Can I get an ER residency if I do my EM clerkship at a Level 2 Trauma Center?

[Unzbuzzled]

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Hi everyone,

I'm a second year student in Chicago. My school is in the suburbs, and they offer 2 tracks for 3rd and 4th year. You can either move to the city and do your clerkships there, or you can stay in the suburbs. I have a wife and a 3 month old son, and pretty much all of our income is from school loans. I would be happier living in the suburbs because it's less expensive than the city, I'd have a much shorter commute to the various hospitals, and I'd probably have more time to spend with my family.

However, the hospitals in the suburbs are smaller and they don't have the patient volume that some of the urban hospitals have. Furthermore, I'm interested in E-med, and the only emergency departments in the suburban track are level II trauma centers. If I'm applying to residences in a few years, will I be at a disadvantage compared to those with level I experience?

Thanks for any and all advice!

 

[MerickManual]

Level II is still good. What does Level 1 centers have that II don't? From what I know the main difference is having more 24/7 surgery subspecialists on staff at the hospital. If you're DO then you're going to end up needing audition rotations for EM anyways, so you can do Level 1 trauma centers then at the programs you're interested in.

 

[Unzbuzzled]

I'm an MD student (I go to CMS), but I like the idea of doing an elective rotation too. Maybe I could just do an elective at a huge downtown hospital for a few weeks and get that urban ER experience.

 

[22031 Alum]

So you're going into third year and haven't picked a track yet? It sounds like the suburban one would work a lot better for you and your family. Then when you're a fourth year, you can arrange electives to give yourself the experiences you want to have.

 

[Unzbuzzled]

I think you're probably right, but I was just wondering if you think I would get the same level of education experience from doing all of my clerkships at smaller hospitals.

 

[Venko]

As someone who evaluates medical students for our residency; it matters very little if you did your clerkships at a level 2 trauma center. Your letters, your grades, personal statement, your extracurriculars, etc are invaluable.

 

[VisionaryTics]

You won't be at a disadvantage. Plus Chicago has several level I trauma centers in the 'burbs: Lutheran General in the north, Loyola in the west, and Christ in the south.

So you have options if you want to do some elective rotations as an M4.

 

[Top Gun]

It really doesn't matter whether you rotate in a Level 1 trauma center or not if you're applying for EM. Many of the EM physicians I've seen do very little trauma, in any case. Often, the traumas are handled more by the surgical residents.

 

[Doctor Bob]

Many EM residencies are at level II centers as well. So doing a rotation at a level II instead of a level I will have no impact whatsoever on your chances of matching.

 

[HarryPlopper]

Choosing a level I vs a level II trauma center has no impact on whether or not you get into an EM residency.

The much more important question is if the hospital you rotate at has an EM residency program. EM is different from other tracks in that you need 2 or so specific standard letter of evaluation (SLOE) for your application, which are from hospitals with residency programs. Since you aren't even in 3rd year yet, you should have some experience rotating before doing an EM rotation as EM rotations are generally audition rotations. Not performing well on them can hurt your chances.

 

[Rendar5]

pick a rotation where there are EM residents. the trauma center level doesn't matter to you. It will when you do residency, however.

 

[Unzbuzzled]

Thanks for the info everyone! I found out there IS a level I center on my rotation list- the website I was looking at had some misinformation on it. I'm going to still try to get a rotation in at an urban ED as an elective though. That's probably the best approach for me.

 

[Raryn]

The only thing that matters is your rotation should be at a location where there is an EM residency program. Otherwise, you can't get a SLOR.