with neurosurgical conditions. The pathophysiology is more or less constant, but the patient demographics, treatment protocols, case volume, quality of teaching, etc. are practice patterns that vary wildly not only between institutions but between attending neurosurgeons at the same one.

All that to say, you should strive to diversify your choice of sub-internships with regards to geography and the factors I brought up above to be as broad as possible in your training. Seven years is a long time to spend in one place, and you should be as informed as possible when you ultimately rank which institutions you want to train at.
Reply
#5
(06-03-2020, 09:41 AM)smithers Wrote: Agree with all of the above, but would also consider that the purpose of sub-internships is to learn how to manage critically ill patients with neurosurgical conditions. The pathophysiology is more or less constant, but the patient demographics, treatment protocols, case volume, quality of teaching, etc. are practice patterns that vary wildly not only between institutions but between attending neurosurgeons at the same one.

All that to say, you should strive to diversify your choice of sub-internships with regards to geography and the factors I brought up above to be as broad as possible in your training. Seven years is a long time to spend in one place, and you should be as informed as possible when you ultimately rank which institutions you want to train at.
Realistically the purpose of a sub I is to get a feel for your fit in a department, let them see if they like you and your work ethic, and see some cool stuff in a new place. You will learn but more or less we all just learned stuff to avoid looking like idiots on our rotations. The main goal of a sub I is ultimately to either leave saying "i love this place gunna rank high" or "glad i spent a month here so i know that I dont wana spend 7 years here"
Reply
#6
(06-03-2020, 10:10 AM)Guest Wrote:
(06-03-2020, 09:41 AM)smithers Wrote: Agree with all of the above, but would also consider that the purpose of sub-internships is to learn how to manage critically ill patients with neurosurgical conditions. The pathophysiology is more or less constant, but the patient demographics, treatment protocols, case volume, quality of teaching, etc. are practice patterns that vary wildly not only between institutions but between attending neurosurgeons at the same one.

All that to say, you should strive to diversify your choice of sub-internships with regards to geography and the factors I brought up above to be as broad as possible in your training. Seven years is a long time to spend in one place, and you should be as informed as possible when you ultimately rank which institutions you want to train at.
Realistically the purpose of a sub I is to get a feel for your fit in a department, let them see if they like you and your work ethic, and see some cool stuff in a new place. You will learn but more or less we all just learned stuff to avoid looking like idiots on our rotations. The main goal of a sub I is ultimately to either leave saying "i love this place gunna rank high" or "glad i spent a month here so i know that I dont wana spend 7 years here"

Correct, thanks for the clarification. Fit is the single most important thing you can take away from a rotation.
Reply


[-]
Quick Reply
Message
Type your reply to this message here.

Image Verification
Please enter the text contained within the image into the text box below it. This process is used to prevent automated spam bots.
Image Verification
(case insensitive)

Forum Jump:


Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)