UCSF 2 week derm elective - Worth doing?

[DermViser]

Is it worth doing a clinical dermatology rotation at UCSF? The reason I ask is that their Clinical Dermatology clerkship is only 2 weeks long, with the grading as Pass/Fail only (no Honors). I'm just wondering how great a letter one can get for knowing someone only for 2 weeks.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[DermMatch]

Not worth it. Knew of someone who did this at UCSF; person did not get a good review.

Two weeks is too short.

 

[Myta]

Hey, I highly recommend doing the 2 week elective. I did the 2 week elective there after 2 one-month electives at UCLA-Harbor and UCSD. But, you can also do a 4 week elective, just ask the UCSF clerkship coordinator.

UCSF has the most organized and worthwile derm rotation out of the three I did, even with only 2 weeks. They have more teaching than most, the physicians are top of the line and its the most organized.

I met with one attending there who gave me great advice on applications. His perspective was much different than those from my East coast medical school.

I heard the same stories of students disliking UCSF derm rotation in general. I will admit that you spend more time with residents than attendings, but that is true for most derm rotations.

So, I recommend it.

 

[DocLan]

I'm assuming too short to get a LOR from though?

 

[asmallchild]

I'm assuming too short to get a LOR from though?

Agreed, too short to get a meaningful LOR

 

[blackheadsrule]

Ask someone from UCSF how many of their rotators got an interview this year. It was something ridiculous like less than 10%. Although supposedly you learn a lot, but lets be honest, that's not what you're doing the rotation for. Your time is most likely better spent somewhere else.

 

[Transformers]

Ask someone from UCSF how many of their rotators got an interview this year. It was something ridiculous like less than 10%. Although supposedly you learn a lot, but lets be honest, that's not what you're doing the rotation for. Your time is most likely better spent somewhere else.

Piggybacking off this thread...just curious if the 2-week rotation is still worth it to apply and to do. In my case, the UCSF rotation would be November-ish, well after my 1 home + 1-month aways are completed. Cool thing is there is a research conference around this time in SF and hence I could get a flight to Cali paid for plus crash at a friend's place/get housing for free...so I was like, why not just do the 2-week rotation fo free? I'm not expecting a letter and I figure I may not get an interview regardless of whether I rotate there or not, so best-case scenario is an interview and all other scenarios are rejection, so no harm-no foul.

-> Big incentive really is, and it goes back to the adage of try to rotate geographically broad ....well I have zero west coast aways so I was wondering at THE very least if this would the UCSF rotation show to west-coast programs I'm willing to go West (i.e.- would the geographic preference help coming from someone who has zero cali connections (hometown or college)?!)

 

[PatsyStone]

Piggybacking off this thread...just curious if the 2-week rotation is still worth it to apply and to do. In my case, the UCSF rotation would be November-ish, well after my 1 home + 1-month aways are completed. Cool thing is there is a research conference around this time in SF and hence I could get a flight to Cali paid for plus crash at a friend's place/get housing for free...so I was like, why not just do the 2-week rotation fo free? I'm not expecting a letter and I figure I may not get an interview regardless of whether I rotate there or not, so best-case scenario is an interview and all other scenarios are rejection, so no harm-no foul.

-> Big incentive really is, and it goes back to the adage of try to rotate ....well I have zero west coast aways so I was wondering at the very least if this would show I'm willing to go West to west-coast programs (i.e.- would the geographic preference help coming from someone who has zero cali connections (hometown or college)?!)

FYI, most programs interview about 10 candidates per 1 residency spot. UCSF is closer to 4-5 people per spot. You'll probably learn a lot, but as others have mentioned, do not expect an interview

 

[qvc804]

Agree with @PatsyStone here. People who do UCSF post-MD research fellowships aren't even guaranteed interviews at UCSF, much less those who rotate for a month.

2 weeks is a joke. They won't give a ****, much less a fart, especially in November.