Doesn’t get much better than Alaska in July/August when I was in Anchorage.  You get a sweet apartment that comes with a bed INCLUDED AND a rental car.  When I was there I split time between the hospitalists and the outpatient world.  My recommendation to people going there would be to skip the inpatient side of things (can’t speak for MICU) and do all four weeks in the ambulatory setting.  The hospitalists are all really cool but you will mostly be dealing with alcohol withdrawal, some CHF and CVAs.  The ambulatory setting on the other hand has AWESOME pathology and really super interesting medicine since people come from all over Alaska.  The general internal medicine model is super interesting there as patients are primarily followed by ARNPs, PAs, family med, etc for there general primary care needs and are referred to an outpatient internist for interesting/difficult cases.  You also have the opportunity to work with an Endocrinologist (who is awesome), nephrologist, dermatologist, GI doc, etc.  I spent a lot of time in GI and by the end he wasn’t even dressing up for the EGDs and I was doing them independently as they are mostly diagnostic scopes in patients who arguably don’t need them.

You will also get more time off and have earlier days to enjoy the endless sunshine.  Everyone gets a 5 day weekend and that’s the one I used to go to Denali where it was in the mid 70s, the mountain was out every day and I saw tons of grizzly bears, moose, and other creatures of the wild.  Do the coastal trail, climb flat top, go fishing, get a kayak and bike from one of the hospitalists and cruise around.  Let me know if you questions or need advice on what to do.

It should definitely be #1 on your schedule wish list.