Are "prestigious" away rotations needed for "prestigious" residency matches?

[AthleteDoc7]

Quick question I hoped you all could help with. I'm currently working on setting up away rotations as a third year going into EM next year. A lot of the programs I'm interested in happen to be at "prestigious" institutions simply because these are locations that would probably be better for my SO for getting a job (note the quotation marks, i'm not a prestige *****). Considering other programs in these locations as well.

Do I need to set up my aways to be at top/"prestigious" places in order for these kinds of programs to consider me? Or can I try to just do well at my home program (lower tier) and one or two aways (say average programs), and be fine for top places?

I'm at a mid-lower tier US MD with a step 1 around the 250 mark, trying to improve for step 2, if that contributes anything. Thanks everyone, and congrats to those that recently matched!

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[CliveStaples]

Rotate at the program you want to go to most.

Rotate at the programs in the geographic region you want to go to.

The most important thing about being considered for 99% off programs in today’s era of shotgun applications is to have something in your application that makes you look like a serious applicant and not just one of the horde that’s applying because it’s easy to select tons of places to apply to.

 

[Apollyon]

If you go to a more "prestige" place, recall that someone has to be top, middle, and bottom third, so, when though you can do well, or excel, in the rotation, you might still get a classification on the SLOE of bottom third to rank, or not rank. Not everyone can be honors. My point is, you can be a star at these places, but you're in a constellation, with many stars, and, quite possibly, ones that are brighter than you.

 

[PianoMedic]

Scores and strong SLOEs are needed more than a “prestigious” away rotation. Also, geographic bias is real so setup rotations in a region if you are not from there and your medical school isn’t there. One of my SLOEs opened up a couple doors to me that are usually shut to DOs. Go to places where you can learn a lot, do lots of procedures, where you might want to be for residency, and where you can get a strong SLOE. 2 of my top four choices for my rank order list were places I rotated, so make sure you go to places you’re actually interested in matching to.


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[SpacemanSpifff]

Rotate at the program you want to go to most.

Rotate at the programs in the geographic region you want to go to.

The most important thing about being considered for 99% off programs in today’s era of shotgun applications is to have something in your application that makes you look like a serious applicant and not just one of the horde that’s applying because it’s easy to select tons of places to apply to.

@CliveStaples - #preach

Rotate where you want to match. Rotate where you want to match. Rotate where you want to match...

Our match list this year was 1/3 rotators.

 

[Got Em]

Quick question I hoped you all could help with. I'm currently working on setting up away rotations as a third year going into EM next year. A lot of the programs I'm interested in happen to be at "prestigious" institutions simply because these are locations that would probably be better for my SO for getting a job (note the quotation marks, i'm not a prestige *****). Considering other programs in these locations as well.

Do I need to set up my aways to be at top/"prestigious" places in order for these kinds of programs to consider me? Or can I try to just do well at my home program (lower tier) and one or two aways (say average programs), and be fine for top places?

I'm at a mid-lower tier US MD with a step 1 around the 250 mark, trying to improve for step 2, if that contributes anything. Thanks everyone, and congrats to those that recently matched!

What exactly do you mean by prestigious places? These places in EM are not the same as IM/surgery. For example, top EM places include USC/LA County, Denver, Carolinas, Indiana, Cincinnati, Highland, etc. These are not your typical "prestigious" places. Would these places also be better for your SO?

If you're looking for the ivory tower places your grandmother has heard of, then that's a slightly different ball game. Typically those institutions want a little bit more research, minor preference for top tier bachelors/MD programs, but also great scores/SLOEs. SLOEs will always be the most important part of your application. Do aways at programs that you want to go to, get great SLOEs, and you'll have a great chance at matching these prestigious programs.

 

[gamerEMdoc]

Rotate at the program you want to go to most.

Rotate at the programs in the geographic region you want to go to.

The most important thing about being considered for 99% off programs in today’s era of shotgun applications is to have something in your application that makes you look like a serious applicant and not just one of the horde that’s applying because it’s easy to select tons of places to apply to.

Yep. Don't out think it. Rotate at the type of program you want to end up, in the location you want to end up.

 

[AthleteDoc7]

What exactly do you mean by prestigious places? These places in EM are not the same as IM/surgery. For example, top EM places include USC/LA County, Denver, Carolinas, Indiana, Cincinnati, Highland, etc. These are not your typical "prestigious" places. Would these places also be better for your SO?

If you're looking for the ivory tower places your grandmother has heard of, then that's a slightly different ball game. Typically those institutions want a little bit more research, minor preference for top tier bachelors/MD programs, but also great scores/SLOEs. SLOEs will always be the most important part of your application. Do aways at programs that you want to go to, get great SLOEs, and you'll have a great chance at matching these prestigious programs.

I was referring to a mixture of some of the usual great EM places, and some ivory tower ones as well, as these tend to be major cities. I appreciate the advice everyone!

It seems hard to know how difficult it is to earn great SLOEs at a lot of these places, especially programs with very few reviews on the "great student rotation" thread. Guess ill just have to work my butt off and hope for the best.