4th year scheduling

[Radiologyreviews2015]

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I know y'all trying to make your rank lists but I'm sure the next batch of applicants would love some advice if you could spare a moment.

I'm currently a 3rd year trying to plan 4th year electives but I've heard conflicting things about how many rads electives are too many. Our 4th year starts in April so there is boat loads of time for both rads electives, sub-Is, step 2 studying, etc before apps are due. My PD says it's okay to do 1 general DR + 1 subspecialty DR + 1 IR elective but that seems like it might be a red flag for too many rads electives. I'd follow that up with medicine sub-I, radiation oncology, time off for interviews, then OB/GYN breast elective, then ortho elective. Should I reduce down to 2 rads electives and throw in something else clinical? Or is it not a big deal to have 3 rads rotations? Thanks in advance!

 

[Radiologyreviews2015]

Definitely not a red flag to do 3 radiology electives if you're going into radiology. The key is making sure you have at least 2 LORs from non-radiology faculty. If you need to do non-radiology electives before you apply to get those letters, then do that. However, if you feel you're all set on the LOR front, doing 3 rads electives is totally fine. I did 3 month-long rads electives before applying.

 

[Radiologyreviews2015]

Definitely not a red flag to do 3 radiology electives if you're going into radiology. The key is making sure you have at least 2 LORs from non-radiology faculty. If you need to do non-radiology electives before you apply to get those letters, then do that. However, if you feel you're all set on the LOR front, doing 3 rads electives is totally fine. I did 3 month-long rads electives before applying.

Any problems with interviewers asking why you did so much rads? Some program websites specifically say not to do too much rads. Indiana's website says they prefer to see tons of medicine and surgery during your 4th year as opposed to radiology.

 

[Radiologyreviews2015]

Any problems with interviewers asking why you did so much rads? Some program websites specifically say not to do too much rads. Indiana's website says they prefer to see tons of medicine and surgery during your 4th year as opposed to radiology.

I also did three rads rotations, 2 at home and 1 away. I never got asked why I did three on interviews. I got 2 LOR from medicine rotations and one from rads. Do a med or surg rotation (or two) first thing 4th year, so that you can get LOR and show the admissions committee you're doing real stuff. Then feel free to do 3 months of rads if you want.

Other advice: do one or two away rotations at places you could see yourself going - the benefit of them is getting to know the department very well and the day-to-day life of those residents. Don't rely on them for LOR though, you may not get the chance to know any single attending very well.

 

[Radiologyreviews2015]

Any problems with interviewers asking why you did so much rads? Some program websites specifically say not to do too much rads. Indiana's website says they prefer to see tons of medicine and surgery during your 4th year as opposed to radiology.

No one mentioned it. I got interviews at every top tier program on the east coast, and they presumably knew this before they offered me the interview.
None of the TY or prelim medicine programs I interviewed at mentioned it either (and you might expect those programs to be more concerned).

 

[jorts42]

How do people feel about a nuclear medicine elective? Or would it be better to do something else? I originally tried to get into an IR elective but it filled up. I don't have any special interest in IR or nuclear medicine but IR has its own residencies next year while I never hear a single person talk about nuclear medicine as a subspecialty of radiology