Advice on Away Electives

[Harrison486]

Hey everyone. I'm a 3rd year medical student, currently attempting to figure out and schedule my upcoming 4th year. As I am pretty much sold on anesthesia at this point, I am trying to do as much as I can to make the best choices possible to make that happen. My main questions are regarding away electives.

To begin 4th year, I am planning on doing a 4-week elective/subI in anesthesia at my home department. After that, I was planning on doing 2 away electives. (Am I correct in my understanding that away electives are pretty important and generally recommended for anesthesiology?)

Anyway, I was planning on doing 1 away in NYC and 1 away in the Maryland/DC area, as I have both family and friends that I can stay with in those areas. My question for all of you anesthesia gurus out there is: Where do you recommend I do my aways?

As far as NYC is concerned, I was initially planning on trying to do it at Mt. Sinai, as I loved the place when I interviewed there for med school and know it is a pretty great program. However, I know most of the NYC schools are great programs and was wondering if anyone would suggest another program for some reason or other.

As far as the Maryland/DC area is concerned, I am a little confused. I was initially thinking about doing it at the University of Maryland, but now I am starting to think that Hopkins would be a much better decision. What do you guys think? Are any of the DC programs even worth considering?

Thank you all!

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[flyingdutchman]

Hey everyone. I'm a 3rd year medical student, currently attempting to figure out and schedule my upcoming 4th year. As I am pretty much sold on anesthesia at this point, I am trying to do as much as I can to make the best choices possible to make that happen. My main questions are regarding away electives.

To begin 4th year, I am planning on doing a 4-week elective/subI in anesthesia at my home department. After that, I was planning on doing 2 away electives. (Am I correct in my understanding that away electives are pretty important and generally recommended for anesthesiology?)

Anyway, I was planning on doing 1 away in NYC and 1 away in the Maryland/DC area, as I have both family and friends that I can stay with in those areas. My question for all of you anesthesia gurus out there is: Where do you recommend I do my aways?

As far as NYC is concerned, I was initially planning on trying to do it at Mt. Sinai, as I loved the place when I interviewed there for med school and know it is a pretty great program. However, I know most of the NYC schools are great programs and was wondering if anyone would suggest another program for some reason or other.

As far as the Maryland/DC area is concerned, I am a little confused. I was initially thinking about doing it at the University of Maryland, but now I am starting to think that Hopkins would be a much better decision. What do you guys think? Are any of the DC programs even worth considering?

Thank you all!

Anesthesia is definitely a field in which you don't have to do away rotations, and the vast majority of applicants don't. Doing a rotation somewhere, however can serve a few benefits. It gives you a chance to make some connections and forge relationships before interview day (if you do a good job and are a fun person!). It also gives you a way better view of that program. I did an away and was glad I did. Not only did I already meet with the chair/PD prior to interview day, but I had a good idea about the program on a day to day basis and not just the "snapshot" view you get on interview day. Go somewhere that you might really think could be your number 1-3. You might strengthen what you already know about that program and love it, or you might totally hate it and be glad that you got that insight early on so you can focus your efforts elsewhere. Good luck.