Away rotations in September

[Tekbright510]

I am a medical student trying to schedule away rotations for this coming summer. While I would ideally like to do 2 aways in July and August, there is a possibility that this may not happen due to lack of spots, scheduling conflicts, etc at my desired locations.

For these reasons, I am now considering doing an away in September if I have to. I have the following 3 questions:

- Should I try to rotate at schools where I can get July/August aways instead of a September away at a school I really desire to rotate at (if I can't get July/August spots at the latter)?
- Are there major disadvantages to doing an away in September vs. July/August?
- If I were hoping to get a LOR, is doing a September away too late to procure a LOR for my application?

Thanks so much for your advice. I appreciate it!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Totem]

I am a medical student trying to schedule away rotations for this coming summer. While I would ideally like to do 2 aways in July and August, there is a possibility that this may not happen due to lack of spots, scheduling conflicts, etc at my desired locations.

For these reasons, I am now considering doing an away in September if I have to. I have the following 3 questions:

- Should I try to rotate at schools where I can get July/August aways instead of a September away at a school I really desire to rotate at (if I can't get July/August spots at the latter)?
- Are there major disadvantages to doing an away in September vs. July/August?
- If I were hoping to get a LOR, is doing a September away too late to procure a LOR for my application?

Thanks so much for your advice. I appreciate it!

Here's a factor to take into account this year--ASTRO is Sept 22-25, 2013, which is unusually early in the year. During ASTRO, departments clear out and are left with only a skeleton crew to keep things afloat. To be a rotating student during this week might not be great, especially if its your last week and you give your end of rotation presentation to an empty department. There may not be much you can do about this, just something to keep in mind.

In general, I think students perform better on each additional rotation, so I deliberately chose to rotate at my top choice last, in September. So I actually think it's to your advantage to rotate at your top choice later in the year after you've gained some experience and had a chance to give your presentation a time or two.

I got my LOR from this rotation in mid October, which was not a problem at all. The only caveat is that ASTRO was held in late October last year and many programs didn't begin reviewing applications until after ASTRO.

I would try to rotate at the program(s) you really want to end up at--away rotations significantly help your chances of matching at a program, so spend your time at your top choices.

I remember the craziness of trying to get away rotations set up a year ago--it was a messy process. Take the time to identify good programs to rotate at and work aggressively to get the rotation set up. Connections never hurt....

 

[Lamount]

Tekbright510
My experience with away electives was a little unconventional, but it ended up working out for the best. I had three months to do electives July, August and September. Similar to what totem said, I scheduled my homeschool away elective first (I didn't have a home program), a lower tier residency program second, and the school I was most interested in third (during September)... with the intention of being most impressive for my third rotation. While I unfortunately ended up not getting an interview at my September rotation program, I ended up getting interviews at much more competitive programs. All three of my electives served me well during my interviews, as I had many clinical experiences to talk about, and was able to demonstrate my interest in the field). I matched at an amazing program (that was a far better fit and offerred far more opportunities than any program that I rotated at). By all means, it is important to pick your aways strategically to position yourself to get interviews at desirable programs where you stand a shot of matching. But don't make yourself too crazy thinking about it... because aways can help you in less direct ways as well.

 

[metallica81788]

Bumping this with a similar question.

With ASTRO being Sept 22-25 this year, does anybody think interviews move up earlier this year as well?

I've checked the interview dates from last year (earliest was November 19th) and they work out perfectly with the Medicine AI I want to do from mid-October to mid-November. I just want to make sure I finish my last away rotation in mid-October with a usable letter of rec in hand and without having to worry about dealing with any potential early interviews. I also don't want to have to take off from my AI for interviews either, but that's secondary to the RadOnc away.

Thanks in advance.