Fourth year scheduling

As rigid and uncompromising as third year was, that's the degree of flexibility that I have in determining my fourth year schedule. Senior year of medical school is all about further exploring specific career interests, taking courses that will help for getting into residency, and filling gaps in education. The requirements: take at least 32 weeks of coursework (out of 52 total weeks), take at least one sub-internship, and take enough research to finish the mentored scholarly activity requirement.

Also, fourth year is all about add/drop. A web-based program is used for scheduling. At any time, I can log in and sign up for a new class or drop a class that I signed up for earlier. The only restriction is that any dropped courses must be dropped at least 30 days prior to the start of that course.

As of now, my fourth year schedule is as follows:

May: Adult psychiatry sub-internship (at Denver Health)
June: Medicine sub-internship (at Denver Health)
July: Child psychiatry elective (at The Children's Hospital)
August: Time off to study for USMLE Step 2 CK and CS, and to work on residency applications
September - November: Set aside for externships
December - January: Set aside for interviews
February: International Spanish immersion elective (I'll write more about this once it's finalized)
March: ICC, and a fun "Film in Mental Illness" 2-week elective
April - May: More ICC, plus a 2-week "Cardiac Diagnostic Skills" elective

Then graduation at the end of May!

It's shaping up to be a good year.