bethhill said:
Of the two people I know who did audition rotations at their number one choice program, neither of them were matched to that location. I was wondering if people could respond to this issue -- to audition or not to audition...
It depends on a few things.
1) What specialty is it? In some specialties, audition rotations are expected (i.e. necessary) in order to match, so whether you will shine or not you end up having to do it regardless. In other specialties, you don't need to do auditions and they're optional.
2) Did you do well in your home rotation in that specialty? If so, chances are you will also do well away.
3) Does your home institution have a residency program in that specialty, or even better, a pretty well respected residency program in that specialty? If so, you may already have a great letter of recommendation and you may not need to do an away.
If you're still iffy on the away, I might suggest doing just one to see what other residency programs are like and to figure out what types of questions to ask. You have little to lose unless you have stellar boards, stellar grades / AOA, and research papers -- in which case they'll invite you to interview regardless of whether you did an away with them or not.
I am shy, I don't stand out, I have the "sweet personality" that doesn't stand out to faculty and other evaluating people (residents). I still somehow did extremely well in my aways. Some of it is beyond your control -- how the away institution structures their rotations, who the faculty members are and how much they value teaching medical students makes a big difference and you can't do a thing about that (other than choosing good places to rotate).
The majority of people don't actually end up with residency at a place where they did an away.... I did, and I'm very glad for it.