radiology 4th year elective but no residency program

[Bioengineer]

My medical school is offering a 4th year radiation oncology elective, but currently does not have a residency program. Is it a good idea to take this elective along with electives from schools with residency programs or don't take this elective and fill the time with electives from other institutions with residency programs? Hopefully this thread is making sense.

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[Gfunk6]

This is kind of a difficult question to answer. I guess the best advice one could give is . . . it depends. Do you have existing relationships w/ the RadOnc faculty in your school? Did you do research w/ one of them? If the answer to such questions is yes, then it is probably worthwile to do a home elective. They should be able to write you a strong LOR.

However, you should definitely do at least one (possibly two) away rotations in places that are either big-name and/or where you would like to ultimately do residency. Program directors like to deal w/ known quantities rather than unknown (e.g. your ERAS application is the first time they've heard of you).

 

[CNphair]

I was in a similar situation last year. I did 3 electives in all...one at a private rad onc group (the group at my school), and two aways...both big names. I chose the local group for two reasons - I had elective time to use, and I thought it would be good to get some exposure to the day-to-day business of rad onc before I really needed to impress people on my away rotations.

I recommend this strategy if you have been on the outside of the field so far. If you are a medical physicist, it is a moot point. But I walked away with a solid primer on rad onc vocabulary and treatment strategies. This made me sound a little more intelligent during the "big" rotations.

However, I don't think getting a letter from the local rad onc guy helped me out much. It was a great letter in content, but was not mentioned once on the interview trail. This is field where big names matter, and little ones do not.

 

[deleted4401]

Same situation - did a rotation at the home program that had no residency program, and then started aways. For me, not sure how much it helped. The letter was well received, but I think I should have done some sort of project/presentation. B/c it was my mentor and a laid back rotation, I didn't get much out of it. I agree that it may not be worth your time, unless you needed to learn the vocabulary and the basics of the field. It seems like you don't need to do that.

Anyway ... I'm furloughed until September. Didn't realize Step II CS would be necessary for my PGY-2 license. It's a nice little vacation, but I was very excited about starting. So, I orientated with the department and am now off duty. My chief resident joked that this blunder cost me $60,000 ...

-S