Only have 1 week off in December... worried about interviews!

[coralis]

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So I am very worried about the fact that I only have 1 week off in December.... and that the rotations only let me take a maximum of 2 days off for interviews, which means.... 1 week in 4 days off in December. Anyone else going through this, or am I doomed?

I know some programs offer weekend interviews (awesome of them) but many do not. Some PD input would be appreciated.

 

[LifetimeDoc]

When I was a medical student, the PD would let us go even though we officially didn't have days available. It's our future.

Now that I'm a resident (and trying to switch specialties), I hope my residency lets me do the same. Less likely then when I was a medical student. I've thought of just quitting my residency if they won't let me interview, but not sure how PD of new residencies will view that. Kinda stuck.

 

[billybob746]

quit your residency to interview? terrible, terrible idea. you couldnt have had a worse one

 

[gutonc]

Frankly, I'm surprised school let people register for real rotations in Dec and Jan of 4th year. This is the time to be taking underwater radiology basketweaving, not your required ICU rotation. If you can't change your schedule, as long as you've got Jan free you should be fine. If not...good luck.

And FWIW, I think Sat interviews are kind of dumb. You don't get a real feel for the hospital, the program, the faculty or the residents since it's very much a skeleton crew on the weekend (and those that don't have to stay in-house will be itching to GTFO and won't be even remotely interested in talking to you).

 

[coralis]

Frankly, I'm surprised school let people register for real rotations in Dec and Jan of 4th year. This is the time to be taking underwater radiology basketweaving, not your required ICU rotation. If you can't change your schedule, as long as you've got Jan free you should be fine. If not...good luck.

And FWIW, I think Sat interviews are kind of dumb. You don't get a real feel for the hospital, the program, the faculty or the residents since it's very much a skeleton crew on the weekend (and those that don't have to stay in-house will be itching to GTFO and won't be even remotely interested in talking to you).

I hear you about the school letting you register for rotations, however it does allow me to finish early April vs. May/June which gives me more time to relocate.

I do have 1 week in January as well... not that helps much :s ... I will try to redo my schedule somehow, although hard at this point since most programs want 3 month notice for cancellation or change.

 

[MilkmanAl]

I had no scheduled time off whatsoever during interview season, and fitting in interviews was never an issue. I missed a solid week of my sub-I, all but ~10 days of my pulm consults month, and all but 8 days of geriatrics. All of those rotations had a quoted 4-day limit and supposedly required all sorts of documentation and official permission, etc. for missing more than that, though talking to the residents and attendings seemed to work just fine. Others in my lcass had similar experiences. YMMV, but I doubt you'll have any trouble finding time for interviews. They just tell you not to be gone in hopes that you're a neurotic med student who'll bend over backwards to follow rules.

 

[coralis]

I had no scheduled time off whatsoever during interview season, and fitting in interviews was never an issue. I missed a solid week of my sub-I, all but ~10 days of my pulm consults month, and all but 8 days of geriatrics. All of those rotations had a quoted 4-day limit and supposedly required all sorts of documentation and official permission, etc. for missing more than that, though talking to the residents and attendings seemed to work just fine. Others in my lcass had similar experiences. YMMV, but I doubt you'll have any trouble finding time for interviews. They just tell you not to be gone in hopes that you're a neurotic med student who'll bend over backwards to follow rules.

Hmmmmm..... def don't wanna be that student .... 😛 ... ok hopefully ppl will be understanding. Gracias

 

[MilkmanAl]

Most people in this business are, so there's no shame in it at all. This is just one of those situations where following the rules to the letter can really screw you over for very little gain in return. That is, being gone for 2 days for an interview is far, far more useful to you at this point than 2 days of whatever rotation you may be on.