Advice for fourth year scheduling

[jace's mom]

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Congratulations to everyone that matched, and I'm hoping the best for any scramblers!

I have a question about fourth year scheduling. I'm planning three "audition" rotations, but I'm not sure which would be the best periods to use. Here are my open dates:

1. Aug 1-26: Would rather not use this one for personal reasons, also because I have been told August is not a good audition month.
2. Aug 29 - Sept 23
3. Oct 24 - Nov 11
4. Nov 21 - Dec 16

I'm planning on rotating to 1 highly competitive, 1 middle of the road, and 1 not as competitive. Not sure in which periods to put them. The middle of the road one will become my first choice for matching, I think.

Also, from looking at the interview thread for this past year, it appears that interviews happened from Sept - early Nov. In that case, should I use periods #1-3 as audition months (instead of using months 2-4)?

Thanks for all advice!

 

[jenesaispas0005]

Also, from looking at the interview thread for this past year, it appears that interviews happened from Sept - early Nov. In that case, should I use periods #1-3 as audition months (instead of using months 2-4)?

Interviews did not happen from Sept-early Nov.... Offers for interviews happened from Sept-early Nov. I interviewed almost weekly or biweekly from the end of Sept through the last week of Jan. So don't plan on being done by even Thanksgiving, let alone the first week of November. You will probably still be getting offers through the first week of November.

With respect to "audition" rotations.... I did two at path residency programs, both middle-of-the-road. And from what I heard, they really aren't that important when it comes to the match. Most people who match didn't do an audition rotation where they matched (at least this is what I've been told and what I've seen). So don't sweat them too much.

 

[jace's mom]

Thanks! That pretty much answered what I needed to know. Congratulations on your match, and I hope you get your top choice!

 

[jenesaispas0005]

Thanks! That pretty much answered what I needed to know. Congratulations on your match, and I hope you get your top choice!

Thanks, and no problem! I'm starting to get nervous now that I think reality is setting in that match day is actually tomorrow! Good luck with everything coming later this summer!

 

[KCShaw]

We didn't get many outside med student rotators, mainly local students. However, any student rotators who expressed interest in pathology seemed to strengthen their cause as far as our program was concerned by doing the rotation. Unless you tend to have personality problems with people, I think doing a rotation is likely to be a plus. It's not going to change you from a "I'd never match this person" to a "ooo ooo, gotta match them top 5!", but I think it separates you from the masses with an otherwise similar background. If you're going to do it, I would go earlier than later -- once an application has been trimmed to the "no interview" pile or whatever, it's hard to resurrect.

With that said, I still don't think doing more than a couple of "good" path rotations, mainly for real-world exposure to the specialty, is more useful than taking some time to rotate in things you'll never get a chance to do again.

 

[liliequist]

To the OP: if you want letters from your rotation, it's better to do them early because everyone starts applying September 1st and you'll want your letters to be included in your documents. Also, interviewing gets pretty heavy and exhausting in November through December, during which you will be pulled away from your "audition".

Likewise I don't think 3 audition rotations is necessary at all - I did all of my path electives at my home institution and matched at my top choice, a completely different program with whom I had no prior contact at all. It might be better to use one of those months just interviewing, or vacationing, visiting family, etc.

 

[jenesaispas0005]

With that said, I still don't think doing more than a couple of "good" path rotations, mainly for real-world exposure to the specialty, is more useful than taking some time to rotate in things you'll never get a chance to do again.

This is a really good point. I was told this by many different people--you're going to be doing pathology for the rest of your life, do as many useful, random, but fun things as you can in your 4th year. I did a forensic psychiatry rotation which was really interesting, and a dental rotation.

Like everyone has said--don't worry too much about audition rotations. Although it is nice to set yourself apart from the crowd a bit, they're not really necessary in path, unless you really want to learn more about how that program specifically runs. At one of my residency rotations, when I went in I assumed this program would be in my top 2 or 3, but when I left, I decided to not even rank it.

 

[GoodNewsEvery1]

This is a really good point. I was told this by many different people--you're going to be doing pathology for the rest of your life, do as many useful, random, but fun things as you can in your 4th year. I did a forensic psychiatry rotation which was really interesting, and a dental rotation.

Like everyone has said--don't worry too much about audition rotations. Although it is nice to set yourself apart from the crowd a bit, they're not really necessary in path, unless you really want to learn more about how that program specifically runs. At one of my residency rotations, when I went in I assumed this program would be in my top 2 or 3, but when I left, I decided to not even rank it.

Agreed on all points.

I did two, and that may have been more than I needed. I ended up ranking one place fairly far down my list, and I was probably going to rank them similarly even if I didn't do a rotation there. I ranked the other place number 1 (and matched there). I probably would have ranked then number 1 no matter what, though it may have helped me match there. You certainly don't need to do an away to match somewhere though. There is an NRMP document out there and of the 518 path spots this year, only 51% were filled by AMG, and AMGrads had a 93% match rate.

http://www.nrmp.org/data/2011Adv Data Tbl.pdf

Therefore, I wouldn't worry much about doing an away rotation unless you really want to make sure that you fit in there. If you do one, I would say to do it at a place that may be a stretch, as it may help with getting an interview and match there. I wouldn't bother with places that are middle of the road and not competitive.

 

[2121115]

This is a really good point. I was told this by many different people--you're going to be doing pathology for the rest of your life, do as many useful, random, but fun things as you can in your 4th year. I did a forensic psychiatry rotation which was really interesting, and a dental rotation.

Well, just know that if you are going to a top program your residency classmates will be gunners and if you show up behind them in terms of skills (grossing, knowledge base) no one is going to care if you did other fun rotations. They are just going to think you are the slow one or the one that isn't catching on as fast.

Sad but its the truth.

 

[jenesaispas0005]

Well, just know that if you are going to a top program your residency classmates will be gunners and if you show up behind them in terms of skills (grossing, knowledge base) no one is going to care if you did other fun rotations. They are just going to think you are the slow one or the one that isn't catching on as fast.

Sad but its the truth.

I didn't say NOT to do path rotations as 4th year rotations. I just said to make sure you do different rotations that you will never have the opportunity to do again. For me, I am not and was never planning on going to "a top program" so I was never focused on being an expert grosser before residency. That's what residency is for.

That said, I did a total of 10 weeks of pathology as electives 4th year, and 10 weeks of non pathology electives. I was chastized by an interviewer on one of my interviews for doing too many path rotations and not enough "other stuff". Yes, chastized. This person literally belittled me for doing so much pathology as a medical student, and told me that it would make me a better pathologist to have more of a clinical background and less of a "glass pushing" background. And this was at an interview at what I would consider to be a pretty high tier program (one of the two that I interviewed at).