Neuro Away Rotations

[curlygirlie106]

Hi. I'm a longtime lurker MSIII/aspiring neurologist who is beginning her residency search and away rotation planning in earnest. As I'm navigating my way through this whole process, I've come to realize applying for audition rotations isn't cheap (not to mention paying for them if you get 'em)! My question is this, what institutions are most "worth it" in terms of doing an away, especially in the swath of programs from Texas up to D.C. I realize the technical answer to this question is "All of them!," but realistically, there's no way I'm going to be able to afford the processing fees on 30 some-odd programs. Any thoughts, guidance, musings, etc. would be very appreciated. Everything I've seen on this forum thus far has been really helpful, so I can't wait to hear what you have to say.

P.S. I hear there's this little event going on around lunchtime today . Best of luck to all of you and here's hoping that envelope has exactly what you've been dreaming of inside it!

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[popula]

It depends on what you want.

I'm from the midwest and wanted to check out Chicago. I honestly didn't know what programs were good vs. which ones weren't (you can't just rely on name brand) so I just asked my chairman and a few other faculty what Chicago programs they liked.

I ended up doing an away rotation at Rush in August, which was an amazing experience. It was especially good because my girlfriend did an away in Chicago with me and we could get a reasonable price on a fully furnished place in the gold coast ($1500 for everything including internet but not including parking which was another $100). We had an incredible month, really got to see what it would be like to ultimately live in Chicago. We got to enjoy the weekends living downtown in an incredible city. Plus, the faculty at Rush were amazing, I got to see how things were done at another institution. I even managed to get a LOR from a prominent Rush faculty member, which I think helped me considerably on the interview trail.

Bottom line: It gave me a lot of information that was useful. It gave me a really good LoR. But even if it didn't do those things, I had a wonderful month I wouldn't trade for anything. I don't know that living in a large city for residency is worth the cost/benefit tradeoffs, but the benefits on weekends are pretty incredible.

I don't know that I'd just sort of blanket apply to "top tier" programs with the idea of "doing an away." If there is a particular region or program you're interested in, then it's probably worth it. I found it invaluable. But I wouldn't just do one to do one.

 

[curlygirlie106]

I'm planning on doing two- the most my med school will allow for. And I'm definitely up for taking whatever aways I can get at the highest ranking programs I'm accepted for them in the region I'd like to stay in (not the Top overall, just the "top programs for me"). I'm having a tougher time deciding about putting in applications for middle of the road and "safety" programs, in the event I didn't get aways at my preferred programs. I'm just not sure if it's better to go ahead and blanket apply to the entire swath of programs or if I should wait and see what happens with my "top 15" away applications, of it it's "worth it" to do an away at a school I'm relatively confident about receiving an interview from anyway.

 

[typhoonegator]

You may want to do a search for 'away rotations' or something along those lines, because this has been discussed extensively in the past, with some good advice.

 

[curlygirlie106]

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction. This forum has been invaluable to me. My med school hasn't had someone match in neurology in something like 5-6 years, so I really appreciate all the advice I've found here!