Setting up audition rotations

[the prodogy]

I'm currently in the middle of my third year and was wondering if anyone could help me set up some away rotations. First off I'm an Osteopathic student and wanted to know of all the DO places and how to apply. Also, where are some really DO friendly MD residency programs and when does their VSAS open. I checked some out in California, but they said they open up applications til beginning of April.

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[RangerBob]

I'm currently in the middle of my third year and was wondering if anyone could help me set up some away rotations. First off I'm an Osteopathic student and wanted to know of all the DO places and how to apply. Also, where are some really DO friendly MD residency programs and when does their VSAS open. I checked some out in California, but they said they open up applications til beginning of April.

I don't know anything about the DO programs, other than Michigan State has a DO PM&R program.

I believe Stanford has a couple DOs (you can check their website to make sure). Same for UC Davis, UCLA. Out here in the Midwest, Mayo, UMN, UWis, MCW, Loyola, Rush... etc etc. I'd say almost all programs are DO friendly really...

For programs that don't go through VSAS it's generally first-come first-serve, so let all those programs you're interested in know that you want to rotate there. And apply right at the beginning of April. I was accepted to all the aways I applied for (well... ok, I never completed one because I was accepted to another one for the same time period), and I applied right away.

Good luck!

 

[the prodogy]

Anyone know if Cedars-Sinai and Loma Linda is DO friendly? Also, this might be a stupid question, but since Loma Linda is a religious school, do they look at that at all? I guess I would also have the same question for Utah PM&R program.

 

[JuliusErving]

I haven't heard of any programs that won't take DO's. There are definitely ones that won't accept Comlex and require USMLE scores, though.

 

[Eilat87]

Anyone know if Cedars-Sinai and Loma Linda is DO friendly? Also, this might be a stupid question, but since Loma Linda is a religious school, do they look at that at all? I guess I would also have the same question for Utah PM&R program.

Loma Linda-

Osteopathic Students - Applicants are required to submit a copy of their COMLEX and USMLE scores before acceptnace is granted. A COMLEX socre of 500 or greater and a USMLE score of 210 or greater. Your applicaiton will not be reviewed without the COMLEX and the USMLE score reports with these socres. Please upload as a supplemental document.


You're welcome.

 

[Tromner]

There are 5 osteopathic residency programs:
WesternU/COMP/Casa Colina Centers for Rehab - Physical Medicine & Rehab
Pomona, CA
NSUCOM/Larkin Community Hospital - Physical Medicine & Rehab Residency
South Miami, FL
EW Sparrow Hospital - Physical Medicine & Rehab Residency
Lansing, MI
NYIT-COM/Nassau University Medical Center - Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Residency
East Meadow, NY
NYIT-COM/Long Beach Medical Center - Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Residency
Long Beach, NY

Pomona and Larkin are brand new last year.

You really don't have to worry about finding friendly programs. It's probably a good idea to take the USMLE but the number of DOs at a PMR residency has more to do with location and competitiveness than anything.

You should rotate at a residency that you would like to attend. Or if you're not sure where you will like, pick a well respected program so any letters you might get will carry more weight.

I don't know much about California programs.

 

[the prodogy]

There are 5 osteopathic residency programs:
WesternU/COMP/Casa Colina Centers for Rehab - Physical Medicine & Rehab
Pomona, CA

Pomona and Larkin are brand new last year.

Would you happen to have the contact information for the Pomona one? I contacted Casa Colina Hospital, and they said they did not have any type of PM&R residency programs. And I tried to contact Western, but that it close to impossible.

Also, does anyone have the contact information for Cedars-Sinai? And do they have a PM&R residency program? It doesn't seem to be listen or Freida

 

[Tromner]

Would you happen to have the contact information for the Pomona one? I contacted Casa Colina Hospital, and they said they did not have any type of PM&R residency programs. And I tried to contact Western, but that it close to impossible.

Also, does anyone have the contact information for Cedars-Sinai? And do they have a PM&R residency program? It doesn't seem to be listen or Freida

I don't have any personal contacts at WesternU. From their website:
"Casa Colina Centers for Rehabilitation is a nationally recognized rehabilitation hospital that is located only 3 miles from Western University of Health Sciences. It has been approved a 3 year American Osteopathic Association (AOA) accredited PM&R residency training program, which is currently undergoing development."

So maybe it has been approved but will not start this year. Anyone from WesternU know specifics?

 

[the prodogy]

I recently spoke with a Dr from Casa Colina and they said they were currently hiring new Doc's but no residency program for the next couple years. If anyone finds out anything new, let me know

 

[ED50]

Another question about away rotations. How do you set up your living situation? Do the schools help you or are you on your own?

 

[RangerBob]

Another question about away rotations. How do you set up your living situation? Do the schools help you or are you on your own?

Some schools may possibly even provide housing. Not sure how common, but it's possible.

Many programs will provide a list of places you can rent--often subletting a room in a house. On one rotation I rented a room in a family's house (kids had moved out--hence the extra room), on my second rotation I rented a room from a professor.

The first one I cold called places on the list the school provided. For the second rotation I wasn't given a list, so I used craigslist. However, I found out that one of the other students rotating with me asked the coordinator if she had a list of housing opportunities.

While I really enjoyed the place I rented, the moral is--ask the school if they have a list or recommendations regarding housing, it could really save you a headache (and possibly some money).

Also, get your housing lined up as early as possible. The lists are often made available to all the other visiting students, including visiting scholars to the university. As soon as you know you're approved (even if it's conditional on sending in the application, as it was in one case for me) then line up a place to stay ASAP, esp if you have any limitations (need parking, want to be in a specific area, etc.)

 

[ED50]

Thanks for the thorough reply

 

[DrMattOglesby]

Another question about away rotations. How do you set up your living situation? Do the schools help you or are you on your own?

You could also try: http://rotatingroom.com/
Not sure if enough people use it to make it effective, but we can always spread the word and see what happens.

 

[Eilat87]

What months did you guys do your audition rotations?

I set up like 3 PM&R electives from May to August.

Think that's too early? Would doing it during interview season be better?

My thinking was that I wanted to get letters ASAP.

 

[Phillyborn]

What months did you guys do your audition rotations?

I set up like 3 PM&R electives from May to August.

Think that's too early? Would doing it during interview season be better?

My thinking was that I wanted to get letters ASAP.

No, I think you're completely right to do them as early as possible and work on getting your letters. I did one in August and had a little more trouble than I would have liked getting the LOR in. I would avoid doing them during interview season as that necessitates you asking for time off to go to other places- you should be focused solely on that program while there.

 

[Eilat87]

No, I think you're completely right to do them as early as possible and work on getting your letters. I did one in August and had a little more trouble than I would have liked getting the LOR in. I would avoid doing them during interview season as that necessitates you asking for time off to go to other places- you should be focused solely on that program while there.

Yeah. I wanted to demonstrate interest in the field as soon as possible.

 

[RangerBob]

What months did you guys do your audition rotations?

I set up like 3 PM&R electives from May to August.

Think that's too early? Would doing it during interview season be better?

My thinking was that I wanted to get letters ASAP.

I did my away rotations back-to-back in July and August, and rotated through my home program in April before the aways. In my eyes, the advantage of doing the rotation earlier is getting a letter of recommendation that you can use for other programs if you wanted to. Also, it gives you a chance to get those grades on your Dean's letter and transcript, and for other programs to see that you're really dedicated to PM&R. They generally want to see at least one PM&R rotation.

I'm not sure if there are really any advantages to rotating during interview season, except that it could save you an extra trip because they would probably interview you while you're there. But then you might have to deal with taking time off the rotation to interview at other programs, which could look bad to some attendings, though most would probably understand. Still, that's something I personally wanted to avoid.

Hopefully others can chime in about rotating during interview season.

 

[Tromner]

Yeah. I wanted to demonstrate interest in the field as soon as possible.

And it gives you time to change your mind if Rehab's not for you. Sometimes people get swept up in Sports and forget how much in-pt medicine there is.

From my experience, there wasn't any problem taking time to interview at other programs while on an audition rotation. You'll probably have to cap it to about 4 days off since it is a serious rotation, but they're all professionals and know that you have to apply other places.

Scheduling rotations, especially away electives, can be miserably tedious and frustrating, so try to get them early, but take them when ever you can get them.