Three Electives in a Row

I did my home rotation the last period of third year and two aways at the start of fourth year. Luckily the last rotation was much less hardcore than the first two (and thats where I ended up matching!). It certainly is possible, but other things have to be considered (are you married? what type of rotations are you doing (taking lots of call or not) etc, etc). I was getting tired towards the end, but truthfully it is all a blur now. I had a good experience on all three rotations.
Good Luck

I'm not in residency yet, but on my away rotations, I worked pretty similar hours as the residents. I took more call, but I really wasn't racking up a lot more time than others in the program. So I don't think that doing 3 months of ortho in a row will tire you out any more than it will during residency. What it will do is make your really hate having to come back and take non-ortho rotations.

As bonedoc suggested, there are other things that make away rotations difficult. You are away from friends, significant others, and family. You are living out of a suitcase. That is the part that wears on you. I would ask yourself if you really need to do 3 aways. You need to look at your scores (I would argue that anything above 220 will get you past the cut and you can definitely match with that kind of score. Of course, having 230+ makes it much easier), whether you have research, honors, AOA, who are your letter writers etc. If you feel that you need to do 3 and you have the time, by all means do it. I would just suggest that you try to space them out and not do them all consecutively. If you are tired by the time you start your 3rd, you are not going to make a great impression. Remember, you don't need a letter from all of your rotations. The goal for me was merely to get known at the program, so I took mine late in the fall. That way, I was fresh in people's minds when interviews came around.

If you can space them out, it would probably better.
I'm currently a PGY-4.
As an MS4 I did the 3 in a row Ortho rotation marathon beginning in October. The month that you begin may also be critical. I definitely didn't want to start in July (with all the new interns) so I studied for Step 2 to get it out of the way and luckily didn't shoot myself in the foot (237).
I used aug and september to make sure I wasn't missing out on all the hype of radiology and anesthesia.--> Hated them so I confirmed Ortho as the one and only residency I would ever do...or apply to.
I started at my home institution (county hospital/level one trauma), moved on to a mixed (2week county, 2week top tier University program) and ended with a cush 4 weeks of foot and ankle at a very pampered program.
By the end of the 3 straight months of ortho I wanted a break....I was so tired of smiling and trying to be everyone's new BEST FRIEND.
When looking back at it...I matched 100% because of my numbers (and sure my 5 mins of interview time with each person) not by my great, enthusiastic personality.
Many of us will got tired of smiling and "playing the game", so if you can try and take a month between the 1st/2nd or 2nd/3rd rotation.
-Hulk

Three is tough in a row. I did it and was really burned out. I lost my ability to love everyone the third month....and I would have been better off taking a month off or just doing 2 months....

I would say kick butt at home---they will write you the best letters and make phone calls for you.....

It is also equally important what type of places you rotate...

At home--major trauma setting.....took one day off the entire month....easily put in 90-110 hour weeks.....NO way could have dont three straight months of this but I needed to prove I was legit at home....

One of my aways was at a community place with 5 other students.....so I took call like 4-5 in the month--cause of all the other students....I worked one weekend..got there at 6 and was rarely there past 5......thats just how this place ran....I worked as hard as everyone else....

so be sure not to sign yourself up for 3 months of trauma...but if you did a couple months of some elective stuff you could easily do 3 months....but I would try to take at least a week off somewhere between those 3 months....

I can't agree more with how important the type of rotation is... I did two super busy months in a row and there is no way I could have taken another month of that (and kept up my enthusiastic demeanor). It is a tough balance, because at the "cush" rotations you often have less responsibility, so have fewer opportunities to impress - so you don't want to pad your schedule with those either.
Along with the family, living situation and other concerns, I think it is tough to say what the "right" number of rotations is (as long as that number isn't zero!). It does seem that when I talk to people who did more than two aways they put in ones that were either super laid back and/or where their families lived, etc... to ease the emotional and financial burden.

three is rough, but not impossible. i was an ok candidate, so knew i had to suck it up for fourth year. finished m3 on surgery, took a month off for step 2 (which i rocked, thanks very much
Rendering Error in layout BBCode/Image: Layout 'BBCode/Image:default' Not Found. Please enable debug mode for more information.
) then did three ortho sub-i's. my home program was third, as i was planning to do four and pooped out. if you do three, do your first choice 2nd if you will be taking call in all rotations. if you can do tough month, easy month, first choice, that might be good too.
if you're already a star, don't bother. it is fun because it's ortho, but it wears you out. if you're borderline, i'd say go for it. after a few months of taking call and doing exams, etc, you actually start to sound like you know something, which is a great feeling.

word to the wise. if you can't put on a happy face when you're tired, don't do three. no matter how easy it is, you will be exhausted from being on one long interview for three months, and you want to show your best side.

good luck. just keep your eyes on the prize.

cheers.
firegirl

I say go for it. I only did one away rotation, so I can't comment on the energy required to do three strait, but I feel I really really helped myself at that place and it is almost at the top of my list.

To toss out another answer....not to be an a-hole or anything but...

My program tends to be pretty busy for the residents. Our student rotators get graded down significantly if they aren't up to par during the month that they are with us, even if it's their third or fourth month (par = energy, not necessarily brains). Residency can be like 48-60 in a row...

All good advice on rotations. Quick question, If one ended up doing several rotations, not necessarily in a row, what is the latest in the year that you would recommend doing an away rotation.

I would say a rotation that ends in late November is pretty safe. You might have one interview in November, but December it is every weekend.