Confused about how rotations/interviews/ranking works

[_Rod_of_Asclepius_]

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Incoming OMS I who is a bit confused about how rotations/interviews/ranking works.

I know your core rotations (FM, IM, EM, Surg, Psych, OB etc.) are done at the same institution and there is some lottery / ranking to where that will be depending on your school.

Then when you do electives YOU get to choose and that is often dependent on your desired specialty / location? Then do you interview at them and then rank?

For example, if I wanted to do IM I would do electives at where I wanted to match eventually? Then would I request to interview and then decide to rank if I wanted to try and match there?

Sorry if this sounds naive but I want to have as much awareness as possible for the process ahead of time.

 

[anon6134]

Your core rotations are set up for you through your school. If you have any electives during third year, you can check out some non core specialties you might be thinking of for residency (anesthesia, EM, surg subspecialties, etc). This is purely for your own learning and benefit.

End of third year/early fourth year is when you do rotations geared towards where and what you want to do for residency. This typically will be set up through VSAS which is just a central application for away rotation listings. These are your audition rotations where you are now talking about residency applications. This is a chance to audition at a program you are interested in, get a LOR from a geographic area, etc. The interview process is by invite after you submit your ERAS (residency application) though some programs will interview their auditioning students

 

[_Rod_of_Asclepius_]

Thanks everyone! That is super helpful!

I assume the process would be the same for more "competitive" specialties such as even Rads for example vs IM like I mentioned?

 

[Sardonix]

Thanks everyone! That is super helpful!

I assume the process would be the same for more "competitive" specialties such as even Rads for example vs IM like I mentioned?

Basically the more competitive specialty/field you want = more away rotations to beef up your profile. As mentioned previously they hopefully give you a leg up on getting an interview (if they like you).

I personally am doing FM, but I want to do FM in a particular location so I am doing aways for it. As a DO it's better to be safer rather than sorry, so even though FM is less competitive I am not leaving anything up to chance.

 

[anon6134]

Thanks everyone! That is super helpful!

I assume the process would be the same for more "competitive" specialties such as even Rads for example vs IM like I mentioned?

For something like rads that isn't a core rotation, you could use an elective to explore rads during third year at any hospital with a student rotation and then you could do 1-2 rads "auditions" early 4th year to secure solid letters from known programs.

 

[AlbinoHawk DO]

Every institution does things differently. Wait until your school gives you a presentation on them or ask a senior classmate.

 

[Splenda88]

Thanks everyone! That is super helpful!

I assume the process would be the same for more "competitive" specialties such as even Rads for example vs IM like I mentioned?

You will understand many of these stuff by the time you are an MS3. But the earlier the better since the match is getting more competitive by the year.

 

[_Rod_of_Asclepius_]

You will understand many of these stuff by the time you are an MS3. But the earlier the better since the match is getting more competitive by the year.

Every institution does things differently. Wait until your school gives you a presentation on them or ask a senior classmate.

For something like rads that isn't a core rotation, you could use an elective to explore rads during third year at any hospital with a student rotation and then you could do 1-2 rads "auditions" early 4th year to secure solid letters from known programs.

Basically the more competitive specialty/field you want = more away rotations to beef up your profile. As mentioned previously they hopefully give you a leg up on getting an interview (if they like you).

I personally am doing FM, but I want to do FM in a particular location so I am doing aways for it. As a DO it's better to be safer rather than sorry, so even though FM is less competitive I am not leaving anything up to chance.

Thanks for being so helpful to an incoming OMS! My lack of knowledge delayed me getting into medical school so I made a promise to myself to never let that happen again and will stay ahead of the game on everything I can. I have researched extensively and learned of the residency -> fellowship routes for nearly every specialty and their relative competitiveness as well as the extra hurdles as a DO but was unaware of how some that 3rd and 4th year stuff works.