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How many away rotations are people doing these days? I was planning on doing 3...would that be overkill?
Number of away rotations
- Thread starter Burla
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I did 3. It was overkill.
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Just this summer? Or did you match yet?
I've met 2 people now who did 4 at my school.
I'm hoping to do 4. June-Oct
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Yeah just this summer, not matched yet. I did a home rotation as well, so 4 rotations total.
I was pretty burned out in the last one and it started to show by the end. If I had to do it again I'd do my home program then 2 aways. I'd also just get step 2 over with ASAP.
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How long did you have off in between your away rotations?
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saturday and sunday
Plenty of people do 3 aways. I think 2 is much more reasonable though. The only thing that 3rd away is really doing is (hopefully) increasing your chances of interviewing/matching at that one program. It may only be worth it for below average applicants that are worried about not getting enough interviews.
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Home + 2 others is enough for most people, unless you are "auditioning" at a program that only takes rotators.
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How many of those programs are there that predominantly take rotators? And would you PM me some names?
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It's becoming more common, most programs give preference to rotators. Too many to name them all, but all the big programs you think about with ortho. Mayo, Rush, HSS, etc.
Jefferson, NYU were pretty up front about it
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Any of the 'lower tier' ones that do this? Asking b/c I'm a below avg applicant.
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From what I hear:
NYU, Jeff, Pitt, Duke, UTSW - really like their rotators/are vying mostly for rotators
UCSF, UW, Miami, Northwestern - try to do half rotators/half non
NYU, Jeff, Pitt, Duke, UTSW - really like their rotators/are vying mostly for rotators
UCSF, UW, Miami, Northwestern - try to do half rotators/half non
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There are very few places that would not favor a rotator over a non-rotator. For that reason, I think it makes the most sense to do 3 rotations (if you're a normal person with good social skills) to maximize your chances of matching at a program you have seen from the inside. Getting a behind the scenes look at a program can be invaluable in helping decide what you want in a program and if a program you thought you would like is really right for you.
2nd Pitt as well, they also put up a stat about it on interview day. Likewise been told there may still be a "second look requirement," but have also heard others say the PD has tried to do away with this.
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I think it's more practical to rotate at places you'd want to match rather than try to rotate at places you know are very rotator-based. You only have so many away rotation opportunities.
For the most part, just wherever you want to go, assuming you know that you'll have all your immunizations and papers filled out completely from the beginning. Some places it may be worthwhile to apply for a backup, i.e. Harvard, who only lets you know a few weeks beforehand even if you get it, so not getting it would completely screw you.
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I did 3 plus a home rotation prior to aways. If nothing else, use this time to learn orthopaedics. We don't get much MSK in med school and you're going to be a resident in a year with as much knowledge as you put into it. So at the end of the day I think 3 is worth it regardless of it being necessary to match. Also agree with going where you really want to match.
I'll also address the question of how many places to apply for aways. I got all the ones I applied to. I also went through VSAS twice because I ended up doing a research fellowship between M3 and M4. Both times I got all the places I applied to. I was worried I wouldn't get interviews at the places I turned down to do my research fellowship, but got 1/3 interviews from those. I also accidentally applied to a program on VSAS that was under another program's name (UNC and Carolinas are both under UNC's name) and got an interview at the place I mistakenly applied to after withdrawing my application. So applying to more than you intend to do still might not hurt you as long as you cancel an away well in advance. That's just my experience though.
Also, someone mentioned Harvard - I didn't rotate there but I met some people on the trail that did rotate at Beth Israel and apparently were told almost no one that rotates there will get a MGH interview. They said you really have to rotate at MGH and not one of the other sites. Not sure if that's true or if the people that told me that were weird/did a bad job on the rotation.
I'll also address the question of how many places to apply for aways. I got all the ones I applied to. I also went through VSAS twice because I ended up doing a research fellowship between M3 and M4. Both times I got all the places I applied to. I was worried I wouldn't get interviews at the places I turned down to do my research fellowship, but got 1/3 interviews from those. I also accidentally applied to a program on VSAS that was under another program's name (UNC and Carolinas are both under UNC's name) and got an interview at the place I mistakenly applied to after withdrawing my application. So applying to more than you intend to do still might not hurt you as long as you cancel an away well in advance. That's just my experience though.
Also, someone mentioned Harvard - I didn't rotate there but I met some people on the trail that did rotate at Beth Israel and apparently were told almost no one that rotates there will get a MGH interview. They said you really have to rotate at MGH and not one of the other sites. Not sure if that's true or if the people that told me that were weird/did a bad job on the rotation.
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Something else to consider is whether the place you rotate interviews you while you're there. Might be useful to start another thread on which places do that. I know there's controversy over this because you're not sure if the program is really interested or just being nice... but, if you're lucky and get a bunch of interviews it's just one less place you have to go back to and one less place that conflicts with another program. So I think it's something to consider.
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You don't have to rotate at MGH, from my experience. Many at the interview rotated at none of the Harvard programs, and many rotated at any of the hospitals including Brigham, Children's and MGH. I assume BI as well, but don't remember specifically.
