How to be a good sub-intern/acting internship med student

I finally have a breather to blog a little more, this has been an insane year so far.

The transition from med student to intern is pretty drastic.  I've been lucky to be on some rotations as an intern when I would have a med student or two to teach, they can make grueling rotations better.  However, you shouldn't just show up and be passive as a med student.  I've seen a few students like that.

Here's what you should do to make sure you make a good impression on your team.

1.  Read up on everything about your patient.  Know when each problem of theirs was diagnosed, if they're still on treatment for those conditions, and when important imaging studies were done

2.  Offer to call consults while rounding.  That way your consulting team gets called earlier rather than later

3.  Call the lab/radiology for updates on your patients.  It's particularly useful for cultures/stains

4.  Get to know the nurses.  Usually I felt like I didn't matter to nurses as a med student, but they can provide you updates and tell you all about intake and output which are critical in the hospital

5.  Bring in a research article once or twice and send a copy to everyone by email.  Make a presentation if your attending sets up time for it

6.  Make a list of questions you want to ask the more experienced members of the team.  I had some students who told me they didn't want to learn anything and "didn't want to see that patient."  They're in it for a bad evaluation.

7.  Know that you're being evaluated and that your acting internship is a month long interview.  I've seen some people treat rotations like they're just something you go through, taking the path of least resistance everyday.  No one wants a lazy colleague.

8.  Show up early and stay late

9. Always take the new patient when your team asks.  I worked with interns who would dump patients on me because they wanted a lighter work load.  I did my work and eventually the upper level would redistribute patients and comment on how unfair it was.  I didn't complain, and I felt like the situation turned out better for that reason.  People learned I worked hard and I didn't look like a slacker like those guys did.