Folks here definitely land good residencies. At least 70% of us go through the allopathic match. I'll post the 2003 match list later on, webmail is screwy right now. Keep in mind however that most folks do indeed enter primary care. Their choice.
The didactic years here are outstanding in my opinion. Our pass rate is extremely high for COMLEX. Not sure about USMLE, I haven't checked with the school, but everyone I talked to has passed it. I got a 227, which is fine for what I'm going for. A few others in my class got 240's-250's.
As far as clinicals go you are on your own if you want competitive residencies. I don't think this is too much different from anywhere else however. For instance, if you want rads you better rotate at one really good place for a letter o' reference, and another place you think you have a shot at. Talk with the residents as they will be your best source of info. Our school offers no guidance in these regards. There is no "radiology chair/advisor" or "ortho chair/advisor" to help you understand what needs to be done to land a spot. Our school doesn't help us with planning on getting these types of residencies because they have no idea what it takes to persue them.
In my opinion and personal experience, you will have to spend a ton of time out of state rotating at high quality institutions in order to get letters of rec and good experience in specialized fields. That is what will stand out on your app. Again this is just my experience. Opionions will vary as they should. There is a MAYO here and we do rotate there. 4th year rotations in state are good (if you want to stay local), no question about it. 3rd year is where we suffer.
There are plenty of intelligent people at my school, but without direction I feel some of them just haven't been able to use their potential to the fullest. No one is looking out for them. Guidance is nonexistant. Bottom line, you have to be on top of your shiit all the time as far as pursuing a residency is concerned. Kick ass on your USMLE, the COMLEX doesn't count for poop in the Allo world. My opinion, opinions will vary as they should.
As far as rotations go, in-state you can get stuck doing some really crappy core rotations at some preceptor's office. This can really really really suck. However, you can get some very good cores too, its totally preceptor dependent. For the best local CORE year experience you will most likey depend on our rural training. High on experience, low on academics.
I went out of state for personal and professional reasons, and I must say that for all my bitching our school is very very proficient and leniant on letting us do outside rotations. That is where our clinical ed dept rocks. You can go ANYWHERE your ENTIRE fourth year and 1/2 of your 3rd year (this is very unique, ask anyone). They are very good at pushing the necessary paperwork through and providing us with contacts at outside rotations. I have been able to do some truly awsome rotations and I think that is one of the reasons why I'm getting the interviews I am. Down side is it can be expensive if you don't know folks you can crash with at these locations.
All of this is meaningless without an ultimate gameplan, which is completely up to you to figure out and execute. It is easy to get lost in the slop. This place will make you a doctor, but its sure as hell only up to you to find out how to land a residency. Best of luck.
