<p>Over the weekend, son was saying that he can spend some/all of his 4th year of med school at other med schools? What? What is he talking about. lol</p>
<p>We didn't have much time to talk about this, so I was left hanging. It sounds like during the 4th year, they can do rotations at other med schools across the US (I guess if they get accepted in some way...lol). </p>
<p>So, set me straight folks! </p>
<p>:)</p>
<p>He is talking about away rotations. For some specialties, always are pretty much mandatory. So at the beginning of 4th yr, you typically do a rotation at your school then 1-2 away rotations</p>
<p>So, when do students apply for these away rotations? during 3rd year? Is it a complicated app process? What would acceptances be based on?</p>
<p><a href=“https://www.aamc.org/students/medstudents/vsas/[/url]”>https://www.aamc.org/students/medstudents/vsas/</a></p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>aha! thanks!</p>
<p>Yeah, D1 is talking about scheduling elective away rotations for next year. She’ll start applying in Nov-Dec [of 3rd year] for 4th year placements.</p>
<p>I’ve sometimes heard these away rotations referred to as “audition rotations” because students sometimes use them to make contacts in programs where they hope to get a residency.</p>
<p>^ A while ago, someone who is a CA resident going to med school in TX planning on cardiology said something to the effect of needing to spend 6 months in NY doing rotations in order to get a residency there since NY state had the most cardiology fellowships.</p>
<p>He did land residency in NY couple of years ago.</p>
<p>As others have pointed out, he was talking about away rotations. Most people only do one or maybe two away rotations. Some people will do more if they want to do a competitive specialty or if their school does not have a residency in their chosen specialty. And then there are those like the few people in my class that spent almost the entire year doing away rotations, just because they felt like checking out different parts of the country (and even other countries haha).</p>
<p>Really the point is to “audition” at a place you might like to go for residency. I chose my away because it was a different type of facility from my home school’s EM residency. Loved my experience there but didn’t like the location.</p>
<p>It’s important for certain non-competitive specialties as well. For example my friend was telling me it’s essential for EM because EDs vary so much from hospital to hospital that people like to know how you’ll do in their environment or at least see that you’ve succeeded in numerous environments.</p>
<p>But he also did one abroad post rank list submission that was solely for the purpose of getting to live in his favorite country for a month.</p>
<p>This is all very fascinating. What do people do for housing for these short jaunts? Extended hotels?</p>
<p>Week-to-week rentals? Extended stay hotel? Boarding house? YMCA room? RV in the hospital parking lot?</p>
<p>When D1 was doing a summer rotation at a site away, she lived in a tent in nearby National Forest, cooked on a campstove and showered in the staff locker room. For the first week anyway. Later she couch surfed with various members of the remote site’s fire dept (her BF used to work at that station so she knew most of the crew) or commuted 100 miles each way every day.</p>
<p>rotatingroom dot com</p>
<p>Yeah a lot of schools have systems where students will list their rooms for the months that they are on away rotations. Some places actually provide housing for their rotators. </p>
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<p>I’m not sure I would call EM a non-competitive specialty, but even for EM, only one away rotation is really “required”.</p>
<p>I’m assuming the website trap mentions is one where med students who are doing away rotations list their rooms as available for students visiting their school. I have friends who live in houses (typically one of them bought the house and has the 2-3 roommates split the cost of the monthly mortgage payment) who lend/rent rooms to visiting students while the regular roommates are away. I also have friends (M3s) whose friends (M4s at other schools) choose to do aways at my school and then couch surf with my friends. </p>
<p>I’m doing a few rotations at a rural site associated with my med school, and the site maintains a townhouse for visiting students, free of charge to the students. I imagine similar arrangements could be available at other hospitals.</p>
<p>D has done a number of away rotations. One included housing which made things easy. She is heading off shortly to an away rotation in San Francisco and had difficulty when she tried med school connections and housing sites. She will be there for too long to crash on anyone’s sofa and ended up finding a studio within walking distance to her hospital through airbnb.</p>
<p>D. is hoping to have all of her rotations at her school.<br>
I do not believe that she would do away rotations unless it is a requirement (did not hear so far about such a requirement)
So has also been advised to apply to residencies around our state as she will be labeleld “midwest” applicant. She has been in our state for UG and the Med. School. Since this is her preference anyway, she most likely will listen to this advice. We all do not mind for her to stay where she is now.
But 4th year is sooo far, she is only 3rd year and is on her second rotation. Many things may happen before she starts her 4th year, we never look that far.</p>
<p>Icarus,</p>
<p>obviously competitiveness is all relative and maybe I should have said “less competitive”, but EM has the 14th/19th highest average step 1 score according to the NRMP’s charting outcomes in the match document. It’s definitely not in the same category as plastics, neurosurg, derm, etc.</p>
<p>Miami, if your D is still doing derm, then away rotations are pretty much required.</p>
<p>Well, she cannot think about it now, will see…but she has been talking about her plans with people in charge and she will have more chances as she is doing research for one of them. Away rotation will be very undesirable for her personally…</p>