When to do "away" rotations...

[Casey]

---

Members don't see this ad.

I am a third year student looking to match in a very competitive residency (Radiation Oncology). Unfortunately, my school does not have a rad onc program so I am going to have to look elsewhere. Does anyone have any advice on the best time to schedule visiting rotations? My school allows me to do away rotations in April, May, June of this year. Is it better to rotate early or wait until August/September when you are closer to interview time?

I appreciate the advice!

Casey

 

[fourthyearmed]

I am a third year student looking to match in a very competitive residency (Radiation Oncology). Unfortunately, my school does not have a rad onc program so I am going to have to look elsewhere. Does anyone have any advice on the best time to schedule visiting rotations? My school allows me to do away rotations in April, May, June of this year. Is it better to rotate early or wait until August/September when you are closer to interview time?

I appreciate the advice!

Casey

I'm doing my away rotations right now (Sept, Oct, Nov) in Peds but my school didn't allow any aways until 4th year. If you've never done anything with Rad Onc before I recommend doing them early as you can to make sure it's what you want to do before the interview process starts. Otherwise, I wouldn't think it would really matter and you could do what fits in your schedule best.

 

[kas23]

And away rotations can be hard to get, so you may not have a choice. Aim for Septemberish, so you can get a letter.

 

[doc05]

try for july-august, as letter writers are usually slow.

 

[Jaded Soul]

And away rotations can be hard to get, so you may not have a choice. Aim for Septemberish, so you can get a letter.

September is probably too late to rotate to get a letter that you expect to help you. Even though the Dean's Letter doesn't go out until November, a lot of programs grant interviews before that.

It doesn't help for getting letters, but I've heard that for some programs, doing a late away rotation (Nov-Dec) can get you an interview during the same visit. Since a lot of places will grant interviews to all the students who rotate with them anyway, they may interview students who are rotating late while they are still there as a courtesy--saves money and time for the students. As with everything, it depends on the specialty and the program.