Help!

[alexis2345]

Like so many of the third years, I am in the same position of trying to figure out where to apply for away rotations.

My school is in the midwest, low tier, and does not have a program of their own, however I have already completed a Rad Onc elective in the hospital in which my school is affiliated with, done 3 months of research at MDACC, and have 2 first author publications, and 2 or 3 more pubs (not 1st author) coming out

Second, I am couples matching with someone who wants to do Radiology (his board scores are extremely good...close to 260)
We both are doin an elective at a big name school, but are unsure of some of the following programs.

So, my question is in reagrds to three schools we have been looking at

1. Emory
2. Florida
3. Baylor

Has anyone done away rotations at these institutions? I think Emory and Baylor take 3, and Florida takes 2 spots usually.

Are they pretty good about offering spots to those who rotate and work hard, or do they take into consideration school ranking and location of medical school (do they like to pick their residents from local regions) more.

Also, do you think that couples matching will hurt or help? Both of us have good grades and board scores, but again, go to a low tier school. So we are really banking on impressing faculty at away rotations and want to make sure that we go to places that will consider students highly if they do a great job, regardless of school rank or location (midwest vs SE or SW)

Sorry for the long-winded question. However, both of us are really worried that we may not match b/c we are going 2 pretty competitive fields together.

Thanks for all your input, and good luck to those who have submitted their rank list. I'm praying for all of you!

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[p-indecise]

I can only comment on Emory...visited there for an interview and it seems their residents come from schools in all tiers. I think that would be a good choice because it is slightly larger than the others, too. Didn't visit Baylor but heard it is partially private.

Also, you and your signficant other should consider rotating in a city with multiple programs. NYC programs (aside from MSKCC) should be open to students without the pedigree AND there are a ton of programs there making a couple match more likely. Check out Philly too. I think Fox Chase favors away rotators.

Good luck! sounds like you are both competitive applicants and on the right track.

 

[G'ville Nole]

I'm pretty sure Florida has 3 residents in the PGY-2 year, less sure if that translates into ACGME approval for 3 annually. I do know they applied for 3 per year before I left.

It is an excellent department, great faculty and residents to work with, and I think that you are very likely to land an interview there if you rotate well. They've had a recent run of taking folks from the Southeast, but I can assure you they will not discriminate on the basis of your current location or institutional prestige.

 

[CNphair]

I met several people on the interview trail who were couples matching last year...Rad Onc-Gen Surg seemed to be the most popular. It does make the process more complex...you will need to go to ALL the interviews you get. But most of the couples I knew matched well.

I think it would be wise to follow the above mentioned advice and aim for cities with multiple programs. New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, etc...If you have your heart set on a smaller city, I would choose whatever program has the most spots for both of you. Emory should be a fairly large program for both rad onc and radiology. Good luck!