Have you ever been rostered to a rotation you hate?
Did you search for a million-and-one ways to get out of it?
Any doctor worth their socks will tell you they have done a rotation that they absolutely, categorically HATE. If you spend long enough rotating through different specialties in the hospital, there is bound to be one that just does not float your boat.
After all, everybody cannot like everything.
If this situation sounds familiar, or one that you find yourself at present, read on below to find out some strategies you can use to make the most out of the rotation.
For the purposes of this article (and to not pile on any particular specialty), let’s assume you hate Specialty X
Why do you hate Specialty X?
There are often different reasons for why junior doctors hate/dislike the specialty they are rotating through. They can be broken up into:
The medicine: As in you genuinely have no interest in the theory of medicine involved in this specialty
The environment: As in you genuinely don’t like the people/personalities you have to work with in this specialty
The lifestyle: As in this specialty consumes so much of your daily existence, there is little to no-time left to feel human and do the things you enjoy.
It’s important to work out why you hate the specialty. Is it the medicine, the environment, the lifestyle or a combination of all three?
My Experience
From my experience and talking to many of my friends (who are also junior doctors), the majority of hated rotations fall into one or more of the above categories. From personal experience, I can say that I have done rotations that fit all of those categories (sometimes all together).
As an example, I had a strong dislike for my ward call rotation. I was lucky to be working with a great group of doctors and the medical acuity was exciting. However, the constant shift work was physically and mentally exhausting and novelty of inserting your 100th cannula at 3am in the morning wore off very fast.
Remember, it is EXTREMELY common (nay universal) to hate certain rotations – there is nothing wrong with you, you are not a bad doctor for hating a rotation.
What Can You Do About Your Hatred for Specialty X?
So we’ve established you don’t like Specialty X for the aforementioned reasons.
The way I see it, there are now two options.
Option 1 → You can wallow in your deep-seated hatred for the entire 3 month rotation. This will probably make you feel like s*** and will not amount to much else. The other doctors will most likely ignore your pity party as they presumably love Specialty X and have thus chosen to make it their life’s work.
Option 2 → View your 3 months in Specialty X as an opportunity to learn about its nuances and intricacies. Even if you don’t decide that this is your dream specialty, there is always something to learn. The one guarantee in medicine, is that there is always more to learn.
Ditch the Short Term Pain for Long Term Gain
As an intern or resident, you tend to think short term (i.e. 3 month blocks or however long your rotations are). You can feel like you’re on a merry-go-round that changes its tune quarterly.
Instead of viewing your junior doctor years as individual short (painful) rotations in varying specialties, try and view them in the bigger picture. See them in the context of your whole career and how you can learn pertinent things from each rotation.
What type of medicine would you like to practice in the future?
Are you medically or surgically inclined? Or neither?
Do you prefer lots of patient contact or not much?
Are you hoping to be a specialist (partialist) or a generalist?
What practical skills are likely to be important in your future?
Even if you are not sure what you want to pursue (as many junior doctors are), use each rotation as an opportunity to learn about a new specialty and see what you like (or don’t like about it). It’s a great way to test the waters before committing yourself to a training program.
Become a “Learning Sponge”
There is so much medicine out there that it is impossible to know it all. However, as a junior doctor, it’s important to actively seek out opportunities to learn and improve your clinical skills. Whether it’s putting in a cannula using ultrasound guidance or counselling a patient about their condition, there are endless learning opportunities to be had in every rotation you do.
For example, whilst the shift work may not be your cup of tea, a rotation in emergency medicine is a great way to feel comfortable around unwell patients and make sure you know how to exclude “red flag” pathologies.
Similarly, whilst the ward rounds may bore you to death, internal medicine is a great way to understand common medical conditions such as pneumonia, cellulitis, diabetes and heart failure and how to manage them safely.
Whilst theatre time may seem entirely repugnant to you, a rotation in general surgery is a great opportunity to assess acute surgical presentations (e.g. the acute abdomen) and counsel patients on post-operative care.
Thinking in the long term can put the bad days into perspective and remind you of your goal to useful knowledge and skills to your clinical armour.
Connect the Dots
Next, it’s important to connect the dots from where you are now to where you want to be.
As you progress further into your prolific junior doctor career, you will begin to realise what you want to “specialise in” aka your Dream Specialty.
Think about how Specialty X, relates to your Dream Specialty.
Come up with a list of connections between Specialty X and your Dream Specialty. Is there common ground? Are there skills you can learn in this rotation that will help you in your specialty?
For example, you may love dermatology but you feel stuck on an obstetrics and gynaecology rotation. To make your O&G rotation useful, learn about different dermatological conditions that can arise during pregnancy. After all, if you do become a dermatologist one day, those pregnant women with weird and wonderful rashes will be knocking at your clinic door.
Nowadays, medicine has been piece-mealed into separate specialties and sub-specialties, when in reality, the human body is still one large interconnected system. Regardless of where your medical aspirations lie, you will need to know (or have some appreciation of) the organ/system outside of the one you have chosen to pursue. For those going into General Practice, you basically need to know a little about A LOT. Nothing is off limits.
Alas, All is Not Lost
If all of my words seem like hogwash to you, then at least you can seek solace in the fact that this too, shall pass.
Not every rotation is for every doctor.
But medicine is vast, and whatever you can learn and apply clinically will benefit you and your patients in the long run.
That’s the bottom line.
Remember, the more you see, the more you know.
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