Away Rotations- How much do you see each other

[poky]

DH was gone two rotations in a row. One was a 3-day drive away, and one was a 9-hour drive away. And he was in EM, so didn't have 'weekends'. Shifts all over the place. I don't think he had two full days off in a row in either rotation, even, though he might have. He did have five or six days BETWEEN rotations, though (finished one a few days early to allow for travel time between them, because he'd driven so he'd have a car), so I took a couple day off and flew to meet him at the end of his first rotation, then drove with him between rotations and helped him get set up at the sublet apartment at the second one. I *wanted* to be able to visit him at the second one, but couldn't take more time off, and the amount of time and/or money it would have taken weren't worth it.

We've also been married over 10 years, though, and we skyped almost every day, so a month at a time wasn't a HUGE deal.

In short, I don't think it's weird, but don't be surprised if his days off don't coincide with yours (though that might depend on specialty).

We are actually done with the rotations (as of today, yay!) and his wasn't really an audition rotation. He scheduled it before we got married, before we had even set a date, because it was close to his family, and he could only do so many at the hospital affiliated with his school. We are newlyweds, so that probably makes a difference. He just made me feel like it was odd on my part to "need" to see him more than once a month.

Oh, well, it is over and done with now. We are actually leaving for our honeymoon Saturday, so hopefully that'll wash away all the aggravations of these past two months!

[diggitydot]

Totally not odd to want to see your newly-married-to-dude more frequently than once a month. However, that's kinda how that bitch Medicine rolls.

[TulipsAndSunscreen]

Oh, well, it is over and done with now. We are actually leaving for our honeymoon Saturday, so hopefully that'll wash away all the aggravations of these past two months!

Not the first time that medicine will make you feel silly.

ENJOY your honeymoon though! That will be a wonderful time for you to reconnect and you'll definitely come back feeling much better. I know that when things get really busy, even a few dedicated hours with your spouse can really help.

[niener]

If you have the time/gas money for the trips and he has one or two full days off, I don't see why not. I would just make sure you know his weekend schedule before you make the trip -- driving 6 hours to only see him 4 hours and having to drive 6 hours back would piss me off, personally.

I wanted him to offer to work every waking minute and if they insisted he take a day off he needed the sleep.

This was our thought as well, especially for such a competitive field where it's basically an intense 4-week interview. So I guess it just depends on what he's going into as to what the "norm" is. My DH did 3 aways -- 1 was a 2.5 hr drive one-way, 1 was 5 hrs, 1 was 2 days. He typically worked long hours, 6 days a week. For the first one (shortest drive), I think I only saw him once, maybe twice, I can't remember. For the second one, I saw him once about halfway through the rotation because it was in a city I'd never been to so I wanted to check it out. For the third one, I drove out there with him, flew back home the Monday he started the rotation, and flew back out the Friday when he finished the rotation to drive back home with him. But we talked on the phone or video chatted every day. I'm not gonna say it was an enjoyable 3 months, but it went by fairly quickly. Just make sure you have lots to keep you busy during those weeks .

Dianna, have fun on your honeymoon! Ah, so sad I have to live vicariously through everyone these days...

So, question from the newbie. Away rotations. Are they required? DH was saying that he had read in the blogosphere that it's actually NOT good to do "audition rotations" at your top choices. The rationale being that it's like a month long job interview, and it's just as likely that they'll find something to hate about you during that month as they would find something to love about you. So he has read that it's better to not do aways at your top choices at all, but to only do them at "back up programs". Anyone have any perspective on that? How many do you normally do and do they all have to be so far away? Can they just be like the next state over?

[bokelley]

We did three aways. We were DO trying to match into a competitive MD programs. So for us we had to do aways. The one we did the away at was our first choice and we matched. I am not sure we would have even gotten an interview had he not done aways. They had not taken a DO before. So for us it was a must.

[Deebs]

I think the advice on audition rotations is specialty, program, and sometimes even applicant specific. B - it's interesting that your SOs program waited for the "right " DO. My SO's program took many FMGs before they would take a DO. The one DO they have had is amazing...at life in general. We now feel really lucky that DH wasnt accepted to a DO school as he would have had a tougher path. The FMGs were easy to figure out because most were/are very accomplished in their home countries.

We did three aways. We were DO trying to match into a competitive MD programs. So for us we had to do aways. The one we did the away at was our first choice and we matched. I am not sure we would have even gotten an interview had he not done aways. They had not taken a DO before. So for us it was a must.

Wow, your DH was a DO who matched into an allopathic Rads residency. That's quite an accomplishment! Sounds like your away was well worth it.

I think the advice on audition rotations is specialty, program, and sometimes even applicant specific. B - it's interesting that your SOs program waited for the "right " DO. My SO's program took many FMGs before they would take a DO. The one DO they have had is amazing...at life in general. We now feel really lucky that DH wasnt accepted to a DO school as he would have had a tougher path. The FMGs were easy to figure out because most were/are very accomplished in their home countries.

DH didn't apply DO for this reason. Not that he thought that he would receive a sub-par education at a DO school, but because he thought it would be such an uphill battle throughout his entire career given the stigma that can be associated in some specialties.

[corn poffi]

I think some schools require away rotations. My BF's med school required them to do at least one. He did his in a rural, non-academic hospital, so it wasn't an autition in the slightest. He loved it!

[diggitydot]

Wow, your DH was a DO who matched into an allopathic Rads residency. That's quite an accomplishment! Sounds like your away was well worth it.

It's not really any kind of accomplishment that a DO got into a rads program. (Any doc getting into rads is an accomplishment.) Most DOs match into allopathic programs, even the more competitive specialties. The MD v. DO thing is kind of a non-issue.

My dude was his DO school's class president for 3 years. He knows where everyone matched and the vast majority of his classmates got into their 1st choice. A good candidate with excellent scores is going to do well.

Audition rotations can be very helpful. I would HIGHLY recommend them. It gives the program a chance to really know the student and it give the student a great opportunity to become really well acquainted with the program. DH completely eliminated a program from high up on his rank list after rotating there because he really disliked the culture and the people.

Holly - My dude has never had any stigma attached to him because he's a DO. Actually, his program recruits osteopaths because they're so popular in sports medicine and they have an awesome SM program.

The MD/DO thing doesn't really exist outside of med school.

[TulipsAndSunscreen]

I do think it's somewhat specialty dependent. DH did two audition rotations and they are virtually required in many surgical specialties. The goal (at least as DH saw it) was to get exposure to a different "system" (different call schedule, different hospital, different hospital records, etc.) and get a more objective recommendation than your home program might give you. Home programs have a pretty big incentive to give you a good recommendation because they want you to match whereas if you're an away rotator, they will be able to evaluate in a more unbiased way.

There is some strategy though - he did not apply to do an audition rotation at a top notch program that allegedly hasn't taken an audition rotator in the match in the last 10 years. Basically they seem to find something negative in their month-long interview. DH did one at a program that we thought we'd like but had some wild card elements in it. It has turned out to probably not be in our top 5 but DH got great operative experience, a fantastic recommendation from a well respected attending in the field and exposure to a different system. This was really valuable because it also gave him exposure to different things that have come to be important in his interview process/rank decisions. It was totally worth it for him to do the away rotation and a really good experience.

I do think it's specialty dependent though, we have a friend here trying to match in med-peds and didn't feel the need to do an away rotation.

It's not really any kind of accomplishment that a DO got into a rads program. (Any doc getting into rads is an accomplishment.) Most DOs match into allopathic programs, even the more competitive specialties. The MD v. DO thing is kind of a non-issue.

My dude was his DO school's class president for 3 years. He knows where everyone matched and the vast majority of his classmates got into their 1st choice. A good candidate with excellent scores is going to do well.

Audition rotations can be very helpful. I would HIGHLY recommend them. It gives the program a chance to really know the student and it give the student a great opportunity to become really well acquainted with the program. DH completely eliminated a program from high up on his rank list after rotating there because he really disliked the culture and the people.

Holly - My dude has never had any stigma attached to him because he's a DO. Actually, his program recruits osteopaths because they're so popular in sports medicine and they have an awesome SM program.

The MD/DO thing doesn't really exist outside of med school.

I'm sorry. I didn't mean any offense. I was under the impression that some types of allopathic programs were notoriously difficult for DOs to match into for whatever reason, one of those being rads, another being general surgery, for example. Of course, that's just what I've heard, obviously I"m not any sort of expert on the subject.

ETA: According to the NRMP data, only 11 DOs matched into an allopathic rads residency PGY-1 (out of about 150 slots) and 51 PGY-2 (out of about 1000) in 2011. Not that it matters, just to add to the discussion. That's about what I thought it was, which is why I was congratulatory. My point isn't that DOs enter the match with lower stats, but that it was my understanding that, unfortunately, some allopathic specialties still hold some stigma against DOs. So the DOs who get into those allopathic programs have to have even better stats than the MDs that get in. The same for FMGs/IMGs.