Away rotation question

[PedsMed]

I'm a third year interested in pediatrics, and my home institution is in a smaller town and has a medium sized peds program. For personal reasons, I'm planning on applying primarily in one or two large cities, and several attendings recommended I do away rotations at a large program for comparison. I applied, and while I got a spot at that hospital, it's a rotation that I'm not very excited about (my last choice). Should I go anyways to get an idea of how things are run and if I'll fit in, even though I'm not thrilled about the subject matter? Or would it be better to stay at my home institution for the month and hope I get a good idea of things during interviews?

Thanks

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[oldbearprofessor]

I'm a third year interested in pediatrics, and my home institution is in a smaller town and has a medium sized peds program. For personal reasons, I'm planning on applying primarily in one or two large cities, and several attendings recommended I do away rotations at a large program for comparison. I applied, and while I got a spot at that hospital, it's a rotation that I'm not very excited about (my last choice). Should I go anyways to get an idea of how things are run and if I'll fit in, even though I'm not thrilled about the subject matter? Or would it be better to stay at my home institution for the month and hope I get a good idea of things during interviews?

Thanks

Go

 

[Killer T Cell]

Go

Definitely! Interview day is just a brief glimpse and everyone is on their best behavior An away rotation will give you a much better idea about the dynamics and inner-workings of a bigger program. It'll be an interesting experience as well.

 

[Sweet Tea]

Definitely go.

 

[Stitch]

Go and at least pretend to be interested, read and learn about your patients. It's worth it from an educational standpoint as well as getting your foot in the door. People can usually tell if you're truly unmotivated or disinterested. It's okay if 'rheumatology' (or whatever) doesn't thrill you, but learning as much as you can shows that you're taking the rotation serious and may impress them by your hard work.

I certainly didn't like every rotation I did as a resident, but ultimately I'm glad I did them and made sure to get the most out of each one.

 

[little pebble]

I'm a third year interested in pediatrics, and my home institution is in a smaller town and has a medium sized peds program. For personal reasons, I'm planning on applying primarily in one or two large cities, and several attendings recommended I do away rotations at a large program for comparison. I applied, and while I got a spot at that hospital, it's a rotation that I'm not very excited about (my last choice). Should I go anyways to get an idea of how things are run and if I'll fit in, even though I'm not thrilled about the subject matter? Or would it be better to stay at my home institution for the month and hope I get a good idea of things during interviews?

Thanks

GO. GO. GO. I did an away rotation that I was not originally pleased to get. I liked the program, just not the rotation I got. However, I went and did a good job. I got offered an interview about a week after I started the rotation, and I learned during my interview that the attendings I worked with thought I was super-amazing, which helped the program's interest in me (from what I could tell). I did not match at the institution because I put them second on my list for personal reasons, but I was told that I was high on their list.

If you're not doing an away at an institution you would like to match at, doing an away at a large institution is still a great idea. I came from a school with a medium-sized peds program without fellowships, and doing an away at a large program helped me to see how a large children's hospital and a large residency program worked.

Hope this helps!