Variability of the Orthopaedic Away Rotation: A Survey of Orthopaedic Program Directors

With the increasing interest and pursuit of away rotations by orthopaedic surgery applicants, program directors (PDs) must use information from the 4-week performance to determine who is good fit for their program. For students, despite the increasing cost and time, they are faced with a variable experience from program to program. The purpose of this study was to survey PDs from Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education–accredited orthopaedic residency programs to better understand how programs approach the away rotation process. METHODS: An anonymous online survey was distributed to PDs of all 164 accredited allopathic orthopaedic surgery residency programs in the United States. The survey included questions regarding PD demographics, away rotations structure, and the process of interviewing rotating students. The data were aggregated, and an analysis was done. RESULTS: A total of 61 of 164 (37%) surveys were completed. There was variability regarding the number of away students that a program accepted over the course of a year, and the number of students that a program will accept at one time. Fifty-two of 55 (94%) programs evaluated medical students immediately after their rotation. Visiting students were most commonly evaluated by the program's residents, followed by attendings they rotated with, and only 46% of PDs. Furthermore, PDs placed the most emphasis on work ethic and social interaction when evaluating students compared with surgical skills and orthopaedic knowledge. Only 38.5% of programs reported that visiting students were guaranteed an interview. If granted an interview, 80% of programs require that the students return for interview day. CONCLUSIONS: The visiting rotation has become increasingly more valuable for students; however, there is notable variability in the process between programs. Creating a more standardized away rotation could decrease the variability and facilitate a more beneficial experience to the student and program.