Guide to 3rd Year

In regards to scheduling boards:

- I signed up for the PE in early September and most dates were full. More spots opened
up after this as people dropped dates, but try to sign up as soon as you can. RVU
recommends you take the PE as soon as possible after PE prep week, which is the first
week of March. The last day we were allowed to take it was Sept 18 of 4th year. The PE
costs about $1300 (not including flights and accomodations).

- You need to register and pay for Step 2 in order to get a scheduling permit. I
registered/paid for Step 2 in mid September and received my permit from NBME in early
October. Seats open up ~6 months in advance of the test dates, which meant that for
Step 2 in May-July, seats opened for reservation in mid November. You can’t reserve a
seat for Step 2 until you get your scheduling permit. No permit needed for Level 2; you
can sign up as soon as dates open (which was slightly earlier than for Step 2, if I
remember correctly). Step 2 costed $630. Level 2 costed $660.

In regards to LoRs:
- I recommend trying to get as many LoRs as possible, even if they don’t seem relevant to
your anticipated field, because a lot of docs will agree to write them and then forget
about it/become too busy. You may need LoRs for some sub-I applications in addition to
residency applications.

- It is a good idea to have the letters dated within 6 months of residency application
submission (which is around September 15th of 4th year). Because you will get letters
before this time, you can ask your preceptors to write the letter ASAP (so they don’t
forget you), but not to submit/date it until around ~February of 3rd year. You will need to
send them a letter request form from ERAS so that they can submit it. You’ll get ERAS
access early 3rd year.

- If you waive the right to view the letter (recommended), you will need to have the letter
author also send a copy of the letter to the registrar (or to your coordinator, or both) so
that he/she can forward the letter to sub-I programs that require letters (for sub-I
applications are not done through VSAS).

- LoRs from sub-I’s and 4th year electives are generally weighted more heavily than those
from 3rd year.

In regards to finding residencies/programs you would like to complete a sub-I at:

- https://freida.ama-assn.org/Freida/#/​is the go-to resource IMO. It will give you
information about board score minimums, program size, required LoRs, %DO (trust
sparingly), and much more. I recommend going to the program’s actual website and
seeing if there are any current DO residents rather than trusting Freida’s %DO.
In regards to sub-Is:
- The school requires you to complete 3 sub-I’s/auditions. You will hear a lot of
faculty/advisors recommend you do more, but many students have found this
unnecessarily stressful and recommend doing as few as possible. A lot of it depends on
how competitive you/your field are, so it’s good to ask 4th year students in that specialty
what they did/how they felt about it.

- The “best” months for sub-I’s are August, September, and October. July is not
recommended because interns are trying to figure out what they’re doing, and attendings
are busy trying to make sure the interns don’t screw up. Mid October through December
is interview season, and you don’t want to have to constantly leave the sub-I to go to
interviews. You can do a sub-I in January, but this is after interviews have been
completed. You can also do sub-Is during your elective months of 3rd year if you
want/need to, though some won’t accept you until you’re a 4th year.

- Most sub-I’s will be scheduled through VSAS, but some programs (especially for family)
will have their own applications through their websites. The date that sub-I applications
open varies between specialties, but in general, sub-I applications begin to open in
Jan/Feb and are due any time between March and May. Some sub-I applications cost
~$30 to submit. Some are free.

- You will need a lot of random materials to schedule sub-Is, some of which can take a
long time to assemble, so I would recommend trying to start working on these things
around January. These include:
- Immunization records (usually via the AAMC standardized immunization form
that you can find on VSAS, which requires a QUANTITATIVE hep B titer [RVU
sometimes does qualitative ones, so you should double check]). You will likely
need to get a new PPD done, and potentially another flu shot before you can
submit. The AAMC immunization form needs to be signed by a doctor.
- N-95 mask fitting. There is a document about how/where to do this on
new-innovations under “forms”.
- Drug screen/background check. As you know, this can take a while. I did this
through ​www.mystudentcheck.com​, where you should already have an account
from the 3rd year drug screen. This costs $80.
- Personal statement (one page)
- CV
- LoR (s)
- Letter of good standing from RVU. Email the registrar or your coordinator for this.
- Official transcript. You will need to submit an official request to the registrar. You
can find the transcript request form on new-innovations under “forms”.
 - RVU insurance/liability/proof of workman’s comp. You can get this by emailing
the registrar or your coordinator.
- Professional photo. You can use the RVU one, or if you don’t want residency
programs seeing that photo, you can have another one taken elsewhere (a lot of
students use JC Penney)

In regards to 4th year scheduling in general:

- You need to complete 39 credits. 1 of these is a required OPP week. The rest are
sub-I’s, electives, and gap weeks/non-clinical electives.

- You have 4 weeks of vacation total, to use however you like. There is no scheduled
break for holidays. You can only have 3 consecutive weeks of vacation. If you have
completed the required 39 credits by the last Friday of April, you are free for the rest of
the time until graduation, and this time does not count towards your 4 weeks (so if don’t
use your vacation during holidays and use filler weeks wisely, you could essentially have
8 weeks of vacation before graduation).

- If you need to fill in your schedule/can’t find another clinical elective:

- You can complete up to 2 online gap weeks during the FALL semester, which
count as 1 credit each. These are intended to be used to give you more flexibility
during interview season. There is a document on new-innovations about them,
but they are online courses including dermatology, radiology, pediatrics,
business, EKG, and pulmonology.
- There are a number of 1-2 week non-clinical electives, including COPIC week,
St. Joe’s EKG course (2 weeks), and assisting with surgery/OB weeks at RVU
that can also be used to fill your schedule.
- You can complete up to 8 weeks of research, which has to be arranged with Dr.
Brandau.
- OPP week is a required online course (takes about 3 hours total). Many students
use this to break up their 4 week vacation time (1 week vacay, 1 week OPP, 3
weeks vacay)

- Sub-I’s and clinical rotations can range anywhere from 1-8 weeks (most sub-I’s are 4).

- You will need to submit a request form to your coordinator for ALL rotations (sub-I’s,
electives, and gaps/fillers) 90 days before the start of the rotation. This is especially
important if RVU doesn’t already have a contract with that rotation site.

Good luck! You got this!