away rotations

[nykka3]

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How beneficial is it to do an away rotation in ob/gyn? Considering the "malignant" atmosphere stereotype talked about at a lot of programs, would i be doing more harm than good doing an away at a program i would like to attend?

 

[roxtu]

An away rotation might definitely hurt you if the people you work with decide that they don't like you. Or they might decide that you're awesome and really advocate for you during the whole process. It's probably impossible to predict which of these will happen (unless maybe if you look at your past clinical evaluations and people either ALWAYS gush about you or ALWAYS trash you).

However, if it's a program that you're seriously considering for residency, wouldn't you like to know if it's really "malignant" before you commit your life to that place for the next 4 years?

Peoples' definitions of malignancy vary, and what may be intolerable to a previous medical student may be an exciting learning environment to you.

 

[nykka3]

Hmm. That makes sense. My school's calendar is off cycle so I have to decide if i want to do a one month away which will be like sacrificing 2 months of time b/c of the way my school's calendar is oriented.
Thanks

 

[GynGirl2008]

My schools calendar is off by two weeks from everyone else's calendar too, but we don't have to sacrifice an extra rotation for aways. We use one rotation as a buffer. I am doing 2 weeks of ID, then 8 weeks of aways, then finishing the last 2 weeks of ID. You might want to check. That might be an option for you too.

 

[roxtu]

Yeah, my school's schedule was offset from the place where I did my away rotation, so I had to sacrifice some time. It ended up working out ok, because I used that time to finish up a research project that I'd been working on.

If you end up doing an away rotation later (October/November) that time off may blend into time that you'd be using to do interviews, so it might fit better in your schedule - but you'd be less likely to get a letter of recommendation out of it, I suppose.