Disadvantage of Having NO neurology rotation M3 year

[rockydoc]

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I am an M3 at a US allopathic school which has no neurology rotation/official exposure during M3 year. The first time I can officially do a neuro rotation is July of M4 year! I am interested in going into Neuro, but don't know how this disadvantage plays out, especially with respect to getting externships M4 year while having no M3 neuro experience.

I got a great step 1 score thankfully, but have no research and average extracurriculars. Do I just miss out on M4 externships? What are some things I can do to even things out?

thanks

 

[fanondelaterre]

hi... I was in a similar position as a medical student since neurology was a fourth year medical school rotation. However, they allowed me to do it as third year in place of an elective. I don't know if you have any elective time coming up but you might want to consider doing that. That way you can spend the beginning of your fourth year doing a medicine AI (and getting a letter) or doing away rotations to see what other programs have to offer. best of luck.

 

[rockydoc]

hi... I was in a similar position as a medical student since neurology was a fourth year medical school rotation. However, they allowed me to do it as third year in place of an elective. I don't know if you have any elective time coming up but you might want to consider doing that. That way you can spend the beginning of your fourth year doing a medicine AI (and getting a letter) or doing away rotations to see what other programs have to offer. best of luck.

Thanks for the response! Unfortunately my school does not have any M3 electives either! Big bummer. They are changing things up for future years, but my class is missing out currently.

Is there anything I can do to even things out? Do I even need to worry about evening things out?

 

[NERDY]

Can you shadow during weekends (on lighter rotations) or on days off/vacation time?

 

[rockydoc]

Can you shadow during weekends (on lighter rotations) or on days off/vacation time?

Yeah I can shadow some, I already shadowed during my lighter Psych rotation. However, residency programs who have criteria for doing an externship which requires an actual M3 neuro rotation don't care about shadowing Im guessing. I believe most of them would only allow me to go for an M3 rotation as an M4 while the rest of my M4 peers will be doing actual M4 externships at that institution....seems like a disadvantage to me. But Im not sure how much of a disadvantage.

 

[undecided3yr]

I think your major advantage is that you dont get to experience neurology until when you are putting your application together. Unless you know you want to apply to neurology, you should have considered other fields in case you find out it not for you in July. If you have good step one scores and no academic red flags on your CV you are competitive for most programs. Unless you are working on a research project, externships are for more your benefit than to build a CV. I wouldnt go to a program you plan to rank high, you will really need to stand out to help your position in the match ranking

If other institutions state they require neurology at your school before accepting your application, you should contact them and explain your situation and interest in their residency program. Make sure that you have neurology at your home institution scheduled and that would precede your external rotation. Most places will work with you given your situation.