The ACGME and EM parent organizations have come out with a very strong message that students should focus on home rotations only and NOT pursue the usually recommended strategy of a home rotation and one or more away rotations. For those without a home EM residency to rotate at the recommendation circulating is to do a single away rotation. This is very different advice from a "normal" year.
The official answer, and the one for most students, is "Yes! One rotation is fine."
Programs are NOT going to be expecting more than one rotation and one Group EM SLOE from a Residency Program Leadership team.
However, application advice is never one-size-fits-all. Depending on your individual circumstances it may be very reasonable to do two rotations. Some examples where doing a second rotation will not be held against you by Residency Program Directors:
Answer: No.
This has led to a lot of appropriately concerned students wondering:
"Should I really only do 1 EM rotation?"
Programs are NOT going to be expecting more than one rotation and one Group EM SLOE from a Residency Program Leadership team.
However, application advice is never one-size-fits-all. Depending on your individual circumstances it may be very reasonable to do two rotations. Some examples where doing a second rotation will not be held against you by Residency Program Directors:
- The second rotation is a community EM month, not at a residency program
- Your school is affiliated with more than one EM residency (multiple "home" options) AND your local advisors recommend rotating at more than one of them
- Your school has no home EM program (a so called "orphan school")***
***This third one is controversial. Most programs will not be upset with an applicant from an orphan school who does 2 rotations, but some may be annoyed. My opinion is that the benefits of a second rotation in your schedule make this worthwhile. Surge in cases in many regions may lead to cancellation of rotations. Early rotations may have clinical limitations that don't let you have a full experience. Second rotation performance is often better, especially for students who did not have as much EM infrastructure at their school.
Another question:
"So... can I do 3 or 4 rotations?"
For orphan students, could you clarify what you mean by "2 rotations"? Do you mean 2 EM-residency-program rotations?
ReplyDeleteI do mean that it is okay to do 2 EM Residency Rotations. You do NOT need to do 2, but it is unlikely to be held against you that you did 2 (which is the fear of a lot of students).
DeleteThanks for this. Because of the postponed ERAS deadline, do you have any input on when interviews will be held this cycle? I read that traditionally between Nov-Jan students take easier rotations due to interviews, will that be the same case this year or will it be shifted to Dec-Feb?
ReplyDeleteERAS is going to open late this year with programs not seeing applications until 10/21/20 (https://students-residents.aamc.org/applying-residency/article/eras-timeline-md-residency/)
DeleteThis means that interviews will definitely start later, probably mid-November at most programs. These are all going to be done virtually this year. That reduces some of the need for "light" rotations BUT most interviews will still happen during the day. I would recommend all applicants to have either December or January completely free to allow more flexibility for interviews (and have a light rotation in the other month).