Electives

Take every heme/onc rotation and elective your program allows. These months are where faculty get to know you, and they write your letters.

• Be on time and stay late. Arrive before rounds. Don’t be the first one to leave.
• Look the part. Well groomed, professional, ready for clinic.
• Read about your patients the night before. Know the diagnosis, the regimen and why today’s visit is happening.
• Own your patients. Follow up on the pathology, the imaging, the call to the pharmacist. Close every loop.
• Go to tumor boards. It’s the fastest way to see how oncologists actually think, and people notice who shows up.
• Ask to sit in on hard conversations. Goals of care and new diagnosis visits teach you more than any lecture.
• Ask for feedback mid-rotation, not just at the end, so you have time to act on it.