UofT Rotations - which order is best?

[TheresaS3D]

Hey, I'm trying to decide about my clerkship rotations for next year.
I've heard that its better to have what your interested in as a later rotation closer to carms...so if im interested in surgery, that would be 5 or 6 (have surg and elective last). I've also heard arguements for surgery first (rotation 1). Any suggestions?

Thanks,
T

[Kirsteen]

Originally Posted by TheresaS3D

Hey, I'm trying to decide about my clerkship rotations for next year.
I've heard that its better to have what your interested in as a later rotation closer to carms...so if im interested in surgery, that would be 5 or 6 (have surg and elective last). I've also heard arguements for surgery first (rotation 1). Any suggestions?

Thanks,
T

Hi there,

One of my mentors is a UofT surgeon and he provided some interesting advice re: this very question last year. He noted that electives completed earlier in the calendar year tend to be a lot more laid back. For one, there are generally fewer elective students in those rotations at that time, and also, the students from that school who are within those rotations generally are completing mandatory rotations and often are not ask keen on that specialty. I certainly found this to be the case when I completed my Surgery electives at UBC, UofT and McGill from March through June last year. In contrast, he noted that electives during the latter months of the year tend to have a much more competitive flavour. There are generally a lot more students taking electives pre-CaRMS and it can be a lot more challenging to stand out from the crowd both, in terms of numbers of bodies around and also in terms of brilliance of those bodies.

Cheers,
Kirsteen

[ally06]

How early is early? What type(s) of rotation to do before delving into the surgery rotations? Being in 1st year, please excuse me if these are stupid questions

thanks,
ally

[ally06]

To add to that, I'm an Ontario student and am thinking of doing electives out West. To show adequate interest, how many schools should I go to? Is one adequate, e.g. elective in UBC or U of A? If you had to choose between them, which would you consider better?

ally

[blinknoodle]

As a UWO medical student, all your electives will be Sept-Dec (16 weeks) in 4th year. Kirsteen can correct me if I am wrong, but I believe this is what she meant as the more "competitive" pre-CaRMS time. However, certain schools have electives fairly early in clerkship, even before a core rotation at home. We had a visiting elective student from Mac in November, who had just begun their clerkship with an away elective and had to pick things up real fast. Personally, I don't necessarily recommend starting fresh with what you are interested in - you don't want to come across as too much of an idiot. However, staff realize where you are in the scheme of your clerkship so the expectations are different.

I like UWO's elective set-up because you will have completed your entire clerkship so you should (hopefully) know what you are interested in, and are able to gear your electives towards your residency of choice.

You should definitely do an elective at a university you would like to do residency because they will get to know you and just as important, you can meet the staff and students and learn more about the program first hand.

[Ollie]

Originally Posted by TheresaS3D

Hey, I'm trying to decide about my clerkship rotations for next year.
I've heard that its better to have what your interested in as a later rotation closer to carms...so if im interested in surgery, that would be 5 or 6 (have surg and elective last). I've also heard arguements for surgery first (rotation 1). Any suggestions?

Thanks,
T

I would say the only thing that is somewhat important is to do your core rotation of whatever you're interested in before your elective (and I think at least 3/6 rotations have elective last anyways). Other than that it honestly makes NO difference. Even if you do your core surgery as your very first rotation, you can still do well and get a reference letter.