Away Electives

[DrSnips]

So my medicine program director told us away electives aren't really that useful in IM for getting a foot in the door at a place where you wouldn't have already gotten an interview. Anyone care to comment, esp. MS4s?

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[CatFactorial]

Our medicine program director says the same thing. He reasons that the time it takes to adjust to a different hospital system takes away from the time you have to impress away attendings, so you are better off focusing on electives at your own school.

 

[Chakrabs]

For IM, probably not. Just because "fitting in" isnt as big a deal as it is for smaller surgical residencies. I think away electives can be crucial for surgical subspecialties.

 

[ArcGurren]

So my medicine program director told us away electives aren't really that useful in IM for getting a foot in the door at a place where you wouldn't have already gotten an interview. Anyone care to comment, esp. MS4s?

For places that are reach programs based on your scores/creds, yes, doing an away in IM there is a good idea. For places you'd interview at anyway, I think it's only worth doing aways there if you REALLY REALLY want to go to those places (which is what I'm doing).

That being said if you do an elective away of some sort at one of these programs (and not something high-risk-high-stress like a sub I) it isn't that big a deal.