Late to audition rotation?

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

cbtk18

Full Member
15+ Year Member
Joined
Mar 23, 2006
Messages
504
Reaction score
44
I have an away scheduled to start on 7/30. However I am also scheduled to take Step 2 that day in my home town. I am currently desperately trying to move my test up but there no seats to be found anywhere.

Are programs understanding about this kind of thing? Would they be really offended if I had to get there a day or 2 late for a month rotation? Or should I avoid that at all costs?

Thanks for any input.
 
Last edited:
I have an away scheduled to start on 7/30. However I am also scheduled to take Step 2 that day in my home town. I am currently desperately trying to move my test up but there no seats to be found anywhere.

Are programs understanding about this kind of thing? Would they be really offended if I had to get there a day or 2 late for a month rotation? Or should I avoid that at all costs?

Thanks for any input.

I personally don't think it's a big deal. Your step scores are far more important than anything else. Further no one knows you at this place so it's not like it can have a big effect anyways. You can just let them know that you have to take step 2 and will be there in 2 days or whatever. Think of it this way-if you blow your step 2 score, it will impact the application to anywhere you apply. Vs. if you do well in step 2, and apply to a bunch of places you will likely be fine.

You may or many not match at the place you are doing the rotation at. But if you blow step 2 you may not fare that well overall. So let them know, be polite, and reassure them you will be there on x day and be ready to work and make a good impression.
 
I personally don't think it's a big deal. Your step scores are far more important than anything else. Further no one knows you at this place so it's not like it can have a big effect anyways. You can just let them know that you have to take step 2 and will be there in 2 days or whatever. Think of it this way-if you blow your step 2 score, it will impact the application to anywhere you apply. Vs. if you do well in step 2, and apply to a bunch of places you will likely be fine.

You may or many not match at the place you are doing the rotation at. But if you blow step 2 you may not fare that well overall. So let them know, be polite, and reassure them you will be there on x day and be ready to work and make a good impression.

Disagree. An audition rotation in radiology is very little about how you know and a lot about your personality and personal abilities. Showing up a day late for any reason is just a bad way to make a first impression.
 
Disagree. An audition rotation in radiology is very little about how you know and a lot about your personality and personal abilities. Showing up a day late for any reason is just a bad way to make a first impression.

It's certainly not ideal, but OP has to choose what's best for him at this point. If I had to decide between getting a crappy step 2 score vs. being late to an audition rotation, I'd choose to be late. No guarantee the OP will make a good impression either way regardless, and no guarantee OP will even get an interview and/or match there. So if you think about it: sure OP may make a bad impression here. But may get a great step 2 score which may lead to other good opportunities at other programs.

Should OP be stressed out and screw up step 2 then?
 
It's certainly not ideal, but OP has to choose what's best for him at this point. If I had to decide between getting a crappy step 2 score vs. being late to an audition rotation, I'd choose to be late. No guarantee the OP will make a good impression either way regardless, and no guarantee OP will even get an interview and/or match there. So if you think about it: sure OP may make a bad impression here. But may get a great step 2 score which may lead to other good opportunities at other programs.

Should OP be stressed out and screw up step 2 then?

If you're gonna schedule an audition, why would you be scheduled to take Step 2 during that audition (granted, I pulled a similar thing but on hindsight, I acknowledged my mistake and paid the price).

I guess, to play Devil's advocate, if the audition site isn't of big interest to you and you're just wanting to get some experience before hitting up your top choice, it may not matter.
 
If you're gonna schedule an audition, why would you be scheduled to take Step 2 during that audition (granted, I pulled a similar thing but on hindsight, I acknowledged my mistake and paid the price).

I guess, to play Devil's advocate, if the audition site isn't of big interest to you and you're just wanting to get some experience before hitting up your top choice, it may not matter.

Again, I never said it was ideal. The OP can't go back in time and fix what he did. He made a mistake. Only thing he can do now is try to fix it the best way possible. The score on the step exams will follow him for the rest of his career, and will in part decide where he will match. He may not match at site of audition, perhaps. But it would be incredibly foolish for OP to hurt his step score over an audition rotation. Again, not ideal but can't do anything to fix what's been done otherwise.

What else are you really going to suggest?
 
The OP can always push step 2 back. Step 2 is hardly going to determine where you'll match. Most people doing rads don't even take it until after interviews are over.
 
I devoted the month of July to take and study for Step 2 and pushing it back is not an option. i honestly have no idea how I managed to make the bonehead move of scheduling it for the first day of the rotation. It's no one's fault but mine. I am desperately looking for open dates within 300 miles of my testing site to take the exam at an ealier date but I can't find a seat anywhere.

I contacted the program---they seemed to be fine about it, but I guess if they weren't, i would not have been able to tell. My orientation for the hospital was supposed to be monday morning; it is now tuesday.
 
I devoted the month of July to take and study for Step 2 and pushing it back is not an option. i honestly have no idea how I managed to make the bonehead move of scheduling it for the first day of the rotation. It's no one's fault but mine. I am desperately looking for open dates within 300 miles of my testing site to take the exam at an ealier date but I can't find a seat anywhere.

I contacted the program---they seemed to be fine about it, but I guess if they weren't, i would not have been able to tell. My orientation for the hospital was supposed to be monday morning; it is now tuesday.

It's going to be fine, probably. Likely the attendings won't know when you were supposed to start anyways, so I wouldn't say anything about it.
 
It's going to be fine, probably. Likely the attendings won't know when you were supposed to start anyways, so I wouldn't say anything about it.

Exactly. And as it's been pointed out repeatedly, there isn't a ton that one does on away rads rotations, so it's not like a good impression cannot be made in the remaining 28 or so days.

What does surprise me is that no one in this forum has discussed the massive passage of the healthcare law. Just about every other specialty forum has.
 
Just spent 2+ hours dealing with prometric (LOADS of fun). Wasn't able to move my test up, but was able to get my test moved to the same city my rotation is in (albeit on the first day of the rotation). At least this was, I only have to miss one day, and not 2 due to travel time. The office said they may be able to orient me that monday afternoon after the test so I can start first thing tuesday morning.

Thanks for all the suggestions.
 
wow a lot of bad advice on this thread....
 
I moved my test back. Not late anymore.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using SDN Mobile
 
Top