Need to do audition rotation to match?

[Dakayus]

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Hi guys I just had a bit of a problem with scheduling rotations and to make a long story short, I currently have only 1 ER rotation set up at a place that doesn't offer residency. How likely or how common is it to get accepted to ER programs without auditioning? I'm a DO and my boards are pretty go around a standard deviation above average on both, but class rank isn't all there. With a good LOR can I still land some place either AOA or ACGME?

 

[Vee]

I did not rotate where I matched (I'm also a DO and matched allopathic). I did, however, rotate at a couple of academic programs to obtain strong SLORs. It's preferable to have a letter from an academic program (aka, someplace that has a residency) but I think you'll still have a fair chance at matching, especially AOA.

 

[ccfccp]

Our program (and I would venture a lot of programs) would either not consider you, or have a VERY large negative on your application if you apply without at least one SLOR from a ED with a residency program. I went to a medical school without an ED program, and I did a month there and 2 aways at strong programs to make up for it.

The simple reason for this is, any residency (at least any residency worth it's snuff) is going to want to make sure you know what you're getting in to. Emergency medicine is not for everybody. Most people either love it or hate it. There's not much of an in between. They don't want you to show up and decide half way through intern year that EM isn't for you. You have to show that you've actually experienced what it's like to be an EM resident. The only way to do that is to rotate at a program with an EM residency.

 

[EM_Rebuilder]

Our program (and I would venture a lot of programs) would either not consider you, or have a VERY large negative on your application if you apply without at least one SLOR from a ED with a residency program. I went to a medical school without an ED program, and I did a month there and 2 aways at strong programs to make up for it.

The simple reason for this is, any residency (at least any residency worth it's snuff) is going to want to make sure you know what you're getting in to. Emergency medicine is not for everybody. Most people either love it or hate it. There's not much of an in between. They don't want you to show up and decide half way through intern year that EM isn't for you. You have to show that you've actually experienced what it's like to be an EM resident. The only way to do that is to rotate at a program with an EM residency.

Agreed, if your scores are good, and you have a good personality/interview well... you will be doing yourself a huge disservice if you do not rearrange your schedule and go to at least one academic place and obtain a SLOR.

I won't say it's impossible to match without it, but I think most people can say confidently that many doors will be closed to you without it....

 

[EctopicFetus]

My #1 -5 rank were places I didnt rotate at. I did 2 EM rotations though with what I hear were strong SLORs.

 

[ccfccp]

To clarify (if it was unclear), you don't have to rotate at a particular program to match there, but you do (pretty much) have to rotate at at least one program that has a residency to obtain a SLOR. I also agree with above in that I can't say you wouldn't match, but it would be a huge red flag.

 

[EctopicFetus]

I imagine without an EM SLOR your chance of matching is pretty close to ZERO. It might not be ZERO but it would be just above that.

 

[BluesClues32]

I'm a DO at BMC. I was fortunate enough to get to observe the interview/ranking process last year. If you want to rank at our program, you need to be a strong applicant (DO/MD). Unfortunately, there is no formula that defines a strong applicant. The majority of our intern class completed an audition rotation. Program directors understand that not all med schools allow time for audition rotations, but an audition rotation is basically a 1 month interview. If you rock that rotation, than the program feels more comfortable ranking the candidate. In my personal experience, I had several SLORs from academic programs with residency programs and would highly recommend that to all osteopathic students.