Expectations of a third-year medical student on Internal Medicine clerkship

My new attending sat down with me to discuss his expectations of me during the next couple of weeks. Previous attendings have also sat down with me to have a sort of introductory conversation, mostly so they can get a sense of who I am and where I"m at in my training. This was different, though, because my new attending enumerated for me exactly what he expected of me, in no unclear terms.

1. I should be carrying between 4-5 patients at any given time, and I should know all of my patients inside and out.
2. I should read as much as possible about my patients' diseases (pathophysiology, diagnosis, clinical presentation and course, treatment) since that more than anything will reinforce my learning.
3. History and physical exams should take about 20 minutes.
4. Initial patient presentations should take about 7 minutes, but I can take as much as 10 minutes if the patient is complicated. They should be structured.
5. Follow-up presentations should take no more than 5 minutes. They can be a little less structured.
6. During oral presentations, I should avoid reading from a paper and instead talk directly to my attending as much as possible. If I did a good job talking with my patient, then all the information should already be in my head.
7. I should be familiar with all of the other patients on our service, since I may be asked about any of them.
8. I should attend all rounds. They are sacred. That means no skipping rounds to go watch a procedure.

Some of this advice is common sense. Some of this advice is specific to my stage of training. The rest of it, though, is wonderful general advice for any third-year medical student on the Internal Medicine clerkship.