applying for specialty before doing a rotation?

[phillyfornia]

i'm in a bad situation. since i started med school, i've been pretty set on EM. so my schedule this year is all set up for EM. i now think, however, that i want to do something else (anesthesia). my problem is that i won't be able to do my sub-i until october.

so, i was wondering what i should do about my ERAS. i've heard that turning in your ERAS on sept 1 is the best way to ensure that you get the most interviews. if this is the case, should i just write a personal statement about why i want to do anesthesia? or would programs not take the personal statement seriously because i haven't done the rotation yet? should i just wait until after i do my anesethesia rotation (late oct) and turn in my ERAS then? would that be too late?

any help would be greatly appreciated.

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[Winged Scapula]

i'm in a bad situation. since i started med school, i've been pretty set on EM. so my schedule this year is all set up for EM. i now think, however, that i want to do something else (anesthesia). my problem is that i won't be able to do my sub-i until october.

so, i was wondering what i should do about my ERAS. i've heard that turning in your ERAS on sept 1 is the best way to ensure that you get the most interviews. if this is the case, should i just write a personal statement about why i want to do anesthesia? or would programs not take the personal statement seriously because i haven't done the rotation yet? should i just wait until after i do my anesethesia rotation (late oct) and turn in my ERAS then? would that be too late?

any help would be greatly appreciated.

YOU do not need to turn in your ERAS application September 1 but after your sub-I may be too late. What is the program deadline for Anesthesiology (ie, for surgery programs its November 1, sometimes October 15)?

In general, apps in by October should be fine, but later than that would probably mean you would miss some interview dates. See what the characters on the Anesth forum have to say.

 

[jennyboo]

i've heard that turning in your ERAS on sept 1 is the best way to ensure that you get the most interviews. if this is the case, should i just write a personal statement about why i want to do anesthesia? or would programs not take the personal statement seriously because i haven't done the rotation yet? should i just wait until after i do my anesethesia rotation (late oct) and turn in my ERAS then?

Submit your application September 1. (Or at least, in the first two weeks of September. I submitted mine Sept 7 or something like that.) Do not wait until end of October or November 1 to apply. Interview invitations for anesthesia go out as early as September 5 or so.

Many of the more selective programs wait until late October or until November to start inviting people to interview, but that's not hard and fast. If you wait until November 1 to submit your application, you will miss the boat for a lot of programs. Most of my interviews were scheduled before November 1 -- only a small handful were scheduled after.

If you haven't done the rotation but need a little experience in order to write a believable personal statement, try to arrange maybe a couple days of shadowing in the OR. Run the personal statement by someone more experienced in anesthesia and ask them whether it sounds believable. There are plenty of things you can do to get away with writing a believable statement for why you're interested in the field, even if you haven't had experience in it. It's better to do that than to wait until end of October to submit your app.