Away rotations needed for Anesthesia?

[MDwoman]

Hi guys,

Congratulations to everyone on their match! I'm currently a 3rd year at a school in the NE, and I'm planning to apply in Anesthesia next year. I am hoping to match in a California school, particularly Stanford, UCSF, or Davis over UCLA, USC, etc. They are all great programs, but my partner will be going to grad school in NorCal.

I was wondering what the thoughts are on the necessity of doing away rotations there? I was not planning to, but a friend of my recently freaked me out it -- so I figured I'd ask!

A little about me:
Step 1: 252
Step 2: Unknown yet
3rd year grades: Honors in everything but Family Med and Psych which are still pending
Research: One 1st author publication from undergrad from basic science research, but not about anything remotely related to anesthesia. None in medical school.

I have ties to the area in that my partner's family is in NorCal, and my family will be moving there.


Thanks for your help / advice!

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[Morzh]

Also a 3rd year. I can share what my school's PD opinion on the matter is.. which is that there are 3 reasons to do away rotations:

1. You're a weak applicant on paper and are unlikely to get many interview invites, so you need to demonstrate your worth in person.
2. There are 1 or 2 specific programs that, for personal/geographic reasons, are your unconditional first choices.
3. You have a lot of money and just want to do aways for fun.

Beyond those situations aways probably aren't worth the investment of your $ and time. For some applicants aways are actually more likely to hurt their chances than to help. Spend that month at home doing an elective that will actually make you a better intern (icu, cards/pulm service, etc.) or something interesting that you'll never get another chance to do (derm, autopsy path, optho, office procedures elective, etc.). Or vacation.

Anyway, #1 clearly is not you. #2 sounds like it might be, especially since your dream programs are on the opposite side of the continent.

 

[camedstudent23]

Your numbers are good, and while anesthesia generally has a very low emphasis on research......Stanford and UCSF are academic powerhouses, which means they highly highly value research. I think you need to step it up on the research game to make yourself more competitive for those programs.

 

[Nivens]

I had almost the exact same application. I wouldn't do one.

 

[painmd87]

The only benefit I found from doing an audition was to rule out a program. Their interview was very impressive; I would have put them in my top 5 after the interview. After spending four weeks rotating there and seeing how miserable everyone was, they dropped to #13.

 

[rakotomazoto]

I agree with camedstudent 23. If you are serious about getting into a NorCal program (ie, UCSF or Stanford), you are better off spending your time getting some research on your CV rather than going out there to do an away rotation with good numbers like those. Good grades/test scores means they will actually read your application and not just discard it. Once they read about all the great research you have done, they will definitely offer an interview and you will have something academic and interesting to talk about when you actually go out there. That's how I would do it if I was in your position.

 

[lord_jeebus]

I was in a similar situation and did two away rotations at UCSF. I honored both rotations, but one attending out of the two months didn't like me and wrote a negative evaluation. Didn't get an interview at UCSF. I was offered interviews everywhere else. I think that if you are a stronger candidate, these rotations have more potential for harm than benefit.