To all IM residents,

How important is location and proximity to family in choosing a residency? A part of me thinks this is incredibly important. Another part of me thinks that while working close to 80 hours a week, none of this stuff is going to matter. If its in a cold area, the hospital will be warm. If its in a warm area, the hospital will be cold.

you seriously wants someone else's opinion on that?

My guess then is that it shouldn't be all that important to you since you clearly don't feel very strongly about it.

Best of luck

(and in case you need someone else's opinion, you should wear the blue shirt and brown slacks :p)

I see your point if I were to actually follow the recommendation of a stranger but I'm just interested in what people are thinking...I'm sure a lot of people on this board are in a situation where they're deciding between a convenient local program close to family vs. a program with a stronger reputation where they don't know anyone. Or a similar example regarding weather.

I basically selected the programs I would apply to based on some combination of reputation/training/fellowship potential/cities I can live in.

And now that I made my RoL, its almost entirely based on social factors (family, friends in area, quality of city, etc)

Im pretty social so I like hanging out with all sorts of people, I know in residency thats going to be tougher, so its nice to be in a place where you have some semblance of a social network and social support available when the intern blues hit. Especially since after interviewing I realized the ACGME has done an amazing job in making every major academic program (top 25 at the very least) look EXACTLY the same as every other one. So pretty much you pick on fellowship potential and social factors I feel, since training is more or less standardized nowadays (though you can argue about private-only hospitals a bit)

I see your point if I were to actually follow the recommendation of a stranger but I'm just interested in what people are thinking...I'm sure a lot of people on this board are in a situation where they're deciding between a convenient local program close to family vs. a program with a stronger reputation where they don't know anyone. Or a similar example regarding weather.

That's actually precisely what I'm dealing with right now - I made my ROL but haven't certified it, because I can't decide for sure that my #1 and #2 are in the right order. #1 is the program with the stronger reputation in a college town that probably has more cows than people, plus I have no family or friends there... #2 is a great program that is newer but in a fun city with better weather, and it is only a few minutes from my future in-laws. I'm waiting to certify the list till later, hopefully I'll get some kind of gut feeling that will make me rest easier. Good luck though!

That's actually precisely what I'm dealing with right now - I made my ROL but haven't certified it, because I can't decide for sure that my #1 and #2 are in the right order. #1 is the program with the stronger reputation in a college town that probably has more cows than people, plus I have no family or friends there... #2 is a great program that is newer but in a fun city with better weather, and it is only a few minutes from my future in-laws. I'm waiting to certify the list till later, hopefully I'll get some kind of gut feeling that will make me rest easier. Good luck though!

you know that you can certify your rank list and still change things around afterwards, right? So no, it's not like pressing the big red button.

I would recommend you certify your list so you will still match in case you are kidnapped for two months or something.

run from the inlaws!!!! Get as far away as you can!!!

The place next to your inlaws....i would rank 10^10.

if you couldnt allready tell...mine drive me crazy.

That's actually precisely what I'm dealing with right now - I made my ROL but haven't certified it, because I can't decide for sure that my #1 and #2 are in the right order. #1 is the program with the stronger reputation in a college town that probably has more cows than people, plus I have no family or friends there... #2 is a great program that is newer but in a fun city with better weather, and it is only a few minutes from my future in-laws. I'm waiting to certify the list till later, hopefully I'll get some kind of gut feeling that will make me rest easier. Good luck though!

I will tell you that my opinion is that being close to family and support is very important. Residency is tough and it is nice to have some support. Also, if something unfortunate should happen like someone in your family gets sick or some other misfortune, you WILL want to be as close as possible. I guess I have a bit of a biased perspective as one of my family members became ill this year but even before then it was nice to be close by.

run from the inlaws!!!! Get as far away as you can!!!

The place next to your inlaws....i would rank 10^10.

if you couldnt allready tell...mine drive me crazy.

:laugh: Hahahaha!
Although I love my inlaws, I do need a good geographic buffer.

The last time I was visiting, my inlaws started talking about buying the house next door to them for us to live in. :eek: Episodes of Everybody Loves Raymond began racing through my head and I quickly became nauseous.

from someone who is finishing residency later this year, I want to say that you shouldn't underestimate the importance of family and surrounding city in your choice of residency. Obviously, it's an individual choice, but you will probably have more time to go out than you think, especially after intern year. Ask yourself what you're trying to accomplish with your residency. Are you trying to set yourself up for a high-powered fellowship? Will you need the extra juice to your application (as well as possible connections) in order to get your desired fellowship? It's hard to know this far ahead of time, but try to imagine what you'll be going through to move on beyond residency. Be honest with yourself - are you going to be unhappy in cowtown? If so, you just might underperform. Try to not underestimate yourself either - do you necessarily need the big name to even do what you want to do? I'm not trying to tell you one way or the other, but quality of life away from work does affect your work (positively or negatively, depending on how far you take it).

you know that you can certify your rank list and still change things around afterwards, right? So no, it's not like pressing the big red button.

I would recommend you certify your list so you will still match in case you are kidnapped for two months or something.

lol. If I make changes, I CAN'T log off without re-certifying because I fear this will happen to me.

my mother in-law IS marie!!! I honestly believe the character was modeled after an indepth study of my mother in law.

:laugh: Hahahaha!
Although I love my inlaws, I do need a good geographic buffer.

The last time I was visiting, my inlaws started talking about buying the house next door to them for us to live in. :eek: Episodes of Everybody Loves Raymond began racing through my head and I quickly became nauseous.

Your future spouse will have a lot of time without you during your intern year. Would she/he be happier living closer to the in-laws? Also, it is nice to be within driving distance to family to visit on golden weekends or three-day weekends...especially around the holidays.

Your future spouse will have a lot of time without you during your intern year. Would she/he be happier living closer to the in-laws? Also, it is nice to be within driving distance to family to visit on golden weekends or three-day weekends...especially around the holidays.

i don't think you've ever met my in-laws!!

ok...all kiddin aside....for us (my wife and I) we are seriously considering being close to family...we have a newborn and so being close to family is a huge plus. if you are gonna be having kids in the near future (during residency and fellowship) definately consider living near family (especially if there is a family member willing to look after the kid).

alot of residency programs i looked at do have daycare...but its VERY expensive and most have at least a 1-2 year waiting list.

something to consider.

But back to the jokes:
"Two men were in a pub. One says to his mate, "My mother in law is an angel." His friend replies, "You're lucky. Mine is still alive."

my mother in-law IS marie!!! I honestly believe the character was modeled after an indepth study of my mother in law.

Mine is a lot like Marie too, except with Marie, she did it out of love.

Mine is a lot like Marie too, except with Marie, she did it out of love.

Hahaha I love all the responses to the possibility of me living near my in-laws... I just got back from a week there and it felt like an eternity!! But they do take good care of us, I just wish that sometimes they kept their opinions to themselves. *Sigh* But yes, my fiance would be MUCH happier near his folks since his family is small and only consists of them and his 3 brothers. I, on the other hand, have close to 50 first degree relatives in my hometown where the programs we got interviews at are significantly weaker for the both of us. We still have 3 weeks, but still no decision on #1 Cowtown vs. #2 In-law city.

And PS, mine is not so much Marie as she is Mrs. Costanza from Seinfeld. I might have some of you beat :laugh: