when to go abroad??

[anxiousnadd]

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Hey guys,

So I'm a third year and looking at going abroad for a rotation as a 4th year. I know, so cliche`. But in any case, I'm not so sure when interview season ends, but would it be wise to put off my elective until around February/March? Or better yet, when should I do it? I was thinking it would probably be smarter if I used my elective time in the first half of the year to do subi's?

Thanks!

 

[BlondeDocteur]

Yup, Feburary - May is by far the best time. Unless you're certain you can target a geographical location and schedule all interviews in one month (say, IM in New York-- 12 interviews in December is quite feasible), in which case you can be a bit more liberal.

If you're at all worried about having to scramble, factor that in too.

 

[dragonfly99]

I think 4th year is the perfect time to go abroad.
Just do your homework before you go, so you can go somewhere you'll hae a decent experience.
Agree w/blonddocteur,
Feb-May would be good. I don't think I had any interviews as late as February, but I can't be 100% sure. For IM the interviews I went to were in November-January, with mostly December and January I think.

You need to fix it so you'll be at home on match day, unless you are sure you'll match (i.e. you're doing psych, fp or IM, etc.). If there is any chance you'll have to scramble, you'll be totally hosed (at least for this year) if you aren't physically present in the US to do so.

 

[peace321]

What about going abroad 3rd year during an elective? Would it be better to use it for radiology, IM, derm? Why would going abroad 4th year be better than 3rd year?

Thanks,

 

[Mistress S]

I'm doing an away rotation in Japan in April.😀 I'm really excited about it and I think the timing will work out great...I'll be done with interviews and will know where I've matched, so I can hopefully relax a bit. In fact, since I have the month of May off, I'll be able to travel around for a couple weeks afterwards and still have time to come back and get things in order before residency starts. I think very early in fourth year (although that could potentially interfere with time you might want to use to get sub-I s and other rotations in your chosen specialty done before appplications/interviews) or later on (after Feb) are probably the best times to go international. Start looking into it early (6 mos-1 yr before you want to go) as it can be a real pain to set up unless your school has some kind of arrangement with a foreign med school or hospital.