Planning on going into peds and had question about away rotations. Would you recommend doing a sub-I or an elective? Also, would it be unwise to schedule it in a interview month (Nov, Dec)? I was thinking that if I did, that I could interview out there and at other hospitals in the area without having to waste housing and mult plane trips in the future. Thanks for your suggestions!
I did a sub-I and felt that I got a better feel for the program than the people who did electives, but I also felt a lot more pressure not to screw up since a sub-i is a more intense rotation than an elective. I think either is fine, and while you can express preferences at most hospitals, there's no guarantee you'll even get what you want (I had actually asked for electives ahead of a sub-I, but got the sub-I). If you're able, scheduling the interview so it ends around the start of interview season works well (you can interview at the program you're visiting on the same visit without having to leave to go do other interviews). My impression is that leaving to go to one or absolutely at most two other interviews would probably be ok, but I wouldn't want to be gone more often than that, so November>>December or January for scheduling. Good luck!
I think it depends a little on your needs. I did my away in August in the PICU, and was in desperate need of a letter from a peds attending (due to the poorly organized nature of my peds clerkship). So for me, having been gone in October would have been rather late. I've had a bad history (for college and med school both) with getting letters written in a timely manner, so September would have been pushing it, merely from a personal comfort standpoint. The other part of scheduling is your home school and their requirements and scheduling issues.
