Many civilians will also want to do one or several externships. A common reason for doing an externship is to audition for a position in the residency program at that same institution. Students applying in the most competitive tier of specialties usually opt to do two externships at institutions to which they are making application. There is some evidence in the Medical Education literature to indicate that those who do two externships have a higher success rate in matching into at least some program in that specialty. What literature there is, would suggest that beyond two externships there is probably no additional benefit to be gained.
Many students trying for programs in the middle tier also feel that it is wise to do externships.
Students who are applying for the third tier, those programs where there are plenty of spots for everyone, do not need to do any externships in order to maximize their chances of getting an appointment somewhere in that specialty. However, some students going for these applicant-friendly specialties, will still choose to do an externship or two if there are one or two programs into which they would particularly like to match. Conventional wisdom says that if you are going to do audition externships, you would first want to do the senior year floor service or other appropriate senior year clerkship in that same discipline, here at SLU to raise your skill levels up to those expected of someone who has already completed that clerkship. Then, soon thereafter, you would do your externships. This is especially true of the people going into the early match specialties or the military matches, because those residency programs hold the applicant ranking meetings often as early as December.