Grades in Radiation Oncology Away Rotations

[Jurack]

Hi all,

MS4 here that's in the process of doing away rotations at a few different places. I've seen previously (on some NRMP program director survey compilations) that grades in Rad Onc electives are looked at pretty seriously. My question: are these grades reflective of typical 4th year electives? aka show up and honor, or are they more rigorous and an "honors" grade counts for than just participation.

Thanks!

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[Aphtalyfe]

Depends on the program... but most of the programs with a large number of students doing away rotations typically have a more rigorous grading system.

 

[metallica81788]

Hi all,

MS4 here that's in the process of doing away rotations at a few different places. I've seen previously (on some NRMP program director survey compilations) that grades in Rad Onc electives are looked at pretty seriously. My question: are these grades reflective of typical 4th year electives? aka show up and honor, or are they more rigorous and an "honors" grade counts for than just participation.

Thanks!

Obviously this matters more if you get your grades back in a timely matter and when you submit ERAS and such, but my 3 away grades didn't even come back until way after interviews had started. I didn't even see them until a month before graduation - but I don't know whether programs did.

I ended up HP'ing the ones I thought I did the best at and matching at one of those, so just a personal anecdote. Obviously try your best and know that many places base your numerical/letter grade highly on the presentation. The letters you get there are more important.

 

[laserbeams]

I did four away rotations and honored all of them. Of course, I did what everyone is supposed to do: prepare for your patients, show up early, act interested, be a team player, etc. Most of the grades seemed arbitrary (i.e. getting an honors didn't truly require an extremely out-of-this-world performance), but Emory had a legitimate grading mechanism complete including mid-block feedback. According to the clerkship director at the time (who I believe has since left), rotating students run the gamut from Pass to Honors based on feedback from attendings, and those getting honors were "guaranteed" an interview, while those earning a HP were still looked upon favorably.

As far as getting grades back in time, it can be hit-or-miss. Some clerkship directors submitted grades in a timely manner; others took >4 weeks. I think it'd be wise to kindly request your grades to be submitted if you think it'll make a difference in your overall application.