1 Year of Protected Research in Residency

[RADONC2010]

Many programs now offer one year of research time. I know this may be too much of a general question to ask, but how has this affected you in generating the Rank List, esp. vs those programs without quite a structured period of research time? Is this year necessary for launching a successful academic career after residency years?

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[Gfunk6]

It affected my rank list in a major way possibly being the most imporant aspect overall. In my opinion, programs that offer long, protected research blocks tend to be better clinically anyway (few exceptions). Is it necessary for launching a successful academic career? Short answer: no, absolutely not. Long answer: much more nuanced. It depends what kind of research you want to do and what kind of research background you have.

 

[OTN]

While the year isn't necessary, the work you can get done in that year can really be a springboard to future academic success. It's not that you won't be successful in academics without it, but a year gives you enough time to really delve into a topic and:

a. see if you like research to begin with
b. see if the particular topic is one you'd like to work on in the future

If the answer to both questions is "yes" I would say you're a step ahead of where you might be without the year. It can also be helpful to rule out an academic career if it helps you realize research isn't your thing...and this is where I found it valuable.

 

[RADONC2010]

Thank you, guys, for your comment - the place that I was thinking is University of Washington, that I love everything about it, but there's only 3 months of research. Versus some other programs have up to 1 year, but in geographically less desirable locations...maybe it's too early now to start "Interview Impression"?

On the other hand, how much should location play as a factor as the applicants start ranking now? (I apologize, this may be a very broad topic in general). To mirror another recent tread about private jobs and location, I am more leaning towards academic position...if location doesn't matter, why not choose a better city to live in?

 

[G'ville Nole]

On the other hand, how much should location play as a factor as the applicants start ranking now? (I apologize, this may be a very broad topic in general). To mirror another recent tread about private jobs and location, I am more leaning towards academic position...if location doesn't matter, why not choose a better city to live in?

GFunk, feel free to divert this to a new topic if you wish. This is a very good question, and my answer to it is location should play a very minor role in residency selection. As in, it should only truly matter if there's no way you could see yourself spending four years in that location. OK, that may be an overstatement, but allow me to explain:

When ranking residencies, your top priority should be a combination of "best training" (however you define this) and "best fit". Certainly location may play into best fit, and it's reasonable to use it as a tiebreaker between programs you think are comparable. Remember though, that your residency is only four years, you ideally want to put yourself in a position to write your own ticket for the thirty or so years you will practice following residency. The better residency programs will provide you with this opportunity, regardless of where they are located.

This is easy to write in retrospect, but I'll confess that the top two programs on my rank list were "location" picks, with several programs that I felt were decisively stronger bumped down due to less desirable locations. I was saved from my own short-sightedness by the match process though, and ended up spending four very enjoyable years receiving top notch training in the frozen tundra.

 

[Ionized]

Humans have this defense mechanism called "rationalization."

A person who matches at a "weaker" program with more desirable location and environment is going to be thrilled because he matched at his top choice. He's going to be overjoyed going where he wants to go.

A person who matches at a "stronger" program lower on his rank list is going to have 20/20 hindsight and be relieved that he received better training. He'll also "discover" how great this place turned out to be.

I'm noticing that for many residents the "best fit" program is the one they matched at. The reality is that we don't know how things will be 5 years from now. As humans we are very poor at predicting our emotions that far in the future. We can only predict how we will react immediately to a given event (e.g. matching at our top/bottom choice). Our future goals may be very different from our canned interview answers. We might get married, start a family, get divorced, or come out of the closet. Who knows! All we can do is pick a program we're comfortable with now and be happy to work at. Take life one logical step at a time!