how many EM rotations do most do their 4th year?

[greatdane]

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I am at a school that does not have much of an EM department, much less residency. This means all my LORs will come from away rotations and I was just wondering how many did most people do. I have heard that 3 is too many, and 2 is probably optimal. Any thoughts. Thanks

 

[pinbor1]

I did two EM rotations and a Tox rotation.

One at my home institution and another at an out of state program that was a County/Trauma 1 program.

I think that two rotations are enough. If you want more exposure I recommend doing an EM related elective like Tox, Ultrasound, EMS, or Trauma.

Good luck with 4th year

 

[Flipchick]

I was at the SAEM conference in Boston and most of the program directors told the med students that 2 EM rotations is enough. Some even said that if you did 3 (3 "regular" EM rotations, so this doesn't include tox/ultrasound, etc), they might start wondering why. Good luck to you!

 

[Wrangler]

Two is enough. Don't forget it's your last chance to get what you want out of medical school. Leave room for what interests you and for some important rotations that will help you in EM, but might be better learned outside of the department at first (ie-Critical Care, Orthopedics, Pulmonary, Nephrology, Radiology). Good luck.

 

[gimmedog]

That sounds like a lotta lotta time in the ED. If I read right, that was four months?

As for how important it may be to do a rotation where you want to be: I had a smiliar problem. I was wondering if I would be competitive at my dream program and whether I may be better served by rotating someplace more in my grasp. THe advice I got was that even if I don't end up at the more competitive place, a letter from the more competitive program may carry more weight. Also-- not to underestimate myself straight off, and that vacation is a good thing. With 4 EM months, maybe you need that last bit of advice the most. 😉

 

[futrEDdoc]

If your school has a separate trauma surgery service (like at my home institution) you could do a month on trauma where you are seeing "trauma" patients in the ED but you aren't technically in the department of Emergency Medicine.

I did August on the trauma team, Sept in the ED at my home institution and October away in an ED. I would have liked to do it July, Aug, Sept because waiting until October to get a letter was a bit tight, but it worked.