Implication of not doing away rotations

[ndcpjf]

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Hello All!

As an incoming DO student with a lack of a home program per se, I understand most students end up doing away rotations in 4th year - particularly at places they'd like to go for residency. I'm not 100% sure how the match works, but what are the implications of not doing away rotations? Can you still match ok at places where you haven't rotated or done a Sub-I at? Thanks.

 

[deleted1079620]

Theoretically you “can”, if you’re attempting to match community FM and you don’t care where you match, but some schools require a certain number of away rotations during 4th year, and all schools will require you be doing rotations for a certain number of weeks to graduate. What’s your solution to complete these requirements if your school doesn’t have a home program? Also, how will you get LORs during aways/sub-is if you’re not doing aways? Programs want to see that you have the skills to operate at an intern level, and sub-is where you get LORs are how you do that.

You’ll still have to do interviews which may be in person or virtual, and answer questions about whether you’ve worked with residents (ie, done aways/sub-is). I’m a nontrad with a family, so I get that traveling all over the country doing away rotations can be difficult for some students. However, the solution to that isn’t to not do aways, it’s to do the max number of aways you can in a smaller geographic area if you’re not looking to relocate.

 

[DOVinciRobot]

Very field dependent. And what your app looks like.

 

[ndcpjf]

Theoretically you “can”, if you’re attempting to match community FM and you don’t care where you match, but some schools require a certain number of away rotations during 4th year, and all schools will require you be doing rotations for a certain number of weeks to graduate. What’s your solution to complete these requirements if your school doesn’t have a home program? Also, how will you get LORs during aways/sub-is if you’re not doing aways? Programs want to see that you have the skills to operate at an intern level, and sub-is where you get LORs are how you do that.

You’ll still have to do interviews which may be in person or virtual, and answer questions about whether you’ve worked with residents (ie, done aways/sub-is). I’m a nontrad with a family, so I get that traveling all over the country doing away rotations can be difficult for some students. However, the solution to that isn’t to not do aways, it’s to do the max number of aways you can in a smaller geographic area if you’re not looking to relocate.

Thanks for the reply. I'll try to make my question clearer: What are the implications of not doing an away at a program that you eventually apply to for residency? For example, let's say I do a general surgery away rotation somewhere in Virginia, but then I apply to a general surgery residency in Colorado. Would I even have a shot or do most programs typically only take students that have rotated through? (Granted I assume it's not quite as black and white and highly dependent on the specialty/program). In other words, I could do an anesthesiology elective at one of my school's rotation sites, or I could do it as an away rotation at another program. Is there any benefit to doing that away rotation if I'm not going to be applying to their specific program? I'm still very new to the clerkship part of medical school and just trying to wrap my head around things as DO student.

 

[DOVinciRobot]

Would I even have a shot or do most programs typically only take students that have rotated through?

Specialty and program dependent. For GS in particular the DO programs heavily favor rotators, MD programs do not.

A rule of thumb for DO students, the more competitive the specialty the more likely it is you’ll need to rotate at places you are interested in. Ortho for example almost exclusively takes rotators. Anesthesia or radiology do not

 

[ndcpjf]

Specialty and program dependent. For GS in particular the DO programs heavily favor rotators, MD programs do not.

A rule of thumb for DO students, the more competitive the specialty the more likely it is you’ll need to rotate at places you are interested in. Ortho for example almost exclusively takes rotators. Anesthesia or radiology do not

Thanks for the explanation, this is a general idea of what I was looking for. I have no idea what I want to do at this point but figured I might as well start to think about things.