I'm trying to plan my 4th year and I'm still undecided on specialty. Which ones typically require you to do away rotations to be competitive? I know that ortho applicants do 2-3 away rotations. Are there any other ones that require that? I'm mostly curious about rads and competitive general surgery programs but any info on other specialties where you need to do away subI's would be great.
General surgery does not "require" aways (well, really, no specialty
requires aways; it is just common practice in some more than others).
That being said, the top programs will have tons of students coming there to do aways in order to try and boost their chances (I think I read somewhere that Harvard med school has over 700 students do away rotations each year across their various fields/hospitals).
From what I've seen (small sample size talking here though so others may be more informed), probably close to half of those students never had a chance at getting into that program and doing the away did not change that; the other half had the goods on paper to at least merit consideration and they would then either be hurt or helped by their away rotation based on their performance.
I'd say on the interview trail this year, most people I've talked to did 0 or 1 away rotation. Some did more; that was usually people whose home school didn't have a major academic center or who needed to be in one specific place for residency or had some other such concern.
Personally, I did one away rotation at a well known academic medical center. Not one of the top top places (i.e. not Hopkins, MGH, UCSF, or one of that select group) but a program I was interested in and wanted to see more of. I also felt it was useful to see another hospital and another training system than my home program - it gave me a better perspective during the application season and I think I have a better feel for what I want from a residency as a result.
