4th year rotation Q's

[Spike]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Hi, I have a question about EM rotations in North Carolina, and one about 4th year scheduling. I apologize if these have been touched upon in previous threads, I didn't see anything on a cursory glance.

1.I would love some basic comments about Carolina's Medical Center, Wake Forest, UNC, and Duke. Please include information about the area, strength of the program, pros and cons, etc.

2.My second question is about whether to do 1 or 2 EM rotations my 4th year. I have heard from some that you must have 2 letters from EM docs, but others have told me that it is more important to be well rounded and do a larger variety. Any thoughts on this??

Thanks.

 

[anonymousEM]

First of all NC is a great state for EM. I'll give you what i know about the programs, but I'd strongly recommend looking at their websites (www.saem.org links to all of the current programs with the possible exception of this year's new ones).

Duke--Durham isn't the best city but it's in and near college towns. Raleigh is 20 minutes if you're on the right side of the traffic jam! I've heard that it's a great program thought the residents have to forage their own paths and do have more turf battles to deal with than more established programs. It'll be excellent as time goes on, but for now there's the "newness factor".

UNC--Dr. Tintinalli is Dept. Chair. People are nice. Again small, college town with Raleigh nearby.

Wake Forest--Another small town farther from Raleigh. Working on improving their research. Good and growing volume. Excellent test scores. Lots of perks.

Carolinas-very well respected. I hear traffic is bad in Charlotte. Wish I'd had an interview there to be able to tell you more

You didn't ask about the other NC program
East Carolina U -- Greenville is a tiny college town with the only hospital in the county as well as a huge catchment area of most of Eastern NC. Volume is surprisingly high with high acuity. People are excellent. Not as academic as the others in teh state, but people graduate and go where they want.

As for rotations...if your school doesn't have a residency, definately do 2. IF it does and you know the people (as in you're confident you can get a good letter because they've told you so)you could escape doing two if you really wanted, but most people don't.