Any point in away rotations for Rads?

[studentdoc911]

Thoughts? From the midwest, would be nice to go somewhere warm.. but there are just so many schools to apply to. I'm wondering if a 1 month away somewhere in Florida, for example, would even be worth it. Nobody I know who matched to Rads matched at their away.

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[greg1184]

I plan to.... to a program I am interested in. I already been approved. I want to extend my network of people I know and potentially get a letter. Hopefully I at least get a "courtesy" interview at the institution.

 

[MossPoh]

I elected not to do a real one. I'm going to a (weakly) affiliated residency program that didn't require a ton of paperwork, but that is it. My reasoning was that it would give me the residency experience and be in a different city, but without all the other hassle. It is also a smaller program, so the chances of me standing out are greater. I tend to start slow on rotations and it takes me nearly 2-3 weeks to even get fully acclimated to my surroundings and comfortable with what I am permitted to do, so this was a little less pressure on me in that department.

I know plenty of people that did it. I'm yet to know anyone that matched at their away, but I do know people that said it helped with breaking through regional bias.

 

[Alex Somwaru]

It should help- effort, enthusiasm, extra-mile by setting up shop in foreign waters but it is a double-edged sword - if you're not up to snuff that month for whatever fluke reason (bad room and board, hypomania, typhoid) it may do more harm. Primum non nocere or something like that...

 

[drizzt3117]

One of my friends I did an away at the Brigham with matched there. I was RTM at one of my aways but matched at a program I ranked higher.

 

[choweee]

One of my classmates also matched at the program where he did his away, a university program in Manhattan.

To make the most of your away, make sure you introduce yourself to the PD early. Spend some time in their section and make it clear you're a visiting student interested in their program. At the end of my month I scheduled a meeting with the PD and had a half-hour chat, where I reiterated my interest.

If the program's not top 10, then it takes away the whole guessing game aspect on the PD's behalf when they are trying to decide, assuming you are qualified, whether you are worth giving an interview, or if you would go somewhere else. With 80-100 interviews to hand out to 500-700 applications, it can make a difference.