how often does a medical student need to move throughout their education?

[medgirlypop2443]

i’m curious to know how much i’ll need to be preparing to move. i know for clinical rotations i’ll have to move but how does that work? do you pick a location and that’s where you’ll do rotations at for the remaining years of med school? any insight on this please and thanks!

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[esob]

i’m curious to know how much i’ll need to be preparing to move. i know for clinical rotations i’ll have to move but how does that work? do you pick a location and that’s where you’ll do rotations at for the remaining years of med school? any insight on this please and thanks!

I don't think most medical students "move" for clinical rotations. You may have some off-site rotations, with some that are driveable and some that are not. Still, typically, the non-commutable rotations are limited to 1 or 2 for clerkships, and often, there is housing available. I think the big exception to this would be Carribean schools, where they generally arrange clinical rotations in the US.

 

[medgirlypop2443]

I don't think most medical students "move" for clinical rotations. You may have some off-site rotations, with some that are driveable and some that are not. Still, typically, the non-commutable rotations are limited to 1 or 2 for clerkships, and often, there is housing available. I think the big exception to this would be Carribean schools, where they generally arrange clinical rotations in the US.

gotcha, i was asking cuz some of the schools i interviewed at showed their clinical rotation sites and they had several off-site ones in different states even. i’m open to moving especially if i don’t vibe with the original location but i was just wondering to see how common this is especially for DO schools

 

[Calizboosted76]

gotcha, i was asking cuz some of the schools i interviewed at showed their clinical rotation sites and they had several off-site ones in different states even. i’m open to moving especially if i don’t vibe with the original location but i was just wondering to see how common this is especially for DO schools

So at our school you move to the area and do the first two years, then you make a rank list of the rotation sites (spans the course of 3 states) and then a computer places you at a core site (which you move to). From here you will only move one more time for residency then potentially again if you do a fellowship. Then again to settle down and practice where you want to be at.

Edit: I am at a DO school and this has been similar to a majority of the DO schools in my area from my understanding.

 

[esob]

So, I should probably expand my answer to say that there are various models out there. I do know A&M recently had a model where you did your preclinical in Bryan and then would move to one of 2-3 clinical sites. It's been a few years since I interviewed for schools but it seems like A&M was the only one that did this, though, I interviewed almost exclusively in Texas. All of that said, I still don't think moving more than once is typical.

 

[DrMcLovin]

I moved for med school and spent 2 years at the main campus. Then moved again to my core rotation site for the last 2 years. About 40 students were able to stay at the main campus rotation site. I think this is pretty standard for DO schools.

My school guaranteed that 3rd and 4th year rotations could be completed at the core site. That meant max 2 moves if you end up at a rotation site away from the main campus. Then obviously more for residency, fellowship, and attending job.

 

[PandaBaer]

Entirely depends on the school. There are DO and MD schools that have clinical rotations in far flung locales.

Then for 4th year, most DO students will do a # of away/audition rotations. Depending on the specialty and your competitiveness, these could be all over the country. Of course most don't formally move for them as they are usually 2-4 weeks long.

You should ask the current students, ideally 4th years, what their experience was.