International rotation

[Immunophile]

My school gives us the option of doing an international rotation in Feb of 4th year.

1. Is it a good idea to leave the country and risk having to drop any late interviews that I may get in Feb?

2. Anybody willing to share their experience or provide any advice with an international derm rotation?

3. Any recommendations for specific hospitals/universities that are known to have good derm departments?

I'm still early in the planning and I'm open to all ideas, hence the open ended questions.

Thanks in advance!

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[dermathalon]

An international rotation is valuable on many levels and will open up your perspective greatly. There are not too many interviews that come in Feb and it'll be a calculated risk. However, I'm a fan of doing international rotations.

 

[asmallchild]

My school gives us the option of doing an international rotation in Feb of 4th year.

1. Is it a good idea to leave the country and risk having to drop any late interviews that I may get in Feb?

2. Anybody willing to share their experience or provide any advice with an international derm rotation?

3. Any recommendations for specific hospitals/universities that are known to have good derm departments?

I'm still early in the planning and I'm open to all ideas, hence the open ended questions.

Thanks in advance!

1. It's a risk but at this point in the game, I'd say go for the international rotation

2. I had a co-resident who participated in this and loved it: http://www.med.upenn.edu/botswana/

3. Nothing specific unfortunately, I've heard anecdotally of outstanding rotations in Korea and Japan but no specific names

 

[Dral]

If you schedule it and find out in December that you got a a February interview, would it be to late to cancel the rotation?

 

[Immunophile]

If you schedule it and find out in December that you got a a February interview, would it be to late to cancel the rotation?

I imagine I can, but I would probably annoy a few people. Like dermatholon said, it's a calculated risk and at this point, I think it's worth it to apply. I just have to figure out where.

 

[Dral]

If canceling is a possibility, then go ahead and schedule it. I find it unlikely that you would have to cancel it because of an interview you might get in February. If you do get one in February, you probably had gotten enough earlier in the season as well (statistically speaking, since so few programs interview that late).

If it ends up you get a Feb interview at a place you're really keen on, or if you didn't get as many as you wanted earlier, or if you want to go on all just to maximize your chances...then just cancel the international rotation. It would be unfortunate, but this is Derm. I'm sure admins at your school would understand if you explained it to them.

To be the good guy or gal, I would find out who does the scheduling work for the rotation. I would reach out to them and tell them in person about your situation now. Tell them you want to do the rotation, but explain that there is a small possibility you would have to cancel (think twice about doing this all if you think they would nix the whole idea right then and there and not even let you schedule it). Then, offer to do as much of the scheduling work as possible to show that you are willing to put in effort instead of them doing all the work (possibly for nothing) if you cancel.

 

[dermathalon]

Go check out the International Society of Dermatology. They have a mentorship in place and you can do this as a medical student. Since you're from the US, you'll need to sell to them why you should be eligible for funding. Regardless, there are many people that have listed them as mentors for international rotations so you'll have welcoming arms waiting even if you do it on your own dime. Worth it in my opinion.

If you are going to the AAD, you could visit their event and try to make some connections as well.