IM rotation/residency questions

[yogi]

I'm interested in doing an AOA internship followed by an allopathic IM residency and an Oncology fellowship (6-7 yrs postgraduate training!?!?). My family lives in Florida, so I don't think I have a choice but to do the internship.

My questions:

1. I have 7 months of elective rotations. How should I best divide these up? How many must be osteopathic in order to secure the internship of my choice? How many should be allopathic to secure post-internship training? How many of the allopathic rotations should be at less competitive programs ("safety" programs)? If I do all of my rotations at Yale and Harvard, I might be left without viable options come Match time.

2. If my board scores are bad (I felt I did poorly, but of course who knows until I get them back), do I still have a chance at getting into the most competitive allopathic IM residencies. Do I have to rotate at all the programs I'm interested in?

3. What should I do the electives in? If I were to do a radiology rotation, I would miss out on the opportunity to "audition" for the IM department.

I'd really appreciate any advice you could give.

Thanks!

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[rf]

With respect to your questions:
It does not matter how you divide up your elective rotations. The electives you choose
should be those that interest you. Whether you do these at an allopathic institution or osteopathic is not of the greatest importance unless you are planning on staying at the hospital for you internship. If this is the case then it would be best to at least do one rotation at the institution you are considering.
With respect to following your intership by an ACGME approved residency program (allopathic ), your electives while in medical school do not play a role in where you will likely be accepted. This is largely based on your board scores from step 1 and 2
and your performance as an intern. Many programs in internal medicine are at excellent hospitals but are also considered less desirable (such as some larger city hospitals)and these are accessible by even those who did not perform well on the boards.
the best advice is that you should make yourself known at the hospital you wish to do most of your training. If they realize you are a hard worker even with average board scores it is likely they will find a spot for you. Hope this helps to some degree.