What are the values of doing a surgery externship (aka away rotation, acting internship)?
Surgical externships provide a great opportunity to visit another institution, work with them, have them get to know you, and to evaluate the program/area of the country prior to the residency application process. You will receive a lot of different advice as to whether completing an externship can either help you or hurt you in terms of your application to that program. The general rule of thumb though is that if you visit another institution, work hard and do well, you will help yourself and be able to evaluate whether a particular program will match your personality or if you would like to consider living in a certain area of the country.
