advice on away rotation in California?

[xyzyx]

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Hi,

Has anyone rotated at any of California medical centers?
Any advice on which ones would be good to rotate at? I'm looking to do 1 away rotation there... leaning towards UCSF just because my friend is in grad school there and said I could stay with her (otherwise housing is so expensive in CA! 🙁). I'm open to rotating anywhere though; just want to be in a good environment for learning and meeting the dept.

Also, how many should I apply to? I hear they fill up fast especially for the summer blocks. 3? 5?

I searched the forums but didn't see any comments on this...
Thanks!

 

[asmallchild]

I'd say it depends on the strength of your application. If you've got a strong app, I say go for it. If your app isn't very strong, I think you may be wasting your away rotation. It's nice to spend these rotations at the places most likely to grant you an interview. California programs are typically so competitive that even if you rotate there, it doesn't necessarily mean you'll walk away with an interview.

 

[xyzyx]

I'd say it depends on the strength of your application. If you've got a strong app, I say go for it. If your app isn't very strong, I think you may be wasting your away rotation. It's nice to spend these rotations at the places most likely to grant you an interview. California programs are typically so competitive that even if you rotate there, it doesn't necessarily mean you'll walk away with an interview.

That's a good point, asmallchild. I don't want to be wasting my time at an institution that I have no chance to get an interview at... but at the same time there's always a small hope that they'll like me and will decide to interview me. I already did a rotation at my home institution. I talked to the PD here and she seemed to think doing 1 in CA would be reasonable.

I am by no means a stellar candidate. Average at best among the derm applicants. I'm just hoping that if I try hard and apply to a lot of places, then hopefully I will get some interviews and will match somewhere. At worst, I'll do my prelim year and then decide between pursuing IM or one of those derm research fellowships that people do when they don't match.

This afternoon I finally looked into applying for away rotations and ran across a few useful links.

Apparently a lot of schools are using the VSAS now!
http://www.aamc.org/programs/vsas/students/start.htm
I vaguely remember hearing about it last year but only 10 schools were using it at that time.

There's also this "Extramural Electives Compendium" where you can search for all the places offering away rotations... usually they have the link to the school's website (this includes both schools who do and don't use the VSAS).
http://services.aamc.org/eec/students/

VSAS is going to make this process a lot more affordable ($15 for each extra school!). I wish more schools would use this VSAS system.

Sorry if this is info people already knew about; this was new to me.

Still hoping to hear from people who have rotated (or those who are residents??) at any of the California medical centers. Basically, what do the medical students get to do, or is it all observational? how many students usually rotate there during each block? or anything else you want to comment on. thanks again.

 

[asmallchild]

I don't have any California-specific experience but my own away elective (and my classmates' for that matter) all seemed to be observational experiences.

 

[Iwy Em Hotep]

I'd say it depends on where you already have connections. If you have family in SD, or went to college in LA, or something like that, then play up that hook and do a rotation in that city.

If you have nothing at all, then I would either apply to the largest program or the program with a history of taking non-affiliated applicants (i.e. non-inbred programs).

 

[dermathalon]

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