{"id":142419,"date":"2026-03-02T14:15:26","date_gmt":"2026-03-02T19:15:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/?post_type=bu-article&#038;p=142419"},"modified":"2026-03-11T10:48:20","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T14:48:20","slug":"life-as-a-third-year-bu-medical-student","status":"publish","type":"bu-article","link":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/news-events\/articles\/2026\/life-as-a-third-year-bu-medical-student\/","title":{"rendered":"Life as a Third Year BU Medical Student"},"content":{"rendered":"\t<div class=\"wp-block-editorial-leadin news-block-editorial-leadin is-style-text-over-image has-media has-media-focus-center-middle has-text-position-x-center\">\n\t\t<div class=\"container-lockup\">\n\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-leadin-media\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<img width=\"3543\" height=\"2362\" src=\"\/camed\/files\/2025\/09\/b-w-stethoscope.jpg\" class=\"\" alt=\"black and white image of stethoscope\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/files\/2025\/09\/b-w-stethoscope.jpg 3543w, https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/files\/2025\/09\/b-w-stethoscope-636x424.jpg 636w, https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/files\/2025\/09\/b-w-stethoscope-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/files\/2025\/09\/b-w-stethoscope-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/files\/2025\/09\/b-w-stethoscope-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/files\/2025\/09\/b-w-stethoscope-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/files\/2025\/09\/b-w-stethoscope-540x360.jpg 540w, https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/files\/2025\/09\/b-w-stethoscope-1080x720.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/files\/2025\/09\/b-w-stethoscope-1500x1000.jpg 1500w, https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/files\/2025\/09\/b-w-stethoscope-900x600.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/files\/2025\/09\/b-w-stethoscope-450x300.jpg 450w, https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/files\/2025\/09\/b-w-stethoscope-600x400.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 3543px) 100vw, 3543px\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"wp-block-editorial-leadin-caption wp-prepress-component-caption\">Photo by Hush Naidoo Jade Photography on Unsplash.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"container-words-outer\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"container-words-inner\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"wp-prepress-tag\">Student Life<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"head\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLife as a Third Year BU Medical Student\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"deck\">For Sarvesh Palaniappan, clerkship rotations offer hands-on experience and affirmation that \u201cyou are truly making a difference in people\u2019s lives.\u201d<\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar news-prepress-layout-metabar\">\n\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-date\">March 2, 2026<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-credits\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-share js-bu-prepress-share-tools\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-twitter\"><span>Twitter<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-facebook\"><span>Facebook<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-action\"><\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\t\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"responsive-video responsive-youtube\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Day in the Life of a Third-Year Medical Student | Internal Medicine at Boston University\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/enJ77N7O2KU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><tbody><tr><td>This BU Today piece includes video by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/bu-author\/gabe-davis\/\">Gabe Davis<\/a> and text by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/bu-author\/kayla-baltazar\/\">Kayla Baltazar (COM\u201927)<\/a>.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>As a third-year medical student, Sarvesh Palaniappan (CAMED\u201927) has been rotating through a series of clerkships\u2014from obstetrics and gynecology to pediatrics. Each rotation is about six weeks and is designed to allow students to learn more about a specific medical department.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe beauty of [clerkships] is that you go in and you ask questions,\u201d Palaniappan says. \u201cEven if you don\u2019t know exactly everything, the whole point is to learn every day.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-bu-pullquote news-block-bu-pullquote has-image-focus-center-middle has-tertiary-theme-text\"><div class=\"wp-block-bu-pullquote-inner\"><figure><\/figure><blockquote><div class=\"container-lockup\"><div class=\"container-icon-outer\"><div class=\"container-icon-inner\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"container-text\"><hr\/><div class=\"quote-sizing\">Even if you don\u2019t know exactly everything, the whole point is to learn every day. <\/div><footer class=\"caption\">Sarvesh Palaniappan (CAMED\u201927)<\/footer><hr\/><\/div><\/div><\/blockquote><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Each rotation is different, he says, and requires an ability to think quickly on your feet and adapt to whatever unexpected situations come your way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In his most recent rotation, Palaniappan is working in internal medicine.&nbsp;The patients he sees are being treated for anything from&nbsp;kidney disease to cardiovascular disease. Much of his work involves managing patients\u2019 medications and making sure their follow-up appointments are in order.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s fast-paced. You\u2019re always having to adapt, but that\u2019s what makes it special\u2014it\u2019s that you see so many different things,\u201d Palaniappan says. \u201cIt\u2019s very difficult the first time you see something to know exactly what you [should] do, but the point of starting your clerkships is to make it that the second time you see something [it\u2019s] easier.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Working in internal medicine has been very exciting for Palaniappan, because it\u2019s one of the areas he\u2019s most interest in. Getting the exposure in the department could potentially help him with his Match\u2014a system that determines what kind of residency specialty he will go into after graduation. \u201c[What\u2019s] keeping me motivated is the end goal,\u201d Palaniappan says. \u201cIt\u2019s knowing that I have this responsibility, knowing that I have this role as a physician, to walk into a patient\u2019s room and being that role of healthcare, being the face of healthcare for them\u2026you really are truly making a difference in people\u2019s lives.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This BU Today piece includes video by Gabe Davis and text by Kayla Baltazar (COM\u201927). As a third-year medical student, Sarvesh Palaniappan (CAMED\u201927) has been rotating through a series of clerkships\u2014from obstetrics and gynecology to pediatrics. Each rotation is about six weeks and is designed to allow students to learn more about a specific medical [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":903,"featured_media":137766,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"bu_prepress_billboard":"","_bu_prepress_primary_term":"Student Life","_bu_prepress_primary_term_manual":""},"tags":[511,508,495,405],"bu-publication":[367],"medicine-article-category":[],"medicine-topic":[],"news-article-category":[379,449],"news-topic":[],"bu_edition":[390],"media_type":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/142419"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/bu-article"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/903"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=142419"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/142419\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":142679,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/142419\/revisions\/142679"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/137766"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=142419"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=142419"},{"taxonomy":"bu-publication","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-publication?post=142419"},{"taxonomy":"medicine-article-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/medicine-article-category?post=142419"},{"taxonomy":"medicine-topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/medicine-topic?post=142419"},{"taxonomy":"news-article-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-article-category?post=142419"},{"taxonomy":"news-topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-topic?post=142419"},{"taxonomy":"bu_edition","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu_edition?post=142419"},{"taxonomy":"media_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media_type?post=142419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}