Importance of aways & auditions in Med-Peds

[MianBaoKing]

Hey all,

Current M3 planning on applying med-peds. I'm trying to figure out if I need to do away rotations this upcoming summer/fall. How important would people say away rotations are for med-peds? I've seen a lot of people say they aren't that helpful and you should only do them if it's at your dream program or if you want 4 weeks to get to know a program better. I've also been told from students at my school (low tier w/o home med-peds program) that it's important.

Thanks ahead of time!

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[andrek82]

My program has a rotation for visiting students. Typically they are from places without a med peds program but some are interested in being there for residency. I do think that some sort of med peds experience is good, regardless of whether it is aways, home rotations, etc. I did not have a local program, so I spent a month in early 4th year in a med peds outpatient practice. It was non academic, a 3 physician group, but they spent time every day talking about evidence and approached medicine in a very evidence based way that really sold me on med peds being right for me. Without that experience I may have been a little less sure. If you need (1) to be sure this is right for you or (2) get a leg up because of lack of exposure, an away may be right for you. I think it is similar to the categorical programs, though, in that it is not definitively necessary to do an away.

 

[fitz0809]

I did an away at the program I matched in as well as 2 other programs. While I feel I was fortunate to do so- I don't think it was in any way necessary to match med peds. I do feel it led to a better understanding of what kind of program I was looking for.

That being said, most of the people at my program did not do an away here before matching.

I don't think it hurts to get an idea of a place if you want to see somewhere besides your home institution (if you have a med-peds program), but I think that you can match if you are a competitive applicant either way.

My advice would be to do one if you can swing it. You will meet some new people, check out a new place and be in a better postition to decide what you want to do. If it is a burden, then skip it.

 

[MianBaoKing]

Thank you both for the thoughtful responses! I think I'll try to apply to some that are convenient for me (location/timing) and see what happens .