How many away anesthesia electives should you do?

[blahblahblah]

---

Members do not see this ad.

What are your thoughts on how many away anesthesia electives to do? Considering that apps are in by Sept, should you do one or two, or does it even matter? Just wondering what the seniors have to say about this.

 

[2ndyear]

I did one in September but I made it a habit to follow anesthesiologists around when I was on OB call and during psych. So by September I was sure I wanted to do it and used it as a month to audition/get a letter. Had I been given the option of doing an elective prior to September I probably would have but that didn't work for me. Your real goals in applying are, first getting enough experience to know that the field is right for you, then applying this to write a personal statement and having enough knowledge about residencies to know where and how broadly you are going to apply. Somewhere early in there you absolutely have to gotta musta get a letter from an anesthesiologist. I used October to do a critical care rotation at an anesthesia run department out of state. It allowed me to see a different area of the country and interact somewhat with the residents.

 

[nchhabra]

I think it depends somewhat on where u go to school. In my case, my med school no longer has an anesthesia program and we have several locum tenems and in general the attendings are not well known in the field. So I felt it was important for me to do 2 away rotations (the 2 other guys in my class going into anesthesia also did 2 away rotations), since I knew I had to find a spot at another school. Like 2ndyear said, a critical rotation would be another excellent choice for an elective, especially if the unit is run by anesthesia. Work hard there and you can get a solid letter. Good luck!