Question about aways and LORs?

[metview]

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I have few questions about this. How many away rotations are suggested one do? How many LORs should I get from aways? I will only have 2.5 months after 3rd year and before I have to send out application in September, so I just have the opportunity to rotate at my home rotation (1 mo) + 1 away rotation (1 mo). I plan to get 2 LORs from my home institution. Any feedback/suggestions on how I should be approaching this?

Thanks

 

[Damn_Daniel]

Are you sure you can't do another rotation to get a 3rd letter and send in your application in October? I know many institutions, including the third tier one that I work at, don't review applications until after ASTRO's (I.e. "IndustryFest") annual meeting is complete.

I'd say you should do home + 2 aways, if possible, and get a letter from each. Fourth can be non rad onc from something else.

Best of luck!

 

[radninja]

I did away rotations in multiple places geographically - and sent different away letters accordingly. So I typically sent 1-2 home rad onc, 1 home med onc, 1 rad onc away LOR from geographic area (for example, for midwest rad onc programs...I sent midwest rad onc LOR, for east coast programs - I sent east coast away LOR), and 0-1 other away LOR.

I think that served me well and I got pretty geographically diverse interviews.

If you're crunched for away rotation time, you could do a 2nd away rotation in September, still apply by the Sept 15th deadline, and submit the last LOR to some programs in October/whenever you get it.

 

[metview]

Thank you both for the advice!

I can definitely do a 2nd away rotation in September and apply in mid October. However, is there a disadvantage in sending out my application in mid-October vs mid-September?

 

[thecarbonionangle]

You can apply and just have that one letter lag behind or you can have all your letters then and have that away be an audition in a place which will interview you. I know that some have done aways even in October-November, hoping for an interview at that institution.

 

[Ray D. Ayshun]

I wasn't able to do a second away rotation til November, and hence didn't get a letter, though the chair offered to make a phone call to my number one. Anyway, that place was my number one, and where I matched in the end. I say that to suggest that in addition to showing up for the obligatory letter, remember you're also getting many unwritten recs to the programs at which you're rotating.

 

[SRC1987]

Try to have most of your application together in September and submit it then. You can then add the letters from your later rotation when it is available. For the later rotation try and communicate with the letter writer early-ish in the rotation so they are aware since you'll be in a little bit more of a time crunch. You want to have most of them uploaded by October.

Why does your school not provide enough elective time to do 3 one month specialty/audition rotations?

 

[metview]

Try to have most of your application together in September and submit it then. You can then add the letters from your later rotation when it is available. For the later rotation try and communicate with the letter writer early-ish in the rotation so they are aware since you'll be in a little bit more of a time crunch. You want to have most of them uploaded by October.

Why does your school not provide enough elective time to do 3 one month specialty/audition rotations?

I am not sure how other medical schools are but our clerkships run from July to July. That gives us 2 months (July to August, August to September) for specialty rotations. How is it at your medical school?

 

[Ray D. Ayshun]

Fwiw, for the reason you cited above, it's common to postpone one of your core clerkships, psych for instance, until late in 4th year in order to start radonc rotations in May or June.

 

[The Duck Knows]

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[Ray D. Ayshun]

How common is this? Because I'm trying to convince my school to let me do the same and they don't believe that other programs allow 4th year electives to be completed before 3rd year is finished. I'd love to get 1-2 more aways in.

Not sure how common it is, but I doubt that any of the radonc programs really check to see if you've done all of your core stuff. If anything, I suspect they'd understand the import of doing an away before psychiatry. I took neuro in spring of 4th year I believe. Think I met or heard of other rotators, or interviewees, who also did it.

Edit: guess I shouldn't have said common without having a clue about how common it is.