I can’t describe how happy I am to be home in Minnesota, which means one thing–I’M DONE WITH AUDITION ROTATIONS! If you’ve been following my journey the past four months (on here or Instagram), you may have noticed that I have been quite the busy bee. Since the end of July, I’ve moved out of my apartment, been to Philly, rotated in Ohio, West Virginia, Ohio, Michigan, and back to Ohio. It’s been a crazy four months, but I have learned so much about independence, being at different hospitals, and living on a budget! I thought it would be good to continue my series of fourth-year advice by imparting some tips on how to save money during this very expensive time.
- Housing – this is by far one of the most expensive parts of the away-rotation process especially if you are rotating in smaller cities for a short period of time. With an open mind, you may be able to find inexpensive places to live as long as you aren’t picky about your living situation.
- Student housing: when applying for rotations, a good tip is to ask the residency coordinator if there is available student housing–this can range from dedicated student housing to on-call rooms in the hospital. If you are lucky, you may be offered free or inexpensive student housing. My first audition rotation was gracious enough to allow me to stay for free and despite the living conditions, I was incredibly grateful to be able to save $400+ that month on rent, alone. My friend was offered an on-call room for free in his hospital for a month by just asking!
- Rotating Room: This is a website very similar to Airbnb but specifically for medical students doing away rotations (how convenient)! Pick a hospital and find local residents/medical students with spare rooms to share. *Note: for smaller hospitals, it may be difficult as this website is based on larger city hospitals.
- Swap and Swooze: Very similar to Rotating Room but is perfect for those of you who need a room for a day or two for interviews.
- Residents: Oftentimes, you may be able to contact residents at your hospital (through your residency coordinator) to stay with. The majority of my fellow auditioners were able to stay with residents from other specialties for rent <$400!
- Airbnb: If all else fails, Airbnb is a great resource but keep in mind that the cheapest options tend to still be >$800 for a month’s rent.
- Gym – I love working out and I knew that it was going to a struggle without a solid gym at every rotation. I wish I was better about this but with long work hours, the goal of staying fit during auditions faded quickly. However, if I could redo it, I would do some of the following:
- Hospital Gym: Surprisingly, I didn’t realize how many of the hospitals had gyms. Granted, they were very basic but I ended up utilizing treadmills and free weights several times during my rotations. If you are looking for the cheapest option (aka, free), this is your best and most convenient option! You’ll often find out about this during orientation but you can inquire about these with your coordinator.
- Anytime Fitness: This gym allows you a 7 day free trial at any of their locations, which comes in clutch if you end up being at a place for only a couple of days. It is good for your very basic gym needs.
- Planet Fitness: My friend, Celia, introduced me to this gym and at first I was skeptical because I had heard some negative things about it. However, the package and deal you get with their best membership (the black card) is worth it when you’re spending months on the road. This gym is great if you need the basics (aerobic machines, weights, clean things, etc.) and at $22/month, you can go to any Planet Fitness in the nation (unlike their other membership types). However, make sure to read the contract because some of their memberships may have a minimum monthly commitment before allowing you to use their other locations. I recently purchased the black card membership and it’s great because I am allowed a guest every time I go (thanks Celia for letting me be your guest!) and I wish I had this months ago.
- Sworkit app: This app is free on any digital device and it walks you through high-intensity interval workouts for however long you desire. I used this during several of my rotations when I needed a home workout.
- Meals – depending on where you are staying for housing, the task of making meals can be difficult. I was lucky to have access to a kitchen on all of my away rotations but I have to admit, I was also very lazy when it came to meal prep. I often shopped at the local grocery store for quick salads and protein bars on sale. All of my away rotations provided a food card with an allotted amount for meals so definitely inquire about this while planning for your rotations. One of mine actually refilled $30 every week (definitely took advantage of breakfast and lunch)!
- Flying for Interviews/Rotations – This will probably be the most expensive part of the interview process as many of you will be flying to interviews across the country (depending on where you apply).
- Many people take advantage of airline credit cards and flying with specific airlines to rack up points. For me, I knew I would be driving to most of my interviews so I purchased the cheapest flights through Google flights.
- Flights tend to be cheaper on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Make sure to clear your browser cookies in case the airline search engines track the flights you look for.
- Try looking for flights through larger airports that are within a reasonable driving distance. For example, flying out of a local airport may cost you >$400/flight but driving 1-2 hours to a nearby international airport may save you hundreds!
- TSA Precheck: This tip is more for saving time when you have many interviews to go to while on away rotations. If you apply for TSA precheck domestically, you can pay a one-time fee of $85 for a 5-year membership that allows you to go through the TSA precheck line at the airport. All you have to do is sign up online, visit a local TSA precheck enrollment center to get fingerprinting done, and you can avoid taking your shoes, coat, and liquids out of your bag when you go through security. When you have an interview at 2 pm and a flight at 5 pm the same day, you’ll be thankful you have TSA precheck!
- Last, but not least: Coffee – I think it’s pretty self-explanatory that this is a necessity for away rotations for most people. I was very tempted by the luxury coffee shops at my hospitals but I knew that if I purchased a coffee a day, it would rack up to quite the amount at the end of the month.
- The best people to ask about free/inexpensive coffee are your residents. It was always a question that came up during the first week with residents (whether it was residents asking us if we needed coffee or if we were desperate for some). One of the greatest tips was from a resident that told me to carry some creamer with me so when I did have the hospital coffee, it would be somewhat enjoyable (lol)!
- The same goes for snacks. The residents always know where the good free snacks are and if they are super nice, they will let you know about them. 🙂
I hope this list of tips helps many of you out in the years to come when planning away rotations. I was very happy with the amount I was able to save through the whole process! Good luck, future fourth-years!
