Recommended aways?

[Belleza156]

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I'm trying to put together my VSAS app and start applying for aways......does anyone have any really interesting aways they did? Saw quite a few places have wilderness medicine electives now. Anyone have experience with those?

 

[Anonymous M4]

No wilderness experience but I will put in a plug for Vanderbilt -- they have a truly excellent rotation. Awesome didactics with Wrenn and Slovis, great ED experience, cool people. It fills up quick though! Their website has a lot of info.

 

[Lanolin]

I'd look at doing 2 aways (one county and one academic). It'll give you a good foot to stand on when you're interviewing and possibly point you towards the program that fits you the best.

After interviewing all around, I would have liked to rotated at Denver Health, Davis, and OHSU. I would stay away from Vandy after having a really ackward/condescending interview with Slovis, but that seems par for the course as he has built quite a reputation for being that way towards graduates of certain programs.

 

[eastcoastEM]

I second doing an academic and a county - Doing an away is about more than just the extended interview/SLOR - you need to soak up some knowledge and learn about different practice environments/program styles if possible. This will help you when it comes time to pick interviews and make your rank list. For those reasons I think I'd stick with straight ED aways. Doing an EM ultrasound or wilderness away MIGHT (I'm not sure - I never did one) give you more time to rub elbows with an attending for a SLOR or good word, but I don't really see the point unless you're truly interested in that area.

 

[NERDY]

Does your school have a home program? I would do an "opposite" away to your home program (home program is county, do community or vice versa). Also, if you want to do u/s, wilderness, tox, etc elective - try doing those at the end of year IV for fun. Make sure you have time to work on your application, study for CK/CS, etc.

 

[DreamingTheLive]

Academic/County/Community/Private/Hybrid. Pick 2 or 3, mix and match, at places that you THINK you may like to eventually end up. Problem solved. There is no magic aways. 1 poster above said Vanderbilt is solid, another said to avoid Vanderbilt. Moral of story, don't rely on what you read here per specific programs. Where do you want to go and what type of setting might you want to train in?

 

[NdNThunder]

Talking of EM aways & vsas...

I'm very interested in a Vandy-away this Fall. Our school required Criminal Background & Child Abuse screens prior to starting MS3 and they are good for MS3 & 4. Out of the 8 schools I'm looking at on vsas, Vandy is the ONLY one that requires a re-do of both screens since "they must be no greater than 1 year prior to the start of the away-rotation". This is ridiculous! Both those screenings took time, were tedious, and costed $.

Anyone else in the same boat with Vandy/another host-institution? Any way around this?

 

[QfeverQ]

Talking of EM aways & vsas...

I'm very interested in a Vandy-away this Fall. Our school required Criminal Background & Child Abuse screens prior to starting MS3 and they are good for MS3 & 4. Out of the 8 schools I'm looking at on vsas, Vandy is the ONLY one that requires a re-do of both screens since "they must be no greater than 1 year prior to the start of the away-rotation". This is ridiculous! Both those screenings took time, were tedious, and costed $.

Anyone else in the same boat with Vandy/another host-institution? Any way around this?

Nope. I did the necessary checks and was denied an away. It's a popular rotation and mandatory for Vanderbilt students. I still say to give it a shot. It's only a hundred or so dollars.

 

[winkleweizen]

Talking of EM aways & vsas...

I'm very interested in a Vandy-away this Fall. Our school required Criminal Background & Child Abuse screens prior to starting MS3 and they are good for MS3 & 4. Out of the 8 schools I'm looking at on vsas, Vandy is the ONLY one that requires a re-do of both screens since "they must be no greater than 1 year prior to the start of the away-rotation". This is ridiculous! Both those screenings took time, were tedious, and costed $.

Anyone else in the same boat with Vandy/another host-institution? Any way around this?

If you really wanna do it, i would probably jump through their hoops. Personally, id probably set up an away somewhere else.

 

[Iride]

Did it a while back.... similar situation.... Ends up only being $15-20 or so and takes a total of 15 minutes to complete online.... Totally worth it for the experience I gained on the rotation

 

[ianjustlellis]

I loved my month at St. Luke's Roosevelt. Great, flexible schedule, fun residents, and great 1 on 1 teaching with the attendings. I guess something they did worked because I ranked them first 🙂.

 

[docvino]

Academic/County/Community/Private/Hybrid. Pick 2 or 3, mix and match, at places that you THINK you may like to eventually end up. Problem solved.

totally agree with above.
would add that if you really want to be in xyz location then it would be helpful to do a rotation in that region.