Away rotations

Away rotation scheduling will be one of if not the biggest headaches during your time here. It is frustrating because ever school will be on a different schedule. To get rotations scheduled you need to try to identify your goals for a specialty by Jan-Feb.

BE FOREWARNED:  your advising is quite self-driven as you approach M3 and M4. You have to be proactive about applying to these programs for away rotations. Apply early, as some start filling as soon as they review applications. You don't want to be in the position of scrambling for an away rotation.

In late February and early March VSAS (the visiting student application service) will open. There are two strategies people take with aways: 1) do an away as an audition for residency where you want to match or 2) do an away somewhere to get a strong letter. If you REALLY want to end up somewhere you run the risk of upsetting the wrong person. The saying goes that if you are good on paper, you may not want to do anything to mess that up. Many people do aways places that are convenient for cost of living or social reasons. This is not a bad idea. In the 2012 graduating class, I know of at least 5 people who matched where they did away rotations.

The biggest issue is that many aways require completion of all your core rotations. You should look into this early. In the last few years, many students have done away rotations at Stanford because they are quite relaxed regarding this requirement. Other places are really strict and there is no getting around this. The other issue is that each away will require detailed vaccination records. You will need time to go to McKinley, as most schools have their own vaccination form that needs to be filled out. Other schools might require transcripts, and student affairs can have these transcripts sent away. This can be really frustrating....do not take it out on the student affairs office! They are your best friends in this whole process.

Many schools require proof of antibody titers in addition to just your vaccination record. I did a lot of this during M2 to get it out of the way.

Just know that you should probably try to have your aways completed before early September if you want a recommendation letter from an away rotation. Also, do not discount the fact that at the beginning of your 4th year you will need to take Step 2 CK, apply for residency, in addition to applying to aways if you desire to. You need to have a good plan going forward, and I would encourage you to discuss this plan with your faculty advisor.

Jim and Nora will meet with you regarding how to use VSAS in March. You will have less time than you think during rotations to take care of these things, so get it done when you have down time.