Away rotation in internal medicine at stanford/UCSF

[MedStudentMUP]

Hey guys,

I was wondering if anyone has experience doing an away at Stanford or USCF for internal medicine? Coming from a school in MO, I would like to get as much exposure to the area and increase my chance of matching.

What I am looking for:
1. Learn as much as I can from great faculty.
2. LOR during my rotation before applying.
3. Interact as much as I can with the faculty/ residents.

Thanks guys

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[machomed]

Hey guys,

I was wondering if anyone has experience doing an away at Stanford or USCF for internal medicine? Coming from a school in MO, I would like to get as much exposure to the area and increase my chance of matching.

What I am looking for:
1. Learn as much as I can from great faculty.
2. LOR during my rotation before applying.
3. Interact as much as I can with the faculty/ residents.

Thanks guys

There are multiple examples on this forum of students doing an away at UCSF, with stellar stats, and subsequently not even getting an interview there. Aways can backfire easily.
I think your month is much better spent doing some research that will sound interesting on the interview trail.

 

[blitz195]

I'll play devil's advocate here. I'm an MSIV from a state school who did aways at a few high-powered places, including UCSF and ended up with interviews at all of them, some directly because of my away. And at each place, I made relationships with many people who advocated/ing for me directly on the rank list committee.

I wouldn't count on an interview because of the away, but I knew I had a distant shot at these places though would probably not get looked at seriously because of my state school and above average, but not stellar board scores. I worked my tail off at each place, learned a lot (more so at places that let me do sub-Is than sub-specialty rotations as UCSF will make you do), got a great feel for each institution (which helped on the interview trail), and got to spend a month in a different healthcare system. I also see nothing wrong with aways at places that are "stretches"...it might be your only place to train at somewhere like there and it could certainly help you.

So if you have low expectations, will work HARD, aren't offensive/smell bad/awkward, an away could certainly work in your favor. Up to you.

 

[tallash]

I'll play devil's advocate here. I'm an MSIV from a state school who did aways at a few high-powered places, including UCSF and ended up with interviews at all of them, some directly because of my away. And at each place, I made relationships with many people who advocated/ing for me directly on the rank list committee.

I wouldn't count on an interview because of the away, but I knew I had a distant shot at these places though would probably not get looked at seriously because of my state school and above average, but not stellar board scores. I worked my tail off at each place, learned a lot (more so at places that let me do sub-Is than sub-specialty rotations as UCSF will make you do), got a great feel for each institution (which helped on the interview trail), and got to spend a month in a different healthcare system. I also see nothing wrong with aways at places that are "stretches"...it might be your only place to train at somewhere like there and it could certainly help you.

So if you have low expectations, will work HARD, aren't offensive/smell bad/awkward, an away could certainly work in your favor. Up to you.

+1

Aways are good to do at reaches if you really (really) want to end up there. But they are unlikely to help you all that much.

 

[darkelven29]

You have to decide whether you look better on paper/prose or in-person performance for 2-3 weeks.

The same way I interviewed 5 programs that allowed us to see their rounds. 3 made me rank lower than expected after their typical rounds, and the other 2 was as expected. None exceeded my expectations. Can you exceed their expectations in an away? It's a risk that may or may not pay off. I advocate for being safe and not do it, but there's no right answer. (Rejection from both UCSF/Stanford without an away, but interviewed at other top 10-15 places)

 

[LuckyNYC]

Was scheduled for a rotation at UCSF from mid-Sept to mid-Octber this past year. Everything was ready to go (paperwork completed through UCSF, plane ticket booked, housing secured, etc). Got a early rejection from UCSF med residency 3 days before the start of my away. Emailed PD to see if they could re-evaluate my application after I completed my away (as opposed to rejecting me outright). PD said they look at 3rd year grades more than they look at away performance and would not reconsider my application. (FYI I am AOA from top 20 med school, honored medicine clerkship, etc).

Bottom line: UCSF may not care that much about your performance on your away

 

[C5toC9]

Was scheduled for a rotation at UCSF from mid-Sept to mid-Octber this past year. Everything was ready to go (paperwork completed through UCSF, plane ticket booked, housing secured, etc). Got a early rejection from UCSF med residency 3 days before the start of my away. Emailed PD to see if they could re-evaluate my application after I completed my away (as opposed to rejecting me outright). PD said they look at 3rd year grades more than they look at away performance and would not reconsider my application. (FYI I am AOA from top 20 med school, honored medicine clerkship, etc).

Bottom line: UCSF may not care that much about your performance on your away

Wow. Did you even bother doing the away or caring if you were there?

 

[LuckyNYC]

Wow. Did you even bother doing the away or caring if you were there?

I ended up going to San Fran to hang out for a week. The Giants won the world series while I was there, and I missed Hurricane Sandy in NYC. It actually worked out quite well.

Ended up wanting to stay on the East Coast for residency so I wasn't too disappointed.

 

[tallash]

Was scheduled for a rotation at UCSF from mid-Sept to mid-Octber this past year. Everything was ready to go (paperwork completed through UCSF, plane ticket booked, housing secured, etc). Got a early rejection from UCSF med residency 3 days before the start of my away. Emailed PD to see if they could re-evaluate my application after I completed my away (as opposed to rejecting me outright). PD said they look at 3rd year grades more than they look at away performance and would not reconsider my application. (FYI I am AOA from top 20 med school, honored medicine clerkship, etc).

Bottom line: UCSF may not care that much about your performance on your away

This should be a sticky, haha. Glad to hear it worked out for you regardless.

 

[MedStudentMUP]

Thanks guys for your helpful comments. Does anyone have any experience with Stanford? If aways seem to help or not?

 

[HoldTheCoffee]

Was scheduled for a rotation at UCSF from mid-Sept to mid-Octber this past year. Everything was ready to go (paperwork completed through UCSF, plane ticket booked, housing secured, etc). Got a early rejection from UCSF med residency 3 days before the start of my away. Emailed PD to see if they could re-evaluate my application after I completed my away (as opposed to rejecting me outright). PD said they look at 3rd year grades more than they look at away performance and would not reconsider my application. (FYI I am AOA from top 20 med school, honored medicine clerkship, etc).

Bottom line: UCSF may not care that much about your performance on your away

Wow. That's kind of cold... but at least he was honest, I guess. Glad to hear that things worked out anyway for you. I think I probably still would have gone too out of professional obligation, but it might have been slightly awkward answering the inevitable questions from residents/med students being friendly, like "Do you want to come here??"