EhFuck: BNI
Marry: UCSF
Kill: UVA

I am currently an M2 and my school is about to start scheduling our 3rd year clerkships. At my school our 3rd year clerkships cannot be completed in the 3rd year. So one (of our choosing) is deferred to the 4th year and can be completed at any time during the 4th year. Neurology is the most popular choice to defer since it is the shortest at only 4 weeks. The second most popular is psych which is 6 weeks. What I’m not sure about is what implications this has on scheduling away rotations and if there is a best strategy on which clerkship to defer and when to complete it during the 4th year.
 
I have checked the requirements on a handful of medical school websites and it looks like most of them require visiting students to complete the core 3rd year clerkships prior to the visiting rotation. At my school neurology is considered a core 3rd year clerkship. Should I interpret this mean that most programs will require me to complete the neurology clerkship prior to doing my away rotations? If so, I think the best strategy would be to start my 4th year with neurology in June, then do my home sub I in July, then away rotations in August and September. Alternatively, if it other schools won’t mind that I haven’t completed one of my clerkships due to our requirement to defer one, I could start my home sub I in June then do a couple aways and come back to complete my deferred clerkship whenever it is convenient. If I am going to do the deferred clerkship after my away rotations, does it make any difference whether I defer neurology or psych? I think most schools consider psych a core clerkship, so maybe they will be less forgiving about not having it completed prior to visiting?
 
Has anyone had any similar situations at their schools? Any other potential problems I haven’t considered?

Thank you for helping me figure this process out.

What's the real deal on callbacks? I haven't received any yet, should I be worried or do most programs opt to stay silent and just rank you as they see fit? Maybe we could get a thread going on schools that have done callbacks

Im struggling with prioritizing location vs. reputation with some programs on my rank list. For example:

Program A: Awesome location (love the city, culture etc..), not a bad program but not regarded as one of the best, somewhat inbred, residents aren't very involved in research, not too much placement in academics/producing future chairmen etc... I think I'd be happy in the program but would be afraid that I may be able to do better.

Program B: "Shithole" location (in that I wouldn't be happy with what the city has to offer), but residents were chill, program is highly-regarded, excellent fellowship and job placement, much more academic feel overall higher research output , etc...

Any tips from current residents or junior attendings? Would you sacrifice your quality of life in a given city for the reputation of the program?

Has anyone here purchased specialty specific disability insurance at the start of residency? I'm looking for a general framework on where to buy it, how much coverage I might need, and any neurosurgery specific issues that are relevant to the purchase of disability insurance for a PGY-1.

Anyone heard anything about the hospital/department? Looks like a new program per NRMP.

Where do you find out Sub I's?  Is this the only resource for information exchange about these rotations for N-Sx?

Has anyone here rotated at MGH? Can you comment on the experience? 

What's the general difference between the Neurosurgery rotation (multi-site) and the Clinical Neurosurgery rotation (MGH only)?

Hey guys, few more questions about aways. 

First of all--how many have a first come first serve, versus meritocratic selection process? I'm still early in the process, but it seems like most require scores, grades and CV. Does that mean that those programs have a meritocratic selection process? 

Another somewhat related question. If there is in fact a meritocratic process, does it look good to do aways at more "classically prestigious" programs? Conversely, if the process isn't very meritocratic and most people can get into most away programs: might it look bad to gravitate only towards the most "classically prestigious" programs? One neurosurgeon heavily involved with resident selection told me: "It says more about how good you think you are than how good you are." The point being that those who only do aways at top programs may look ostentatious and look like they have an inflated self-worth. 

Where does the truth lie? Or am I overthinking all of this? Thanks

I'm an international student in a top 40 US medical school and I've wanted to do NS since I was in college. I'm worried about not matching because of my stats and the fact that I'll need a J1 or H1b visa.
Stats:
Step 1: 238
Step 2: 240+
Honors in all except med and peds (high pass)
2 first author pubs, 1 first author review, 1 book chapter, 2 non-first author pubs
Currently taking a year off for NS research.

Should I apply to all possible NS programs and hope for the best, or dual apply with a backup (not clear on which other specialty yet)? My app basically screams NS so I'm also worried if I dual apply, the other programs will definitely know they are a backup.