Outstanding Away Rotation

[beachbum87]

---

Members don't see this ad.

MS3 looking to apply to away rotations soon, and was wondering if there is any word on the street about programs that have particularly good away rotations for medical students. There are only two people in the class above me matching radiology, and so my list of feedback on programs is n=4, with 3 of those rotations being great and 1 not so good. Are there any programs with reputations for being great experiences for MS4's? I would imagine the best programs would be the best, but the bad review was at a Top30 place, huge medical center, but the volume was so high there was miniscule time for med student interaction. No real geographic constraint. Interested in Top 30 program to hopefully get a meaningful letter. Thanks.

 

[Radiologyreviews2015]

My school (with a top 10 radiology program attached) actively advises us against doing away rotations unless you need to match in a specific geographic area. The thought process being you can do more harm than good since most rotations are passive and thus very hard to shine on.

You'll get different opinions, but I feel like the idea of having a 'big time letter' is less important in radiology than in other fields, such as ortho, derm, etc. Simply anecdotal though.

 

[futureradres12345]

Honestly, aways are not really about having a great experience. If there is a really competitive program that you are dying to go to, you should do an away there, after completing one or two radiology rotations at your home institution so that you can really do well on your away.

 

[DrBowtie]

Honestly, aways are not really about having a great experience. If there is a really competitive program that you are dying to go to, you should do an away there, after completing one or two radiology rotations at your home institution so that you can really do well on your away.

Curious how you would define doing well on an away? My list has one item: Be personable and not annoying in the reading room.

 

[Radiologyreviews2015]

Unless you have to do one because you NEED to be at a certain program/city, that time would be better served doing research.

 

[Radiologyreviews2015]

MS3 looking to apply to away rotations soon, and was wondering if there is any word on the street about programs that have particularly good away rotations for medical students. There are only two people in the class above me matching radiology, and so my list of feedback on programs is n=4, with 3 of those rotations being great and 1 not so good. Are there any programs with reputations for being great experiences for MS4's? I would imagine the best programs would be the best, but the bad review was at a Top30 place, huge medical center, but the volume was so high there was miniscule time for med student interaction. No real geographic constraint. Interested in Top 30 program to hopefully get a meaningful letter. Thanks.

Don't do it. Unlike ortho, it's completely unnecessary. You may not even get an interview from the place even if people like you. The reality of radiology rotations/electives is that they're super easy and passive if you're a med student. You're literally doing nothing in the reading room other than interrupting workflow with silly questions and attending a couple of lectures. So effectively, the rotations demonstrate little to residents/attending about your competency as a future radiologist. Plus, agreeable/cordial/nice varies from program to program, so it would be hit or miss even if you think you're the most likeable person. Also negative cognitive bias >> positive so people are a lot more likely to remember small bad things you did than anything good. My advisor gave me this advice and I didn't end up shooting myself in the foot.

I would instead invest that MS3 time doing well on step, doing more clinical rotations at your home institution, and doing research if you're looking specifically at top programs. People told me research didn't really matter for rads, but that's not really true at top places I interviewed at. It probably doesn't for mid tier and below programs though.

Just my two cents.

Source: top 10 med school, some nice interviews at top 10 places

 

[beachbum87]

OP here, Thanks for the feedback, I probably should have clarified my situation. I'm from a community based allopathic med school without a home radiology program, better than average stats so far (for last year NRMP charting outcomes) but certainly not rockstar status like some of you SDN folk. Because I'm at a community program without residents, I'm going to do an away partly to see what it's like in the large academic medical center. The match last year from my school did pretty well, 10% of the class went radiology, all matched, one to a 'Top 10' and 2 others to a Top30 place (however flawed those radiology rankings are). The idea is that since we do not have brand name nationwide, it's important to get out and rotate through other places. It served last years' class fairly well, and I don't think I'd be a liability from a 'personality' standpoint (self analysis fwiw).

I've got the tension of whether to do one or not, I know there is a lot to lose and little to gain, but do think it could help my chances at that particular program given my home school's fairly obscure status. When I spoke with M4's going through the match now, it sounds like some place make an active effort to engage med students in various ways, while other programs, you are basically a nuisance in the reading room all day. Trying to figure out which programs are the former so I don't waste a month.

 

[Radiologyreviews2015]

I did two away rotations. I definitely had to work harder to get Honors and impress people as a visiting student than as a home student. I ended up getting interviews at both programs. I do not know if I will end up at either. One away is in my top three and the other is in my top ten. I would not have had a chance at the one in my top three otherwise. I also had a so-so Step 1 score and felt like the personal touch would help at reach programs.

 

[Radiologyreviews2015]

I agree with everything people have said about aways being able to help snag that hard-to-reach interview. I would argue (albeit without ever sitting in on a ranking meeting) that program directors try to be conscientious of the many factors that preclude a student from being able to do an away rotation for fairness sake (namely family/kids and money). However, we all know that life isn't always fair and some students will get an edge on a rank list in some PD's eyes.

 

[Radiologyreviews2015]

I have a question along the same vein as the above poster, so I didn't want to make a new thread. I would like to be at a very specific school in the south and have literally no connection to the area with the exception of my girlfriend who is from that area. I'm curious to know if it would be better for me to try an away rotation somewhere ELSE in the same state just so my application doesn't seem out of the blue (it's a texas school if that matters). I guess my thought is I don't want to run the risk of making a poor impression at the place I eventually want to settle down in. Does anyone have any advice?

 

[Radiologyreviews2015]

I have a question along the same vein as the above poster, so I didn't want to make a new thread. I would like to be at a very specific school in the south and have literally no connection to the area with the exception of my girlfriend who is from that area. I'm curious to know if it would be better for me to try an away rotation somewhere ELSE in the same state just so my application doesn't seem out of the blue (it's a texas school if that matters). I guess my thought is I don't want to run the risk of making a poor impression at the place I eventually want to settle down in. Does anyone have any advice?

I recommend just doing the away at that school. During your time there you can explain your interest and get to gauge the residents and programs better. I did several aways and no one expected me to know insane amounts of radiology or had high clinical expectations, it was more of them gauging a personality fit. I think the only way to do poorly is not getting along with the residents, but if that's the case you probably don't want to go there anyways. Additionally, Texas is hard to break into if you're from one of the coasts. During my interviews at the Texas programs a lot of people did not believe I had much interest, which coincidentally was true.

Also, I'd recommend looking at who the big wigs are at the institution, as a surprising number of programs are run by one department e.g. neruo, abdominal, etc. Do the rotation in that field, and email a professor 4 weeks before you start asking to do a research project. That will give you plenty of time to get proper computer access and to do the background research. If you figured out a good retrospective study, it'll be easy to pump out the manuscript before you leave and it really really helps secure an interview/potential to match. This is especially true if it happens to be UTSW as they have a huge interest in growing their research.