Picking Rotation Sites

Honestly, sometimes it feels surreal that I’m already at this point in my medical school career! In addition to studying for boards while studying for regular class materials, I’m also in the process of selecting my rotation sites for my third year of medical school.

Things to consider

I’m what people refer to as a non-traditional medical student.
Huh? What does that mean?
That means that I took a couple years off of school after I graduated from undergrad. This means that I’m not in my early or late twenties like some of my peers.

I’m also married to someone who has a well-established career and have other responsibilities outside of school (such as my family and church) within the area.

Lastly, I have a general idea on what specialty I’d like to go into. So the location of my potential rotation sites and their various rotation programs were major things to consider when picking my top three rotation sites.

Location

As mentioned above, the locations of the rotation sites are a HUGE factor for me. Since my husband works in the area and since I have other responsibilities in the area, picking rotation sites close to home was very important to me. So, although appealing, the rotation sites outside of California weren’t an option for me.

Although there are many established rotation sites in California, I still wanted to choose ones close to home. There was one option very close to home; however, the other sites aren’t too terribly far. Unfortunately, that may mean that I’ll have a daily commute again (if I’m chosen for two of the three sites). I don’t like driving, but I’ll obviously do what I have to do for my education.

Gathering information on the rotation sites

As briefly mentioned above, I have a general idea of what specialty I’d like to go into once I’m done with medical school. So, once the spring semester started, I decided to meet up with my advisor (who is an amazing, well-seasoned physician) to get her well-informed opinion on the various sites, close to the area, that could best prepare me for that specialty.

In addition to meeting up with my advisor concerning the various rotation sites, I also attended or watched recordings of panel discussions of current third year medical students. They gave pros and cons for their rotation sites and informed us on how their days typically look like. I paid close attention to what they said about their experience rotating through two specific specialties (the ones I’m interested in) at the various sites.

After gathering all of this information, I was able to make my top three choices for my rotation sites.

When will you’ll know where you’ll be rotating at?

Thats a great question! My school is currently giving us second years the opportunity to submit lottery exemption forms. Unfortunately, being married doesn’t qualify for the exemption. I’m also not currently pregnant or have a child yet, so that doesn't count either. However, due to the nature of my husbands job, I’ll try to see if I can for sure get something close. The exemption application are due at the end of January.

I’ll be submitting my top three rotation choices in February and I think I’ll also find out in February as well. Exciting right? But seriously, to God be all the glory for getting me through this!

I won’t be posting my rotation site or my current options, for safety reasons. But I’ll make another post on whether or not I got any from my top three. Until then, back to studying.