Approaching Away Rotations

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Author: Taylor Petrusevski, MS4
Loyola Stritch School of Medicine
AAEM/RSA Social Media Committee

For emergency medicine (EM)-bound third-year medical students, exciting times are quickly approaching, including starting to think about your away rotations. Away rotations are a crucial component of an EM application, as studies consistently note that the away Standardized Letter of Evaluation (SLOE) and grade have the highest values in selecting prospective EM residents.¹ One year ago, my fellow EM-bound classmates and I began to have similar questions around away rotations: primarily, how many and where? I’d like to pass along notable conclusions from recent studies around this topic as well as some advice I received from mentors that helped me along the way.

Medical Student Experiences with Ethical and Legal Cases

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Author: David Fine, Medical Student Council President

Originally published: Common Sense
May/June 2020

The purpose of medical education is to train future providers to be prepared for the multitude of patients, presentations, and complications that they might face in their future careers. Ethical and legal dilemmas are incredibly complicated and vary based on where you practice, so they are often less discussed than our essential medical fundamentals. Being somewhat familiar with common problems, however, is relevant not only to your future career but your rotations as well. I aim to share a few of the complex situations that I faced, which may apply to your rotations in the emergency department or on the floors.

Dilemma 1: A patient who was frustrated with long wait times starts the patient interview by stating that they are recording the conversation. 

Should ST elevation in lead aVR with concern for acute coronary syndrome prompt emergent coronary angiography?

Authors: Akilesh Honasoge, MD, Robert Brown, MD, Samantha Yarmis, MD, Mark Sutherland, MD, Megan Donohue, MD, Hannah Goldberg, MD

Editors: Kami M. Hu, MD FAAEM, Kelly Maurelus, MD FAAEM

Originally published: Common Sense

May/June 2020