Applying for Away Rotations
Those of us in medical school in the Class of 2021 had the experience of planning our fourth year schedules multiple times, at first thinking we would be able to do away rotations. Although the word is still out on whether or not the Class of 2022 will have the opportunity to do away rotations, I’d like to share a few tips for whenever medical students are able to apply again.
The Application
VSAS (Visiting Student Application System) is the system through AAMC where medical students apply to do clinical rotations at a location other than their home school. (AAMC calls these rotations “visiting student learning opportunities” or VSLO, so you may see that acronym as well.) I personally was intimidated even to start clicking through the system, so the first thing I’d like to share is that the most difficult part of VSAS is just getting started. Once you’ve clicked through all of the menus for the first time, you can start filling out the application fairly quickly. It’s just the initial anxiety of an unknown system that is the most difficult part to get over.
The “My Application” section of the VSAS system is where you’ll input your personal and academic information. I was happily surprised at how short these sections were.
The “find electives” tab is where you can search by specialty, institution, state, etc. to look for available electives.
One of the more tedious parts of this process is that each rotation has slightly different application requirements.
Be sure to review the application requirements for each individual elective that you apply for. Some will require more strict immunization requirements than others, some have specific documents you’ll need to sign, and many will ask for a resume or CV. The dates where institutions will accept applicants vary as well, and sometimes this date is listed separately under the “institutions” tab.
Some things you can consider preparing ahead of time: CV/Resume, ask for a letter of recommendation from a faculty in the field in which you are applying, have copies of all of your immunization records, HIPAA training, etc. ready.
Keeping Track
I personally found it helpful to make a spreadsheet of the aways I planned to apply for. My spreadsheet labels were: Program, City/Address, Possible rotation dates, App Open Date, App Due Date, Rotation Requirements, Website, misc notes.
Whatever your personal system looks like, be sure it’s accessible and you can quickly see what your upcoming deadlines are.
The Personal Statement for VSAS
This is NOT the same personal statement that you’ll need to prepare for your residency application. This personal statement (I think some institutions call it a “letter of interest”) is a very short (less than 1 page) document you’ll have to prepare for some applications. I formatted mine to generally have: 1 paragraph briefly outlining my interest in EM, 1 paragraph on why I am a good candidate for the rotation; 1 paragraph that is program specific as to why you want to go there for a rotation.
Many of these will have a word limit that keeps you at 3 or less paragraphs, so again keep these short and to the point.
Other Tips
The most common tip I was given about applying for away rotations is to get your applications in as soon as it opens. I kept track of opening dates on my personal calendar and followed this advice, and I was able to successfully secure an away rotation (I just later had to withdraw due to COVID).
Be sure to at least skim through each program’s website. If you are considered an underrepresented student, many institutions offer scholarship opportunities, so be sure to check their websites for that information.
Keep in mind that these rotations are essentially 1-month long interviews. This is the program’s chance to see how you might work as part of their team, and this is also your chance to see if you are a good fit with the people and the place. Common advice given, especially to EM applicants, is to try to do rotations in different settings (community, county, adn academic) so that you have a better idea of what type of residencies you want to apply for. With all of this in mind, I would definitely prioritize applying for away rotations at institutions you could picture yourself at for residency. If geography will be important for you for residency, then stick to the same area for your away applications. But, on the other hand, if you are more open to the idea of exploring new places and possibly moving farther for residency, then take advantage of this unique opportunity to see and work somewhere new. Retrospectively, now that I am through the interview process and making my rank list, I am surprised that moving further away from home is having less impact on my decisions than I initially thought it would. So, I’d gently advise to be open to exploring new places in your aways.
No matter how much planning you do, part of this process may come down to accepting the first couple of rotations that you are offered. It is definitely more important to secure an away rotation (at least for emergency medicine applicants) than to get one at the exact institution you had in mind. It is always possible to withdraw later, but my advisors strongly discouraged this and said that if I did withdraw to make sure I give at least a month of notice but much more if possible. My personal plan was to try to get one rotation somewhere in Texas because I knew I wanted to demonstrate a connection to that state for residency application purposes, and then take a second one wherever it came through first.
Try to enjoy this part of the journey. It can be really stressful and make many of us uncomfortable to have so many moving parts and unknown aspects of our fourth year schedule. But, try to take a step back and realize what this part of the process means. It means that you’re almost done with medical school! This means that you get the amazing opportunity to “try out” a place where you could potentially be for residency! Take it from someone who has heard over and over on the interview trail how sorry people are that we lost that chance due to COVID, don’t take this opportunity for granted.
I’ll keep my fingers crossed that the class of 2022 is reading this and gets to go back to away rotations. But, if you also don’t have the opportunity due to the pandemic, then please know that things will still work out, and you’ll have us class of 2021 to turn to for advice on navigating things virtually.