Away rotations

[mikep3400]

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Hi guys, i am planning my away rotations..
i have a average candidate i feel, any suggestions where i should to my away rotations where i will have the highest chances of matching. i dont have a home rads program. i attend a top 50 medical school but we lost our rads program recently, so any suggestions will be great. are there any rads programs that are IMG friendly

 

[Amxcvbcv]

Hi guys, i am planning my away rotations..
i have a average candidate i feel, any suggestions where i should to my away rotations where i will have the highest chances of matching. i dont have a home rads program. i attend a top 50 medical school but we lost our rads program recently, so any suggestions will be great. are there any rads programs that are IMG friendly

It doesn't matter really where you go.

Do an away at a place where you want to go and are interested. Unless you're a complete ***** it will practically secure you an interview, and if you're a decent candidate it can only improve your chances to match since they'll have the whole month to get to know you.

 

[DocNickRiviera]

Agreed, a number of folks at my school matched at good programs where they did away rotations, including myself.

 

[HamOnWholeWheat]

If I had it to do over, I would've done as many aways as I possibly could have. It will help you so much more than it will hurt you. Seriously, do as many aways as you can.

 

[MrBurns10]

If I had it to do over, I would've done as many aways as I possibly could have. It will help you so much more than it will hurt you. Seriously, do as many aways as you can.

Do you feel this way because of the courtesy interviews student get at a lot of places, because you got a better feel for the program you were going to apply to, or something else?

I'm a little stuck because I'd love to stay at my home program but there are several programs I'm also really interested in (and my home program is very competitive), so I'm not sure what to do about scheduling 4th year. One home rotation and one away rotation? Two aways? One home and two aways? I did one rotation already prior to my 4th year, so I'm not sure if doing another one at home would be overkill.

 

[HamOnWholeWheat]

Do you feel this way because of the courtesy interviews student get at a lot of places, because you got a better feel for the program you were going to apply to, or something else?

I'm a little stuck because I'd love to stay at my home program but there are several programs I'm also really interested in (and my home program is very competitive), so I'm not sure what to do about scheduling 4th year. One home rotation and one away rotation? Two aways? One home and two aways? I did one rotation already prior to my 4th year, so I'm not sure if doing another one at home would be overkill.

Doing an away gives them a chance to get to know you. Assuming you're not a complete psychopath, or are academically subpar, a known commodity has an inherant advantage in this process over a bunch of nameless suits.

Do what you think is best, but as long as you're a normal person and are a hard worker, getting some face time can only help you. It can even get you a spot in a very competetive program outside your region. 😉

 

[MrBurns10]

Doing an away gives them a chance to get to know you. Assuming you're not a complete psychopath, or are academically subpar, a known commodity has an inherant advantage in this process over a bunch of nameless suits.

Do what you think is best, but as long as you're a normal person and are a hard worker, getting some face time can only help you. It can even get you a spot in a very competetive program outside your region. 😉

I can understand that. Would you recommend all away rotations be 4 weeks or would you do some 2-week ones as well?

Thanks for your opinions. I've been thinking about this stuff but haven't made up by mind yet.

 

[Amxcvbcv]

I can understand that. Would you recommend all away rotations be 4 weeks or would you do some 2-week ones as well?

Thanks for your opinions. I've been thinking about this stuff but haven't made up by mind yet.

From what I remember, two-week spots were hard to come by.

 

[HamOnWholeWheat]

I can understand that. Would you recommend all away rotations be 4 weeks or would you do some 2-week ones as well?

Thanks for your opinions. I've been thinking about this stuff but haven't made up by mind yet.

I wish I had a good answer for ya, but I only did 4 week aways by necessity. My gut would be to do as many 4's as you can, but do a 2 if you have no other option.

Seriously though, I'm going to be telling my kids to do aways. That's how strongly I'm convinced about it.

Good luck!

 

[OnlyLiveOnce]

I would imagine that if you're trying impress the radiology department at an away institution, that you'd have to do the away rotation in radiology?

So, does that mean you'd be doing radiology rotations over and over at different places?

 

[Amxcvbcv]

I would imagine that if you're trying impress the radiology department at an away institution, that you'd have to do the away rotation in radiology?

So, does that mean you'd be doing radiology rotations over and over at different places?

Yup. And speaking from experience, it can get a bit boring, but it's worth it.

 

[OnlyLiveOnce]

I heard from someone that you can't really impress someone by doing a rads rotation since you "dont really do anything in a rads rotation", so you should therefore do an away rotation in something else that actually offers you the chance to "show what you've got"????

Is that true, and, if so, how would the rads department ever come to find out about your awesome performance in some OTHER rotation?

 

[SticknRudder]

I would say the following in response to "you don't do anything on a radiology rotation": if you are an introvert, and you are content to sit in silence, not ask questions, and not get involved, then you are not going to impress anybody.

However, if you go into the rotation with the attitude of learning as much as you can, asking questions ONLY WHEN APPROPRIATE (don't be a pest, that will hurt), and getting involved with what is happening in the department, you can make an impression.

Get involved in the resident run conferences that happen within the department; try to get in on resident or attending exhibits/posters/clinical research (a bunch of that going on in the months before RSNA); help look stuff up when there is a question while reading at the board; offer to take care of phone calls to teams on the floor, or going up yourself to checkout patient records for clarification on indications; help move paperwork around...etc.

And for god-sake, don't be obnoxious. They are going to evaluate you not only on whether or not you can be a team player, but also if they can stand being in one place with you for an extended period of time.

And one last thing, do not think they are going to be impressed by you disagreeing or over-speaking a resident. I've had several fellow medical students do this and it is absolutely a death knell.

I really enjoyed my away rotation and it is going to be my number one choice for a program. You may not love the programs you visit, and that is just as useful as loving it, because you know you don't want to waste your time applying/interviewing there.

 

[OnlyLiveOnce]

Thanks for that insight. Can you do an away rotation at any teaching hospital, or does it have to be a hospital associated with a medical school?

 

[Amxcvbcv]

Thanks for that insight. Can you do an away rotation at any teaching hospital, or does it have to be a hospital associated with a medical school?

http://www.aamc.org/students/medstudents/electives/start.htm

 

[OnlyLiveOnce]

I see not every med school is on that list. Do some schools just not participate in away rotations?