Order of Rotations?

[dantrolene_trampoline]

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Hey Everyone,

So we received the order of our third year rotations today and I have surgery last. I've been reading past threads about the order of rotations and how it ultimately doesn't make much difference, but if I'm interested in surgery will having it last be a problem?

 

[doc05]

Hey Everyone,

So we received the order of our third year rotations today and I have surgery last. I've been reading past threads about the order of rotations and how it ultimately doesn't make much difference, but if I'm interested in surgery will having it last be a problem?

Yes. You’ll need to plan electives, aways, etc. Can’t do that until you’ve actually rotated thru surgery and decided if it’s for you.

 

[bananafish94]

If anything, it will be an asset. You'll have shaken off a lot of the beginner's mistakes and after going through IM a lot of the non-surgical management will be a lot easier for you. But at the end of the day, the order of your rotations is a small deal.

 

[evilbooyaa]

Hey Everyone,

So we received the order of our third year rotations today and I have surgery last. I've been reading past threads about the order of rotations and how it ultimately doesn't make much difference, but if I'm interested in surgery will having it last be a problem?

Nothing has changed in regards to the bolded.

It depends on what you want to do (or more importantly, what you know you don't want to do).

 

[afib123]

doesn't matter unless you get to surgery and find out you hate it. Even then, if the field you like is not competitive, no big deal. If the field you end up liking is competitive like derm or IR or some other non-surgical speciality, you're out of options and will have to take a research year assuming you have good step 1

 

[Angus Avagadro]

I dont think rotation order matters until 4th year. You want to have electives closer to when programs pick their rank orders rather than inJune, July or Aug. The faculty will remember you better if you were auditioning recently.

 

[evilbooyaa]

I dont think rotation order matters until 4th year. You want to have electives closer to when programs pick their rank orders rather than inJune, July or Aug. The faculty will remember you better if you were auditioning recently.

What??

Absolutely not. You're doing aways because you need LoRs, to secure interviews. You should do aways as early as possible so that you can give them time to write their LoRs and get them uploaded to ERAS by September 15th and have your entire ERAS application complete and packaged for submission on Sept. 15th.

Programs pick their rank orders in January... after they interview you. Doing an audition anytime after October (maybe November at the latest) is generally a waste. If you do an audition in January, it's not going to help you get a LoR, it's not going to help you get interviews. The only way it might help is if you already have received an interview at that program, and you are super gung ho about that program (but if you were gung ho about it, you should've rotated there earlier when you could influence if they should interview you!).

The only downside about doing surgery at end of 3rd year is if you're unsure of whether you want to do something surgical or not. If you've already made that decision in your mind, having it last is unlikely to affect you.

 

[Angus Avagadro]

Absolutely not. You're doing aways because you need LoRs, to secure interviews

Whats wrong with LORs from your med school faculty? Do you read them? They all pretty much sound the same. Sure, letters from faculty at your at your preferred program carry more weight than from an outside program. You and I both know that the decision to grant an interview goes beyond a couple of LORs. I put much more emphasis on working with the students when they rotated through our service. If you rotated 6 months ago, I might not remember much about you. Is this someone I can teach? What is their work ethic? Do they have social skills and how do they interact with staff and nursing? No one wants to hire a problem. The few residents that we had issues with did not rotate through our service. They were from supposedly upper tier programs with "glowing" letters, obviously to send them somewhere else. Hopkins and UCSF graduated the 2 people who have left a lasting impression with me to this day.
One of my medical students has interviewed at 3 top 10 programs this cycle and did not rotate at any of these sites.
How rotations are ordered is very individual and multifactorial.. I do not find your advice illogical. I agree with your gung ho perspective and if you are gung ho, you should have rotated there as a 3rd year and shined. And again in the 4th year. If you require a faculty letter, by all means do it before the ERAS deadline.

 

[dantrolene_trampoline]

@evilbooyaa I'm pretty set on surgery. I have two 2-week "career explorations" earlier in the year and plan to use those to rotate through surgical sub-specialties. I figured it'll be okay as long as I apply to VSAS early enough to secure Aways, even if I haven't finished my surgery rotation yet.

 

[evilbooyaa]

@evilbooyaa I'm pretty set on surgery. I have two 2-week "career explorations" earlier in the year and plan to use those to rotate through surgical sub-specialties. I figured it'll be okay as long as I apply to VSAS early enough to secure Aways, even if I haven't finished my surgery rotation yet.

Agreed. Better if you know what type of surgery (general vs surgical subspecialty).

 

[dantrolene_trampoline]

Agreed. Better if you know what type of surgery (general vs surgical subspecialty).

I'm about 90% certain which subspecialty and have been doing research in that field. My only worry would be that I unexpectedly end up liking a different subspecialty (though I don't see that happening). For sure not general surgery (too much bowel).

 

[doc05]

I'm about 90% certain which subspecialty and have been doing research in that field. My only worry would be that I unexpectedly end up liking a different subspecialty (though I don't see that happening). For sure not general surgery (too much bowel).

Research isn’t clinical practice. What subspecialty? Do shortchange yourself by deciding before you’ve done the rotation.