Where did you have a *great* student EM rotation?

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University of Illinois Chicago at the Lutheran General Hospital was the best of my half dozen aways, good for a later elective. Very busy with lots of high acuity patients and a long leash. Did a lot of procedures, diagnosed a lot of cancer, and saw a lot of zerbas too.

Keiser Medical Center in San Diego was also a great experience. I would strongly recommend it for early elective they provided a lot of support whIle also letting us really get into it I eally felt like an intern more than anywhere else and a great group of people. Dr. Sliver is an awesome PD.

Both of these come with an interview.
 
Rekt said:
Eh, I did six and I don't see a problem with it. This is probably significantly more common than you think, after hearing from other people on the trail. It's essentially free interviews.
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But what's the point? You can't have more than 4 SLOEs on your application...seems like a pretty big effort for minimal return.
 
LaceyMD said:
But what's the point? You can't have more than 4 SLOEs on your application...seems like a pretty big effort for minimal return.
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Not to mention the expense - unless you have some available free or cheap housing, there is no way I could afford 6 months of away rotation expenses. Also I did one away, plus my home rotation, and that was enough “auditioning” for me. There is a mental toll as well.
 
americanturkey said:
the best of my half dozen aways
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Rekt said:
Eh, I did six and I don't see a problem with it. This is probably significantly more common than you think, after hearing from other people on the trail. It's essentially free interviews.
Click to expand...

What are you guys like from international schools or have giant red flags or something?

How did you afford this? How did you have the energy for it? How did you interview while spending 6 MONTHS away from home on rotation???

My school wouldn't even allow this if someone wanted to do such a harebrained scheme. They cap us at 3 months, and even that seems excessive.
 
The Knife & Gun Club said:
What are you guys like from international schools or have giant red flags or something?

How did you afford this? How did you have the energy for it? How did you interview while spending 6 MONTHS away from home on rotation???

My school wouldn't even allow this if someone wanted to do such a harebrained scheme. They cap us at 3 months, and even that seems excessive.
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No red flags, except being a DO. Half gave free housing. Found cheap AirBnBs for the rest. You guys can say I'm dumb all you want, but I had ridiculously positive comments about it during my interviews and matched at a fairly competitive place in an excellent location as my #1. I got to travel all over the country, meet a bunch of residents and physicians, and got more months doing EM instead of wanting to eat a bullet in a clinic or waiting around on the floors until I'm told to go home.
 
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Rekt said:
No red flags, except being a DO. Half gave free housing. Found cheap AirBnBs for the rest. You guys can say I'm dumb all you want, but I had ridiculously positive comments about it during my interviews and matched at a fairly competitive place in an excellent location as my #1. I got to travel all over the country, meet a bunch of residents and physicians, and got more months doing EM instead of wanting to eat a bullet in a clinic or waiting around on the floors until I'm told to go home.
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Oh dude - if you think that’s how I spent my 4th year, you’re sadly mistaken. Those are not your only options. For future students looking at this thread - 3 EM rotations max. If you’re a US student, no need for more.
 
Rekt said:
Eh, I did six and I don't see a problem with it. This is probably significantly more common than you think, after hearing from other people on the trail. It's essentially free interviews.
Click to expand...

I would have done this in a heartbeat. Good on yah.
Who the hell wants to spend months grinding it out in IM or FM or whatever if you know what you want to do (?). They're med-student months, so they only mean what you make of them. After that (and once you begin residency), they're as good as farts in the wind.

I can't stand those applicants or interns who say dumb $hit like: "Oh, my Scandinavian Pediatric Oncology Clinic month taught me SO MUCH!"

I'm 7 years out. You know where I learned the most?
Residency.
Oh yeah? I meant as a student.
EM. EM. EM. Pediatric EM. IM. IM. and ... the pub.
 
I guess if your school doesn’t have anything good to offer 4th year then maybe that’s justifiable. But there’s tons of things to do that can be EM relevant without just repeating the clerkship over and over.

Next year I’m slated for:
EM Ultrasound
Poison control/tox
Island medicine (all expenses paid)
MICU
Med-Law
Optho

Maybe they are all farts in the wind, but at least I’ll have some fun or learn some useful skills.
 
RustedFox said:
I would have done this in a heartbeat. Good on yah.
Who the hell wants to spend months grinding it out in IM or FM or whatever if you know what you want to do (?). They're med-student months, so they only mean what you make of them. After that (and once you begin residency), they're as good as farts in the wind.

I can't stand those applicants or interns who say dumb $hit like: "Oh, my Scandinavian Pediatric Oncology Clinic month taught me SO MUCH!"

I'm 7 years out. You know where I learned the most?
Residency.
Oh yeah? I meant as a student.
EM. EM. EM. Pediatric EM. IM. IM. and ... the pub.
Click to expand...

You know I respect your opinion, but I strongly disagree. If I had to do it again, I would have done more time doing ophtho, hand surgery, radiology and a few others. I agree esoteric things are a waste of time unless you just want to do it, but I think that things that you do in EM but may not get a ton of in residency matter. You’ll get all the US, tox, trauma and critical care in residency, but your formal education on interpreting plain films may be lacking.
 
Apollyon said:
What is "island medicine"? It's either first world, or austere. In that case, it's much closer to wilderness medicine.
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It’s actually probably more like rural medicine...our school just uses the flashy name.

Work at a critical access hospital on an island is the Florida Keys doing a mix of generalist outpt, hyperbarics, coast guard stuff, and covering a tiny ED.

And most importantly they pay for you and your significant other/best friend to live in a beach front cottage for a month.
 
The Knife & Gun Club said:
It’s actually probably more like rural medicine...our school just uses the flashy name.

Work at a critical access hospital on an island is the Florida Keys doing a mix of generalist outpt, hyperbarics, coast guard stuff, and covering a tiny ED.

And most importantly they pay for you and your significant other/best friend to live in a beach front cottage for a month.
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I’m so jealous !
 
Anyone have an acting internship at University of Texas at Austin within the last 2 years? Has anything changed since the initial comments in this thread?
 
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RustedFox said:
I would have done this in a heartbeat. Good on yah.
Who the hell wants to spend months grinding it out in IM or FM or whatever if you know what you want to do (?). They're med-student months, so they only mean what you make of them. After that (and once you begin residency), they're as good as farts in the wind.

I can't stand those applicants or interns who say dumb $hit like: "Oh, my Scandinavian Pediatric Oncology Clinic month taught me SO MUCH!"

I'm 7 years out. You know where I learned the most?
Residency.
Oh yeah? I meant as a student.
EM. EM. EM. Pediatric EM. IM. IM. and ... the pub.
Click to expand...

I totally agree. I did 6 months of EM as a 4th year and I think it has helped me be a better Intern. I think I was more ready to start day 1 than some of my peers who had spent less time in the department.
 
PossibleEMapplicant said:
Do we need 2 or 3 SLOE's? Or can someone get by with one?
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CORD recommends 2. Many people get 3, but it's probably unnecessary most of the time. Almost all of the programs in the country will make a decision to interview someone if they have 2 SLOEs, and almost none required 3 when this was surveyed amongst PDs. There's still a sizable chunk that will interview based on one SLOE, but that's risky, and you better hope that its a good one.
 
Buckeye1992 said:
I totally agree. I did 6 months of EM as a 4th year and I think it has helped me be a better Intern. I think I was more ready to start day 1 than some of my peers who had spent less time in the department.
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Who cares? You’re measuring the wrong thing. What matters is who is the best doctor when they leave, not when they show up. A better question is would a different schedule have made you more prepared to be a competent EP.
 
gamerEMdoc said:
CORD recommends 2. Many people get 3, but it's probably unnecessary most of the time. Almost all of the programs in the country will make a decision to interview someone if they have 2 SLOEs, and almost none required 3 when this was surveyed amongst PDs. There's still a sizable chunk that will interview based on one SLOE, but that's risky, and you better hope that its a good one.
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Is this 2 SLOEs by ERAS opening on 9/15 or on 10/1 when most programs are looking at applications? Or just 2 sloes by mid October?
 
random122893 said:
Is this 2 SLOEs by ERAS opening on 9/15 or on 10/1 when most programs are looking at applications? Or just 2 sloes by mid October?
Click to expand...
Even though we casually look at applications when ERAS opens, most people are making decisions after the MSPE so I would recommend having two SLOEs up by 10/1. There are some applicants we will invite before then who are no-brainer invitations (if you are AOA it’s safe to say that your MSPE will be good, so if you have good SLOEs, CV, and board scores we may invite before MSPE) but most applicants are in the range where the MSPE might change our decision.
 
random122893 said:
Is this 2 SLOEs by ERAS opening on 9/15 or on 10/1 when most programs are looking at applications? Or just 2 sloes by mid October?
Click to expand...

The ideal situation is 2 SLOEs by 10/1. Its great if you can get them in by 9/15, but not always realistic. But this is the ideal scenario. The reality is, as long as you have 1 SLOE in by that time, as long as its not a bad one, most programs will decide on your application based on one SLOE, especially if its a good one. So don't worry too much if you can't get the second one in at the start of application season.
 
I know it’s a long shot but has anyone rotated at Duke?

I’m stuck trying to chose between them and another program for the same dates and can’t for the life of me decide.
 
Anyone have experience with 2-week ultrasound rotations? Will doing a 2-week ultrasound/pediatric rotation at a particular institution help get an interview there or is it too short of time?
 
Probably will net you an interview. Most places are trying to guess who actually has interest in their program, as opposed to people just mass applying to 100 programs when it comes to sending out invites. The fact that you actually rotated at a place generally means you were at least interested enough in them to make them one of your rotations.
 
tshank said:
Anyone know anything about U. of New Mexico?
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One of my co-students rotated there and gave it middle of the road reviews. Said it was fun but they don’t do a ton of teaching. She felt she was given almost too much autonomy and that while fun it was a little scary.

Sloe was well written and honest as far as she knew
 
mihirtak said:
any insight into Columbia/Cornell program?
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I rotated at NYP Brooklyn Methodist which has the affiliation and it was absolutely freaking fantastic. I can't say enough positive things about this rotation. So much autonomy, but not too much that I was scared. The rotation director is really dedicated to teaching. He basically taught me all the ultrasound I needed to know to look smart on my other EM rotations.
 
I did Peds ER at Florida Hospital for a few weeks as a 3rd year rotation, and all the attendings were excited to teach and gave me a lot of autonomy. I am not sure if the main ER rotation includes Peds or not, but all the facilities I got to rotate at were nice too!
 
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