anyone at UQ done/plan to do rotations in US?

[jaketheory]

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hi all,

i was wondering if there was anyone at UQ planning to do rotations in the US? or anyone who has?

i notice that they have electives at end of first year and 4th year. it seems many US schools/hospitals wouldnt be willing to take a student in first year since it seems that most/many require core clerkships already have been done. or am i wrong? and even if you could get one, you would only be observing, right? doesnt seem that would be a very worthwhile experience just watching. could you even get LOR doing that?

and isnt that a huge expense to come to US and to return to Aus just for a 4 week rotation?

any help appreciated. im currently interested in going to flinders or UQ. id like to go into research and theres much more research going on at UQ, but the huge medical class size and the 1st year electives are turning me away from there. i studied abroad in adelaide while an undergrad so i'm famaliar with the city, but i never made it to brisbane. all comments welcome.
-jake

 

[Winged Scapula]

hi all,

i was wondering if there was anyone at UQ planning to do rotations in the US? or anyone who has?

i notice that they have electives at end of first year and 4th year. it seems many US schools/hospitals wouldnt be willing to take a student in first year since it seems that most/many require core clerkships already have been done. or am i wrong? and even if you could get one, you would only be observing, right? doesnt seem that would be a very worthwhile experience just watching. could you even get LOR doing that?

and isnt that a huge expense to come to US and to return to Aus just for a 4 week rotation?

any help appreciated. im currently interested in going to flinders or UQ. id like to go into research and theres much more research going on at UQ, but the huge medical class size and the 1st year electives are turning me away from there. i studied abroad in adelaide while an undergrad so i'm famaliar with the city, but i never made it to brisbane. all comments welcome.
-jake

I am not aware of the elective allowed during first year at U of Q but you are correct in that all US hospitals I'm aware of require visiting clerks to do their electives during the FINAL year. The visitors are not allowed to do Core rotations (ie,typical 3rd year rotations) but rather sub-Is, electives, etc.

Did they say that you were allowed to do the elective abroad? I wouldn't bother either - since its a lot of expense for 4 weeks and an LOR from a basic science course is pretty worthless for residency applications in most cases.

 

[jaketheory]

it is a clinical elective at the end of 1st year and people do do them abroad. at least this is what i've gotten from the website. the UQ med students society has an archive listing to US electives both of which were done 1st year but both were described as observership. i think id want an elective with more responsibility than observing and i dont think a LOR would be very valuable from just observing. seems like a pain and waste of time. makes me consider flinders more since they have all electives at end of 4th year.

 

[pitman]

UQ has both 1st and 4th year electives, and at least one rotation can be done back home.

Students do their first year elective wherever they find one. It's certainly a little harder to find them in N America, but they're there -- in my year a few went home for them. They didn't do much of anything practical, of course.

I think where you go that early will have little effect when it comes time to finding residency, except it gives contacts when looking for clinical rotations or 4th year electives. On the other hand, it can be said that going somewhere exotic, e.g., S Pacific island or India, and doing practical work might have a bigger impact on your CV.

UQ has allowed med specialties and surgery rotations (both in year 4) overseas for int'l students, and this year formalized the process for med specialties for all students. It's 8 weeks, and elective is now 8 weeks, with week holidays between rotations. So this year a half dozen or so of the n americans in year 3 are setting up 18 or so weeks back home (with one week travel/rest) for next year.

-pitman

 

[jaketheory]

UQ has both 1st and 4th year electives, and at least one rotation can be done back home.

Students do their first year elective wherever they find one. It's certainly a little harder to find them in N America, but they're there -- in my year a few went home for them. They didn't do much of anything practical, of course.

I think where you go that early will have little effect when it comes time to finding residency, except it gives contacts when looking for clinical rotations or 4th year electives. On the other hand, it can be said that going somewhere exotic, e.g., S Pacific island or India, and doing practical work might have a bigger impact on your CV.

UQ has allowed med specialties and surgery rotations (both in year 4) overseas for int'l students, and this year formalized the process for med specialties for all students. It's 8 weeks, and elective is now 8 weeks, with week holidays between rotations. So this year a half dozen or so of the n americans in year 3 are setting up 18 or so weeks back home (with one week travel/rest) for next year.

-pitman

pitman, that would make a big difference. 18 weeks in N America? after reading your response i went to look at the student handbook for year 4 on UQ's website to learn moree. so this 8 week med specialties and 4 weeks in 2 different specialties? is that right? and with elective being 8 weeks, does that mean you could squeeze in (4) 4 week rotation?

and the handbook mentions that following the elective is a 3 week trainee intern term. is that still in effect? thats doesnt seem too convenient to go to N. America for rotations, return to Aus for the intern trainee term only to then return to N. America to get a residency. is there anyway to just stay in N America after electives? i know Kimberly Cox has mentioned that's what she did. please let me know. and do you know any internationals students doing integrated mbbs/phd?

 

[jaketheory]

pitman,
i meant to ask. so in addition to the 18 weeks one could possibly do in N. America in 4th year, you can also do 4 weeks in 1st year? thats seems like a lot of time for electives. and i agree, i dont 1st year electives would be too useful in finding residency, but it could still allow interesting experiences. you could do something in say the N. Territory? When i made that original comment, i wasnt aware that one could now to 18 weeks in 4th year.