Is 4th year hard to set up?

[genessis42]

I was wondering how all of you guys are doing it. Are you planning to stay in the same area as 3rd year?

I feel that many DO students have it tougher because our schools don't usually have residency programs in-house. I am just worried about having "gaps" in my schedule for the year if I'm not able to set all of it up.

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[BobbyKoch]

Hard? Not really.

A frustrating scam for money? Definitely.

To answer your questions: if you stay near your 3rd year site you'll likely have an easier time. At my site, they will provide plenty of electives and Sub-Is and you can get dibs basically before it opens up to outside students. So it depends on how cool your 3rd year site is and what they offer.

Personally, I wanted to be closer to my wife and I set up all my own rotations through VSLO or incessant emailing of program coordinators. It was a lot of time spent coordinating schedules, writing emails, following up emails, calling....but it can be done. I was worried about having gaps as well but it all worked out, as it has for tens of thousands of DOs before us. Spend your worry energy elsewhere.

 

[genessis42]

Ty. I think it should work as long as I set up each rotation couple months in advance.

I feel like it's much easier if you're lucky enough to be at a DO school with teaching hospitals.

 

[BobbyKoch]

I would start looking at programs you want to rotate at in January of 3rd year. Reach out to them to express your interest. Before applying on VSLO, I'd recommend contacting the program coordinator or visiting student person and asking if they will (1) actually be offering the rotation, (2) actually offer it to outside students. A surprising number of programs will allow you to apply on VSLO and pay the AAMC $15, only to find out that rotation is not even offered or it was never even open to students from outside schools. Many programs won't give you any information or tell you the bare minimum: "Thank you for your email. Our application opens on this date." But others will actually hook you up and work with you to get you a rotation. So, for me at least, it was worth the time to send a few short but nice emails to try to make contact with a real person.

Most programs won't open for application submission until March/April or even into May. Try to figure out what you will need in terms of immunization records, background checks, etc and get that all set up so that you can submit as early as possible. There are programs that don't use VSLO, they can be high yield especially if you inquire early. Good luck, let me know if you have more questions.

 

[FutureDoctor5000]

Do a few away rotations where you want to end up. The rest do rotations available through your school with whatever attending/preceptor you can be set up with.