Delay 4th year home EM rotation?

[UndecidedMDPHDMPHPHARMDJD]

I am currently at a US MD program that requires a home EM rotation in 4th year w/o its own EM residency. I've been told that the sloe from my home will have less weight b/c of this. Right now, I have the option of delaying my home EM rotation til after ERAS submission so that I can fit in one more EM away rotation(for a total of 3 aways and hopefully strong SLOEs) that have their own residencies.

Is this wise to do or is it looked down upon? Are PDs going to be suspicious as to why I didn't do a home EM rotation/SLOE and thus didn't get a grade(honors/hp/p) for it when I apply? Will they even know? Thanks for the advice!

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[gman33]

Find an advisor at your school.
Ask people who applied this year from your school.

I'd probably still do the home rotation early and then 1-2 aways

 

[dntke1518]

I would also try and do your home EM rotation early. The thought is that you will be better prepared for subsequent always that you are interested in training at.

 

[Tenk]

Home rotations should always occur before an away. An outside PD will question not doing a home rotation first because it is abnormal for the far vast majority of applicants and you are basically testing the waters first in their pond. I would advise you to go to your home PD and tell them about your interest in ED while you are on your home EM rotation or after. If you go BEFORE they will wonder how you could possibly know what you want to do for the rest of your life without first getting your feet wet. The same logic applies to away rotations.

Summary:
1. Home rotation.
2. Go to home PD for help, guidance, advice, planning.
3. Do aways.
4. ???
5. Match!

 

[racerwad]

I am currently at a US MD program that requires a home EM rotation in 4th year w/o its own EM residency. I've been told that the sloe from my home will have less weight b/c of this. Right now, I have the option of delaying my home EM rotation til after ERAS submission so that I can fit in one more EM away rotation(for a total of 3 aways and hopefully strong SLOEs) that have their own residencies.

Is this wise to do or is it looked down upon? Are PDs going to be suspicious as to why I didn't do a home EM rotation/SLOE and thus didn't get a grade(honors/hp/p) for it when I apply? Will they even know? Thanks for the advice!

The SLOE from your home program simply won't count because only EM faculty can write them. The advice of doing it early is good. PDs won't wonder why you didn't do your home program yet because they know you don't have anyone there to write a letter. Just relax.

 

[mega_colon]

Did you have a third year EM rotation? If not, can you at least shadow for 3-5 shifts before doing an away?

Somewhat related but my school has so many EM applicants that not all of us can do sub-i's before applications are due. Our CD is instead writing SLOEs based on the 3rd yr EM clerkship and most of us are doing 1-2 aways before doing our home rotation.

 

[UndecidedMDPHDMPHPHARMDJD]

Thanks to all for the advice. Ideally, I would do my home rotation before the away but our school simply does not have enough spots for the students to do a home rotation early on so this is why I am stuck in this situation. I've had enough EM exposure through the various clerkships in third year and prior to med school to have a good idea that this is what I want to do. The shadowing is good advice and I am in the middle of trying to arrange that right now before I head off.

So my home EM SLOE won't count because there isn't a residency program?(why would they even bother offer writing it for us then?) If that's the case then it would be good to just delay it til after residency apps.

 

[gman33]

You can still get a letter, it just be weighed as highly as a letter from a program with a residency.
Your school should prioritize early rotations for students going into EM.
Talk to the clerkship director, dean or anyone who can help with this process.

If your school doesn't understand this, they suck.

 

[racerwad]

Thanks to all for the advice. Ideally, I would do my home rotation before the away but our school simply does not have enough spots for the students to do a home rotation early on so this is why I am stuck in this situation. I've had enough EM exposure through the various clerkships in third year and prior to med school to have a good idea that this is what I want to do. The shadowing is good advice and I am in the middle of trying to arrange that right now before I head off.

So my home EM SLOE won't count because there isn't a residency program?(why would they even bother offer writing it for us then?) If that's the case then it would be good to just delay it til after residency apps.

At our program, if the SLOE isn't written by EM faculty, it wouldn't be counted as a SLOE, just a regular letter of rec. I think they're offering because they aren't EM faculty and they don't understand how the process works.