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[PodiatryStudent1999]

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[CleanDryandIntact]

Your school will always give the cookie cutter response. Reach out to the residents at your externship, explain it to them and take it from there.

You can make all the lists you want but imo family is way more important than any externship

 

[deleted1139829]

Hey there, I wanted to know what the process is like for canceling an externship. I am currently a fourth-year student and will start externship next month. Life happens and it turns out that my brother is getting married in India the first week of my externship. What should I do if I wanted to go? I asked my externship coordinator at my podiatry school and she said they can only cancel an externship if there is an emergent excuse. I did not tell her the reason. Realistically, I don't want to cancel the externship, I would just miss about one week or less. I have been preparing for externships for a while and the worst scenario is I just miss the wedding. This program that I applied to was not on top of my list that I wanted to extern at. I was just doing it because my uncle lives there and I would save money on rooming. Also, the programs I wanted for that month in May I did not get. I do not care about the program but just do it for requirement sake.

I wanted to know what would be the best way to go about a situation like this, what are the pros and cons if I cancelled, or if i asked the program for a week off, etc.

Reach out to the residents at the program and explain the situation. You can even say that you are willing to make up any missed assignments during any of the other weekends. You usually do not have to make it up, but it is always nice to let them know you are willing to. I had friends who missed a few days to a week for various reasons and none brought it up. Do not deal with the school, call the residents and let them deal with it.

 

[PTPuser]

The best and correct person to reach out to is the externship director. Most program has a person responsible for that.

I do not think it's appropriate to reach out to residents unless it's the residents who are responsible for externs but every program I've externed at and visited, always had an attending who was the extern director.

 

[Weirdy]

Reach out to the person at the program who's responsible for directing all the externships. Tell them you have a family matter that you are obligated to be at for "XYZ dates". Ask them what options there are.

Doesn't matter even if this is a burner program. Go through the official channels and be polite to everyone. It is a small field.

Agree about not reaching out to a resident. Go to the externship person/director/whatever first. That way you have a paper trail of going through the proper channels if something were to backfire.

 

[Feli]

Reach out to the residents at the program and explain the situation. You can even say that you are willing to make up any missed assignments during any of the other weekends. You usually do not have to make it up, but it is always nice to let them know you are willing to. I had friends who missed a few days to a week for various reasons and none brought it up. Do not deal with the school, call the residents and let them deal with it.

Yes. Just tell the program 'family emergency' and do what you need to do. Talk to the extern director (resident or admin assist typically). Tell, don't ask.

You probably will need a letter or eval form saying you did a month there, so I'd treat them pretty well when you do arrive. Offer to do more days, weekends, etc. At the end of the day, it is a manufactured crisis and a pretty stupid reason... weddings are planned months or years in advance, not "next month." I would keep that under your hat.

...I would also delete this post/thread... podiatry's a small world. Fix it up, learn the lesson, move on.

PS, there are no "do not care about the program" months. Any program that is even adequate is valuable as a backup. Whether you realize it or not, there are a very finite number of decent residency training programs in podiatry, and most grads will match or scramble to a subpar program - many end up with completely inadequate training. Read the forums or look at ABFAS qual pass rates. This has been going on for years, we've had multiple bona fide residency shortages before, and it will get worse and worse as newer schools increase grad class sizes.

 

[LossToFollowUp]

I would suggest you definitely DO NOT discuss this with externship residents. This discussion is between your school and extern director only. I would be very concerned about the quality of the program if any resident has the ability to yah/nah this situation over the director. I agree with Feli to be approach with a "tell, don't ask" tone.