rotate at as many places your school allows. its definately a bonus if your base hospital has an ortho program because you can spend some of your free time there. always good to call med ed before you pick a place to rotate so that you can talk to a couple of residents and find out what they look for.
i can only comment on most of the michigan programs as far as when to rotate. interview dates are not set in stone but usually occur the last week of september in to early/mid october. a few even do them during the first week of november. with that being said it is important to rotate before this. it is probably better to rotate in the summer months (june,july, and august) because you will be more fresh in the minds of the attendings and residents. you can always call med ed to find out when interview will be scheduled at a specific location.
Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately my school doesn't have an ortho program so all of my rotations will have to be away. I'm not sure, but I think my program only allows 3-4 rotations in surgery/electives.
Would it be better to do a rotation for 2 weeks at a program or the full month on service?
4 weeks is always better than 2 weeks, but take what you can get. 2 weeks is better at programs that interview students regardless if they have rotated. There are a few michigan programs that will interview you even if you have not rotated there.
Yeah, actually, I have some info on St. Vincent in Toledo. I actually matched here on Monday and I read through some info in the first couple pages that isn't really true.
SVMMC is a level one trauma center. The DO residents cover 6 of 7 nights a week. There is no clash with the MD residents because the trauma goes to the DOs 6/7 nights. The MDs get their trauma at UToledo.
It is true that they are very hardup on board scores. I was asked what my board scores were before I was able to schedule an interview. Additionally, I was asked my board scores by the PD during my interview. Its not really an interview, there is no interview day. The PD simply talks to you about the program on your last day of rotation.
The residents are in the OR everyday except Monday, unless there is trauma. Monday is a clinic day, and the only clinic day. Juniors get ample surgery time, even interns scrub if they are on the ortho service.
One thing to note is that fourth year, in its entirety, is spent away. SVMMC allows this, and as such, the PD requires that you spend the entire year away...which is fine as it gives you plenty of opportunity for fellowship exposure.
The faculty is a good mix of MD and DO with fellowship trained docs in nearly everything, including spine, and trauma (my two favorites).
If you have any questions, you can PM me, and Ill do my best to answer, but I don't start until July.
