Any special tiny things to watch out for while applying to aways?

[ArteryStudyPainting]

How many should I apply to to ensure I get an acceptance?
Is it rolling? I could see that I could put some immediately into my app for the 15th, others said "you can't use this link yet", etc when you're looking at the dates? Is there an initial submission into VSAS? Then you can apply everyday to a new one, for ex?

Any tricks to watch for w/ ppds, mask fitting, HIPAA certs, etc? Example being, do we only get months beforehand to get the ppd or booster? Etc? Like, does anything "expire" quicker than in 1 yr that I should watch for? Just so I don't have to repeat titers, certs, etc.

I just did my fire Departments HIPAA and BBP... they don't say I can't use this as my blood borne and HIPAA lol. Thoughts? I think good enough for a county = good enough for a hospital. lmao

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[Redpancreas]

How many should I apply to to ensure I get an acceptance?
Is it rolling? I could see that I could put some immediately into my app for the 15th, others said "you can't use this link yet", etc when you're looking at the dates? Is there an initial submission into VSAS? Then you can apply everyday to a new one, for ex?

Any tricks to watch for w/ ppds, mask fitting, HIPAA certs, etc? Example being, do we only get months beforehand to get the ppd or booster? Etc? Like, does anything "expire" quicker than in 1 yr that I should watch for? Just so I don't have to repeat titers, certs, etc.

I just did my fire Departments HIPAA and BBP... they don't say I can't use this as my blood borne and HIPAA lol. Thoughts? I think good enough for a county = good enough for a hospital. lmao

I'm unclear on a lot of these questions but this old thread seems to overlap quite a bit.
This may help if you haven't already seen it:

Question about aways

I know that it is recommended to do 2-3 aways. However, how many should I apply to? Is it bad form to apply to more than 3 and then drop out if you get accepted to do more than 3? How does this work? Thanks!

forums.studentdoctor.net

Dude, just apply See what you get. If you are in an away-dependent field (EM, surgical subspecialty) or are a DO trying to level up you're going to need aways so apply liberally. Just get your paperwork done early, no tricks I can think off. Schedule yourself for an IGRA (forget the PPD). Institutions require TB screening at different intervals but for VSAS purposes you only need it for a year.

 

[aldol16]

Nobody knows for this cycle. In the past, you apply on VSAS as soon as the apps open which varies by school. You don't know when each school will open and most are on a rolling process so you had to keep checking and applying. This all happened in January. Since this year is different, nobody knows but it's likely that they'll open here soon and schools will open on different dates.

In the past, it wasn't particularly difficult to secure an away (at least relative to the entire residency app process) so people would apply to, say, 4 or 5 if they wanted to do 3. But that depends on the programs that you're targeting obviously. Choosing which aways you want is probably more important than how many to apply to. It can look bad to turn down an away after you've been accepted (program dependent) so that's why. Again, this year will be super different because you can't do 3 aways and since everyone is doing only 1 away, it might get more competitive.

 

[ArteryStudyPainting]

So just so it's clear and people know coming back to this one day, the way it works is you have some places that are immediately available on the 15th at midnight. Those are the ones you can place in your elective bracket and in your application prior to midnight.

Then you have people that say they open on the 15th, and if they do but they're not open at midnight, they're going to open automatically at 6 7 or 8:00 a.m.

And it is rolling in terms of, you can have as many applications as you want over a period of time. So if I have 10 I want to apply to, I can apply to one every day without any problems.

This sounds like it's common sense but I just want someone to be able to find this if they need to ever get to it or ever need to know anything like this.

Thanks y'all. I applied to five so far and I'm just waiting on some paperwork that needs to come in to apply to at least five more.

 

[aldol16]

This year was likely difficult because of the lack of passdown advice from the year above, which did not have aways. But here are some pointers:

- They're all rolling. Generally the advice is to apply as early as you possibly can (once it opens) to the aways you want because they can fill up. In practice, there is likely a window because once you submit, your home institution has to review and approve it (or upload any supporting stuff they need - this differs by school applied to). Then after they do that, the host institution has to download it and review it. I'm hypothesizing here but they likely do this in batches. A PD isn't going to have the time to keep reviewing each application as it comes in to give it a thumbs up or down. But when each program does this likely varies so in general, it behooves you to apply as early as you can (obviously don't sacrifice quality of app/letters for this).
- Immunizations tends to get people. Each place has its own requirements and most tend to use the AAMC standardized form. You have to have your school's medical office fill it out. Usually this is straightforward but some programs require proof of immunity (titers). A common one that trips people up is Hep B. If this is low (as it is for a lot of people), you have to get a booster and then re-test 4 weeks later. Obviously this is not good if you find out it's low now. This should have been done weeks ago. If it wasn't, then you should get it done ASAP.
- The other small stuff - OSHA, HIPAA, etc. requirements - are pretty straightforward - you just have to upload documentation showing that you are recent

These are just the small things that I remember.

 

[ArteryStudyPainting]

First one's a success