The ‘Darkest Time’ in Med School—Prepping for Your Third Year Clinical Rotations

For decades, medical education consisted of two years in the classroom (i.e., learning the basic sciences) and two years making rounds (i.e., your clinical clerkships.)
But now leading medical schools, including Medical University of the Americas, have overhauled their curriculums to better integrate the clinical side much earlier.
There are many reasons for this change, but one often overlooked aspect is the realization that making such a stark transition from classroom to clinicals in the third year wasn’t healthy for anyone—not the students themselves and not their patients.

According to Danielle Ofri, a medical school professor and author of the book What Doctors Feel: How Emotions Affect the Practice of Medicine, the “ice-water plunge” into primal clinical experiences produces a welter of emotions, not all of them positive. Coming to grips with the messy realities of disease and death, observing egos and medical hierarchies, witnessing fear, anger, grief, humiliation in patients and doctors alike—and going through all of this for six-weeks, before being whisked off to start over again in other rotation—these are all reasons why the third year is often referred to as the “darkest” year of med school.

Ofri points to studies that document the decline of empathy and moral reasoning in medical trainees during the third year—emotions that can profoundly affect what kind of doctors these students become and the quality of medical care they can give to their patients.

On a positive note, she points to the growing recognition of this challenge as schools such as MUA reorient their clinical curriculums, introducing greater clinical exposure well before the third year and implementing more hands-on mentorship.

For more about Dr. Ofri’s observations, see her article The Darkest Year of Medical School.

For more about MUA’s clinical program, including interviews with deans and students, visit our curriculum. 


Get in touch for more information

Related News

The Clinical Program at Medical University of the Americas

Student life

In the MUA Clinical program, students rotate at a variety of teaching hospitals around the United States, all over from California to Florida. We hav

Read more
The Clinical Program at Medical University of the Americas

Surgeon & Author Michael Collins on Becoming a Doctor

Student life

Michael Collins is an orthopedic surgeon in a practice just outside of Chicago—he’s been doing the same thing, with the same practice, for more than 3

Read more
Surgeon & Author Michael Collins on Becoming a Doctor

Student Loan Option for Pre-Med Students

Student life

As part of its ongoing effort to improve the affordability of medical education, MUA is pleased to announce...

Read more
Student Loan Option for Pre-Med Students

A Critical Care Patient Becomes a Doctor

Student life

Born with a condition called transposition of the great arteries, Brian Chwiecko was a critical care patient before he even knew it. Required to check

Read more
A Critical Care Patient Becomes a Doctor

Acuity of patients + adrenaline = Emergency Medicine

Student life Careers and residencies

As a dual citizen with the United States and Italy, Peter is passionate about Italian literature and is proficient in Italian. He is also a member ..

Read more
Acuity of patients

MUA Clinical Student Receives the Premier of Nevis Award

Student life

It’s true that classrooms, labs and exams are the focus of a medical student’s time at MUA, but there’s more to medical school than just that. MUA fos

Read more

MUA Student Volunteers in a COVID-19 Assessment Center

Student life

Bhreagh Orrell is a 4th Year Medical Student completing her elective clinical rotations. While on a one month break from her rotations, Bhreagh...

Read more
MUA Student Volunteers in a COVID-19 Assessment Center

MUA student front and center in the earliest days of the Covid-19 pandemic

Student life

MUA student Payton Colantonio was front and center in the earliest days of the Covid-19 pandemic, doing multiple psychiatry elective rotations at...

Read more
MUA student front and center in the Covid-19 pandemic

Chante Smith, awarded the “Premiers of Nevis Award” at MUA.

Student life

Chante Smith was recently awarded the “Premiers of Nevis Award” at MUA. She received this accolade for her volunteerism and dedication to the ...

Read more
Chante Smith, awarded the “Premiers of Nevis Award” at MUA.

Welcome to some of the May 2019 term students at MUA!

Student life

What a warm welcome our students received starting this term.

Read more

Fourth-year student Faran Mansoor explains why he chose MUA

Student life

Faran Mansoor is a fourth year student at MUA doing his clinical rotations

Read more
Fourth-year student Faran Mansoor explains why he chose MUA

My MUA Experience: Rehan Hamidani

Student life

Hear live from MUA Med student Rehan Hamidani

Read more
Hear live from MUA Med student Rehan Hamidani
Back to top