In April of your second year, you will schedule your third-year clerkships via an online lottery.

Here are some tips:

1. Don’t panic. No matter how your schedule turns out, it will be all right.

2. Ask third and fourth year students for advice. Your big sib or family network is a good place to start.

3. What to take first? Consider whether you want basic clerkships such as Medicine and Surgery first, middle, or last. Some argue that you may want them first to lay the groundwork for specialty rotations, others say that you may want to use the specialty rotations to get used to the wards.

4. Your favorite specialty. Consider whether you want the clerkship you are most interested in first or not. It takes everyone some time to get used to life on the wards, so some argue that your performance during your very first clerkship might suffer. On the other hand, you may want to find out right away if you are cut out for a certain specialty. Everyone is new in July and your teams will generally cut you some slack while you get adjusted.

5. Electives and vacation. Consider whether you want elective time or vacation. Elective time can give you the chance to explore other subspecialties, and vacation may be necessary to prevent burn-out.