please help me! lots of advice about away rotations needed!

[heavymetal]

I have a problem I can't figure out. I have an opportunity to do an away elective in General Surgery at both Cedars-Sinai and USC Keck. Cedars-Sinai is affiliated with UCLA, but I'd rather go to UCLA for residency at their main campus, not Cedars-Sinai. However, for purposes of fellowship after residency it would be advantageous to go to USC over Cedars-Sinai. So my question is: should I do an away rotation at a community hospital that's affiliated with a highly ranked institution, or a rotation at the university hospital of a slightly lesser ranked institution? Sorry if this is confusing, but then again, I'm confused.

Don't flame me if I've said something stupid, just help me.

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[njbmd]

I have a problem I can't figure out. I have an opportunity to do an away elective in General Surgery at both Cedars-Sinai and USC Keck. Cedars-Sinai is affiliated with UCLA, but I'd rather go to UCLA for residency at their main campus, not Cedars-Sinai. However, for purposes of fellowship after residency it would be advantageous to go to USC over Cedars-Sinai. So my question is: should I do an away rotation at a community hospital that's affiliated with a highly ranked institution, or a rotation at the university hospital of a slightly lesser ranked institution? Sorry if this is confusing, but then again, I'm confused.

Don't flame me if I've said something stupid, just help me.

You should do your away rotation at the place where you feel you will learn and experience the most and will serve your needs. Fellowship after residency concerns at this point in your career is way premature (like five to six years premature). Electives in medical school are for obtaining experience that you can't get at your home institution or if you have to audition to be considered as a viable candidate for residency (some places do not offer interviews to folks who have not done an AI in their location) but in no way will any elective done in medical school make you more or less competitive for a fellowship post residency.

 

[heavymetal]

Thank you very much for your reply...

But I believe the way I phrased my issue was misleading. I wasn't looking for an elective to help me with fellowship. I was looking to do an elective to get into a residency program that would most help me with getting a fellowship. Does that change your input at all? Again, your reply was much appreciated.

 

[Blade28]

I think you're overthinking it. njbmd gave good advice - I wouldn't worry about fellowship options when you're picking an away rotation!

For example, when I was an MS-IV, I wanted two away rotations - one at a fancy "ivory tower" hospital on the East Coast, and one at a county hospital with lots of trauma. The latter experience was done at USC+LAC.