setting up 4th year rotations

[me454555]

So I've been trying to set up my rotations since the beginning of march and this has been the most stressful part of med school. Everyone needs varification that you're a student and my rotations office takes 2 weeks to get my applications sent out. Meanwhile every place seems to be filling up even though their websites say "don't apply more than 6 months in advance". How do you get a decent rotation? Where are some places that accept a lot of visiting medical students. Any advice is appreciated

 

[jennyboo]

Email the secretary and ask, "Are there any spaces still available for me to apply for in [insert month]?"

I emailed one secretary around this time, and she pencilled me in (i.e. reserved the space for me) while I was getting my application together. That was very handy.

 

[Induc(junc)tion]

Never had an official anesthesia rotation as of yet, but I know that its what I want to do. Would you all recommend an SICU rotation before a Clinical Anesthesia rotation, or no? I have electives in June, August, and November. Just trying to figure out what is a good way to do some auditioning and letter getting. Should I forget the SICU till later, and do it last, while concentrating on getting letters from anesthesia rotations?

Man these are hard decisions. Thanks dudes.

 

[supahfresh]

here's what I did:

June:Trauma-Cook County, Chicago - counted as SICU and was sweeeeet!
July: Anesthesia-Northwestern, Chicago
August: ER
Sept: Gen surg
Oct: Plastics

i almost did surgery so I stacked up the surgery rotations. I did well with just the one anesthesia month. the key is not only getting your letter of recommendation early but perhaps more important is figuring out if you like anesthesia. I think you should do it early.

 

[jennyboo]

Would you all recommend an SICU rotation before a Clinical Anesthesia rotation, or no?

No. Just get the anesthesia rotation over and done with. If you want to do a SICU rotation (not a bad idea), do it afterward.

 

[bullard]

Yeah, do anesthesia first. If you have the time, energy, and $$$, it wouldn't be a bad idea to do the SICU rotation as an away, unless your home program is, I dunno, Hopkins or something.