Away Rotations

[Herpeto]

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I am currently considering Anesthesiology as a specialty and am wondering if I should bother doing any away rotations. I have heard conflicting opinions on this topic. On the one hand if you work really hard and you get along with the residence they will recommend you. On the other hand, if you happen to not get along with the residence then too bad for you. I am not to picky on whether I land a spot at a top teir school or a bottom tier school as I will be trained either way, just so long as I enjoy the area and the housing prices are reasonable. Any opinions?

 

[Disse]

(I'm full of opinions today so take with this a grain of salt...)

IF you look extremely well on paper (i.e. good grades, good boards, good letters blah blah blah) then, in my opinion, you don't really need to do an away rotation. True, if you do well you're almost a shoe in but at most large academic facilities there are many many many different types of personalities and if you hit the wrong one you can shoot yourself in the foot.

However, if you don't look very good on paper (i.e. grades or boards or you can't get a good letter) then an away rotation can be very useful--just realize you'll need to bust your butt and be extremely flexible/adaptable in the personality department. An advantage of an away rotation is that you can get a good look at the program you're interested in--oftentimes what you think may be the perfect fit for you once you get better look at it isn't.

Hope this helps.