Emergency Medicine Residency in CA

[Mal1689]

Am I out of luck if I wish to return to California for residency, am consider Emergency Medicine, but my board scores are below the national average? I'm talking 212. From US MD school.

How difficult is it to match EM in general? More competitive than IM?

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[Zebra Hunter]

A 212 will make it tough to match into EM, but not impossible. Not knowing the rest of your application (class rank, research, etc.), it's hard to say, however. Your advisor will definitely advise you to have a back up specialty. What you need to do is take the Step 2 CK early and knock it out of the park. Also, look good on your aways. As for California, there are a few programs that might grant you an interview even with a 212, but it will be very difficult to get back to Cali. And yes, EM is much tougher to match into than IM.

 

[carbonizedeyesockets]

Am I out of luck if I wish to return to California for residency, am consider Emergency Medicine, but my board scores are below the national average? I'm talking 212. From US MD school.

How difficult is it to match EM in general? More competitive than IM?

Unfortunately, California is competitive because it's California. It's not competitive because the programs are just that good (though there are great programs there). You can match with a 212, I know someone who had a slightly lower score and matched to their 2nd choice. EM is more competitive than it used to be, but it is the 4th biggest in so far as number of PGY-1s, so it will never be derm, ortho, etc. type competitive. Maybe a little more competitive than IM, but I doubt by much. Apply broadly, you'll get interviews. If you have a decent personality, you should match without much of a problem. If youhave the personality of a door knob, try IM.

 

[Pons Asinorum]

Depends on what you mean by CA. Would you be fine matching in the Central Valley? The UC programs and the programs that everyone has heard of will be difficult. I rotated with lots of out-of-state folks at the big programs who thought that the away was the foot in the door towards an interview invite, but were disappointed.

 

[The White Coat Investor]

It's been many years (13 to be exact) since I applied , but I imagine it hasn't changed all that much. I applied to every (well, except King-Drew which was on probation at the time) 3 year residency in California and was invited to interview and actually interviewed at all of them. UC Davis made 2nd on my list but I matched at my first choice, the U of AZ. Loma Linda was in the top 8 or so. The rest weren't a great fit (people-wise) or were in a prohibitively high cost of living area (Stanford).

Certainly if you want to go to California, apply to them all. But don't be surprised if you don't get to interview at any of them. I had a friend in med school who only got a high pass on his EM rotation (I got honors) and who only had slightly lower board scores (240s instead of 250s/60s) who also applied to them all and wasn't invited to ANY interviews in California.

As far as back-ups, I wouldn't have a back-up specialty, I'd just have back-up programs and a whole lot of them. My friend got great training at a program in the Midwest. It was a great program (I also interviewed there), far better than many of the CA ones, but being in the midwest wasn't nearly as competitive to get into. I had ranked that program higher than many in California.

 

[RuralEDDoc]

Definitely apply to UCSF-Fresno, Kaweah Delta, and Kern. I know people who matched at UCSF Fresno and Kern with board scores around 200.
If you want easy access to get back home (assuming you're from CA), consider applying to residencies in major cities with access to airports that fly to your home town. This is easy if, say, you're from LA and you do residency in Chicago or Houston (plenty of non-stop flights). Much harder to do from Erie, PA, or other cities where you'll have long flights and need transfers. Trips back home during residency tend to be shorter than you would like; don't spend half the trip in the airport.
In the end, however, I suggest making distance-to-home slightly lower on your ranking categories unless you have an overwhelming reason not to, such as, if you have a sick family member at home or a spouse/SO.

 

[Got Em]

Do not let anyone fool you. Per NRMP Matching Outcomes (2014, latest version), US allos with 211-220 Step 1 scores had a 90.2% (194/215) of matching EM in general. Even in the 201-210 range, you still had a 85% of matching EM in general. Of course, this data is only for US allos that applied to one specialty. If EM is your back up and you're not doing aways for SLORs, your chances would be much lower.

Matching in California is difficult as others have stated, as many people want to live on the coasts, so you'll have a lower chance of matching there.

Bottom line: statistically, you can still match into EM and the odds may actually be in your favor (depending on your other things on your app), but it will be much more difficult to do so if you're only interested in California.

 

[hoot504]

My friend got great training at a program in the Midwest. It was a great program (I also interviewed there), far better than many of the CA ones, but being in the midwest wasn't nearly as competitive to get into. I had ranked that program higher than many in California.

This is the best piece of advice you're going to get. I wasn't immune to the allure of California either, but keeping an open mind during interview season served me very well. Try not to limit yourself geographically unless you really have a solid reason.

 

[Tiger26]

One strategy would be to do residency somewhere else and then try to get a fellowship in CA, which are much easier to get.

 

[drxbx]

This post may be old but it still rings true for applicants today. EM definitely has become more competitive, and California as a whole is competitive for the location and the programs. The best advice I have to pick some EM programs that look good to you and schedule an away/audition rotation there. That way you can prove you're more than a score and also see if it's a good fit. Kern Medical Emergency is a diamond in the rough. I recently graduated and stayed on as faculty (that says something right?) Feel free to PM me with any questions re the program or you can visit for more info:

http://kmcemed.com/

http://www.kernmedical.com/health-p...rograms/emergency-medicine-residency-program/

http://www.kernmedical.com/health-professionals/medical-student-education/

 

[Angry Birds]

Factor in the cost of living on a resident's salary.

 

[EMNation]

Depends on way too many things: prestige of your school, research, step 2 score, SLOEs, how good you are at interviews. It's not impossible, but will be an uphill battle. Doesn't hurt to consider taking a research year as a lot of the big name Cali programs (UCs) are research-focused.