Month vs. two week elective rotations

[Wyclef]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

Recently I heard an ortho PD (DO) say that at his program they prefer students to do a month-long rotation (vs. a two week rotation) so that students have time to learn the system of the program and to get a feel for the specialty. He said however that students can also do a two week rotation at his site, it just isn't preferred. This kind of burst my bubble a little bit because I was thinking about doing two week rotations at a greater number of sites (to get my face out there a little more) during the two months that I'll have to do ortho. Does anyone know of programs (especially DO) that like or don't mind students doing two-week rotations?

 

[doob]

I did two 2-week rotations this year. One at Genesys and one at Henry Ford, both osteopathic programs. Both programs told me that I was at a disadvantage for only doing a 2-week rotation because it did not give them enough time to evaluate me. I also did not like the 2-week rotations because they were just too short and as soon as you were getting use to the program it was time to pack it up and leave.

Trying for ortho is difficult especially when your school limits the number of programs you are allowed to get to and most programs must see you in order to get an interview. However, in my opinion, I would not do any 2-week rotations.

 

[cbest]

This seems to be the catch 22 with DO programs... from what I've read on here, it seems like you only have a shot at matching at a given program if you rotate there. We don't have much elective time before interviews start up in 4th year, so we can't really get much exposure to help boost our chances of matching.

Do we just hope like hell that we'll match at one of the two or three programs we rotated through for a full month each or do we try to spend as much time as possible at as many programs as possible using two-week rotations?

Realistically, do "non-rotators" match? If so, are they the students with the impecable applications?

If any of this was just plain wrong, please forgive me as it's pretty early in the game for me. Any and all information is greatly appreciated!!!

 

[mickdogg81]

As a OMS-4 who has a DO ortho spot next year, I have heard mixed reviews. Genesys, as mentioned earlier, likes to see 4 weeks...face time with all those attendings is golden up there....I did 4 weeks. The 3 other spots I rotated at, did 4 weeks but again, my school gave me that opportunity. 4 weeks would be good at busier ortho spots with many attendings while 2 weeks might be feasible at smaller programs. I got invited to interview at all 4 (plus 7 I didn't rotate at), went to 3/4 and got my first choice early on. The amount of time did appear to play a role in getting my first choice...how big, I am not sure. What really counts (in my own opinion) is blow away the rotation and work hard, board scores, face time, and whether or not you click with residents..i.e. "can I work with you for the next couple years". Hope this helps. If you want more info, pm me. Good luck fellas.

 

[ERJunkie]

As a OMS-4 who has a DO ortho spot next year, I have heard mixed reviews. Genesys, as mentioned earlier, likes to see 4 weeks...face time with all those attendings is golden up there....I did 4 weeks. The 3 other spots I rotated at, did 4 weeks but again, my school gave me that opportunity. 4 weeks would be good at busier ortho spots with many attendings while 2 weeks might be feasible at smaller programs. I got invited to interview at all 4 (plus 7 I didn't rotate at), went to 3/4 and got my first choice early on. The amount of time did appear to play a role in getting my first choice...how big, I am not sure. What really counts (in my own opinion) is blow away the rotation and work hard, board scores, face time, and whether or not you click with residents..i.e. "can I work with you for the next couple years". Hope this helps. If you want more info, pm me. Good luck fellas.

Your post shows you rotated at 4 different programs. I'm a MS3 now and have been thinking about how I'm going to organize my electives next year. My plan is Ortho....Do you have any advice as far as scheduling away rotations and getting as much face time as possible before interviews.

 

[mickdogg81]

Your post shows you rotated at 4 different programs. I'm a MS3 now and have been thinking about how I'm going to organize my electives next year. My plan is Ortho....Do you have any advice as far as scheduling away rotations and getting as much face time as possible before interviews.

As far as Aways-would depend on a) how many weeks does your school allow for aways b) what part of the country do you prefer to be in c) WHEN are your aways scheduled for.
If you have 8 weeks, I would do 4 solid weeks at your first choice and split the last four between 2 programs of your choice. 12 weeks....two 4 weekers and split the last 4. Ideally, these rotations would occur near interview season (October, November) so in terms of face time, your still pretty fresh. Most importantly, I would research each program, find the strengths, weaknesses, do's and don'ts, emphasis on boards, and whether or not they will interview anyone not rotating through...the best resource for this, in my own opinion, are the residents themselves or a recent grad of the program. No one says it better than someone whom has been through it or is going through it.
Advice for face time----get lots of it, don' be annoying...that will KILL your app...know when to stay and when to leave. Again, this is all just opinion but based on my position next year, it might not be a bad one.....