Scheduling 3rd year

[Iron123]

Hi everyone,

I was hoping some of you could help me on the best way to schedule third year. From what I understand Ophtho residency programs look at IM, Surgery, and the Ophtho rotation grades...so it seems that it would be best to schedule these towards the middle or end of third year b/c most students do their best towards the end of the year. But, IM at the beginning has the benefit of being the foundation for the rest of third year with the sacrifice of not being able to perform the best as one can. I guess the real question is, does the order of the rotations matter?

I'd really appreciate any help. Thanks!

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[doodpac]

I did IM towards the end of my rotations. It was a nice compilation of all the rotations i did prior to that: psychiatry, neurology, ob-gyn, peds, etc etc. Don't worry about not having IM before all your other speciality rotations. The one thing you should schedule before surgery is medicine, because your surgery rotation will depend on how strong you are at medicine, believe it or not. Surgery is not just about operating, its primailry pre-op and post-op care which is in the realm of medicine. I did surgery last after medicine, so just pick a schedule that works for you. The main idea is not to schedule what you are considering as a field first or last: schedule specialties that you're not interested in first so that you get your feet wet in seeing patients and operating in a hospital setting. Hope some of this information helps. Good luck on the ophtho trail. Its the best speciality there is. FYI, I am a 4th year waiting 9 more days to match!!

 

[Iron123]

Thanks! & GOOD LUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

one more question: how do away rotations work? esp if the deadline for app is like 8/15 and you can't do them in your third year?

 

[Buck Strong]

My first 3 rotations were medicine, surgery, ophtho elective, so honestly, i don't think it matters very much. You can't really go wrong with any order, and expectations change depending on how late in the year it is. 8 days till the match. Good luck everyone!!!

By the way, I did away electives the first 2 months of my 4th year.

 

[4424]

My first 3 rotations were medicine, surgery, ophtho elective, so honestly, i don't think it matters very much. You can't really go wrong with any order, and expectations change depending on how late in the year it is. 8 days till the match. Good luck everyone!!!

By the way, I did away electives the first 2 months of my 4th year.

I did Medicine, Surgery as my first 2. I thought having medicine first was very helpful for my future rotations. I really think that it works out in the end no matter what order you do, so I would suggest doing whatever you feel most comfortable with. I sorta knew I would be strongest in the beginning with the most energy, so that was my take. We could not do away rotations in 3rd year for my school,. Good luck.

 

[bghs11]

Thanks! & GOOD LUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

one more question: how do away rotations work? esp if the deadline for app is like 8/15 and you can't do them in your third year?

I was very interested in doing away rotations, so I started applying for them in March of my 3rd year. One way to set things up is to do a home Ophtho rotation first (to get a letter), and then do your away rotations immediately after (to get more letters if wanted). Some programs really like it if you do an away rotation there, others don't, so it would be in your best interest to find out which ones do and don't. I know Duke and USF-Tampa really like people to do externships at their programs, whereas Emory is about 50/50. Can anyone else out there add to this list?

 

[Pastrami King]

I was very interested in doing away rotations, so I started applying for them in March of my 3rd year. One way to set things up is to do a home Ophtho rotation first (to get a letter), and then do your away rotations immediately after (to get more letters if wanted). Some programs really like it if you do an away rotation there, others don't, so it would be in your best interest to find out which ones do and don't. I know Duke and USF-Tampa really like people to do externships at their programs, whereas Emory is about 50/50. Can anyone else out there add to this list?

So much for the following, taken from the AUPO's bylaws: "So called 'Audition Electives' by medical students at institutions other than their own are discouraged." I know my home program cites this when discouraging us from going away, but I kind of regret listening to them. Obviously the whole "should you do an away rotation" thread has already been beaten to death on this board.

As for when to do your core rotations, I agree that it doesn't really matter. I did surgery first and got honors, and did medicine near the end and got a HP. I actually thought that startng with surgery wasn't that bad because at least at my home institution, you play much more of a "cog in the wheel" role on surgery and as long as you did what you were told relatively quickly, you were OK.

 

[doodpac]

As far as away rotation go, I definetely agree that you should do one at your home institution, if possible. According to my school's rules, I could only do 12 weeks max in any speciality. I did 2 weeks at my home ophtho-affiliated program (Cook County, Chicago, IL), then I did 4 weeks at Loyola Univ, then 6 weeks at Doheny Eye, USC. I highly recommend doing an away at a well known place to get a good letter of rec from a well known ophthalmologist. I think my letters from USC landed me some interviews that I had no clue I would get. Just my 2 cents...

 

[soysauz]

I have one week to decide on my final clerkship order and I am more confused than ever before.

My plan was to take surgery first, when I would have medicine from Step1 fresh in my mind, and there would be no gunners around. Also, I hear there is some benefit of the doubt since they know it's our first rotation.

BUT.....

I keep hearing that you should do your desired specialty in the middle. Do people who take surgery first really not get honors? I mean, the same % of people get honors in every surgery rotation right?

I'm worried that if I take Med first, then Surgery, I'll be burnt out and have less energy/enthousiasm than I have now.

Any advice?