DO Schools and Rotations

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

JimmyB123

Full Member
7+ Year Member
Joined
May 3, 2014
Messages
627
Reaction score
289
I've been reading on SDN that for the most part the clinical rotations at DO schools (the ones you are assigned by lottery) are for the most part substandard. Is this true?

If so, how can you be proactive so that you get good clinical clerkships as a 3rd and 4th year? Which DO schools are known to have good rotations?

Members don't see this ad.
 
The older, more established schools have better rotations. Most of the DO schools near major cities have great rotation sites:
CCOM, PCOM, NYCOM, AZCOM (since they ship you off to CA), and Western are the first ones that jump to my mind - there are many more. You can't really do much in the lottery system except figure out which specialities you are truly interested in and set-up "prestigious" rotations in those fields. At the end of the day, if you kill it on STEP 1 (if you take it) you can apply for away rotations at a couple of your top choices that are not associated with your school.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
Additionally, you can do your electives anywhere that will take you. Doing a few months in a busy ICU will make up for any deficiencies you may have. For whatever it's worth, I felt adequately prepared for residency.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
Additionally, you can do your electives anywhere that will take you. Doing a few months in a busy ICU will make up for any deficiencies you may have. For whatever it's worth, I felt adequately prepared for residency.

Was that mainly because of your core rotations or elective (audition) rotations?
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Ibn Alnafis MD said:
Was that mainly because of your core rotations or elective (audition) rotations?

Both, I guess. My electives probably helped the most, but that's because they were most relevant to my field. I did 2 months of ICU at a core rotation site, and 3 months of anesthesia (1 at a core; 2 away)
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
My school sends students all over the map, wherever they want to go. They can do their rotation in Siberia if they wanted to. The quality of rotations is heavily based on student preference. As a DO student, I can do my rotations at a UC medical school hospital or at Stanford if I wanted to (and have). You could pretty much do it wherever.
 
For the most part is extreme. There are always a few bad rotations but that's true for any school, MD or DO.
Exactly... I work at a decent sized MD school and I can share with full confidence that the students here have the exact same complaints as the DO students that I have run into. So for what its worth, I feel fine with DO rotations because of that.

People who are pessimistic tend to be pessimistic no matter where they end up. The opposite is also true, optimistic people really do tend to make the best of their situation.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Like others have said, it completely depends on the school.

And like pp said, MD students also have complaints about their rotations.

I guess it might be a misconception that all MD students rotation at fancy university academic centers that are stellar than every other hospital. But That's not the case. I've rotated at only community hospitals (mostly by choice as that's where I'm applying for residency) and during most of my rotations there have been MD students there too. My school has affiliations with some hospitals that MD schools also have affiliations with. So rotation wise, it really is school dependent regardless of DO or MD.
 
Top