Too late to do an externship?

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Tsukini kawatte oshiokiyo
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Hi! I have a question and haven't been able to find any great answers through a search. I was told by various mentors/upperclassmen that doing an externship in anesthesia isn't super common and as a result you shouldn't do one unless you are super committed to one program otherwise you might end up hurting yourself (through not being better than expected). I therefore chose not to do any externships. Recently, however, I have become impressed/interested in a particular program and would really like to go to it. Is it too late to consider doing an externship there (in mid January)? I understand that would be the end of the interview season, but perhaps I'd be able to make a good impression right before they make their rank list? Does anyone do this?
Thanks!

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Hi! I have a question and haven't been able to find any great answers through a search. I was told by various mentors/upperclassmen that doing an externship in anesthesia isn't super common and as a result you shouldn't do one unless you are super committed to one program otherwise you might end up hurting yourself (through not being better than expected). I therefore chose not to do any externships. Recently, however, I have become impressed/interested in a particular program and would really like to go to it. Is it too late to consider doing an externship there (in mid January)? I understand that would be the end of the interview season, but perhaps I'd be able to make a good impression right before they make their rank list? Does anyone do this?
Thanks!

It is possible to do an away in January, the programs don't submit their ROLs til February. Yes someone in my class did that.
 
Hmmm, thats an interesting twist on the norm. I would say that very well could be a good idea IF you already have an interview with the program because as you said if you perform well you may be the last student they see and would therefore be fresh on their mind for their ROL. It also will help in deciding if they truly are your first choice for your own ROL. Usually people go on externships to try to impress the program in an attempt to increase their odds of getting an interview (esp if the program is a "reach") and also to get a month long true impression of the program versus the scripted 1 day act that is the interview day. I say go for it.
 
It is definitely possible to do an externship in January, but unless you are a million percent sure that you will blow everyone away and improve upon the impression they have of you, it's a risky move. There's something to be gained by showing up and being awesome, but there's so much more to lose by showing up and being less awesome than they thought you were based on your interview day.

Reminds me of a candidate that came for a second look at my residency a couple of years ago. The person turned out to have some odd personality quirks that weren't so apparent at interviews, but were very apparent when the guard came down. Got knocked WAY down on the rank list and didn't end up matching with us.
 
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