Applying for FP Residency- NEED HELP!!

[MyGuardian55]

I will be applying to Family Medicine this year for residency. I'm lookin at programs in the North East and have found a few that are unopposed. Other than a program being unopposed what else should I look for when deciding which program to apply to? What are the important aspects or features of an FP program that I should be looking into? Any info would be greatly appreciated!!

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[lowbudget]

Look at your faculty really closely and find out what their interests are. This is especially key in unopposed community programs where faculty tend to be weak. For example, if you're interested in kids, make sure faculty are as well, maybe even have 1 or 2 pediatrician on staff. How many FP/OB or OB/Gyns or women's health, sports med/ortho/rehab/geriatrics, HIV, gay/lesbian, adolescent, critical care, inpatient medicine, cardiology, GI/endoscopy, international/missionary medicine, addiction, psych/behavioral. Faculty that use to be surgeons tend to be very procedures oriented. Any do alternative/integrative medicine? What about OMM?

Look around, be open minded. Getting a general sense into what faculty are into will give you a general sense as to what you'll be getting.

 

[SmittySC]

Look at your faculty really closely and find out what their interests are. This is especially key in unopposed community programs where faculty tend to be weak.
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I don't know what area of the country you're from or what unopposed community programs you have been exposed to, but here in South Carolina the faculty at the unopposed programs are very well trained, excellent teachers and physicians. Saying that they tend to be weak is an insult. I can't comment on other areas of the country but considering that most people in family medicine and those going into family medicine feel you get a better education at the community programs; I would say that the faculty in other states don't fall under the generalization of "tend to be weak."

 

[DOtobe]

The biggest things I looked at when I was applying for residencies were:
- opposed vs unopposed - I only applied to one unopposed program (the program I am in now), and I was impressed with how much more of an education you get with an unopposed program.
- location
- type of residents (since I am a DO, I didn't want to apply to any program that didn't have any DO's)
- personally, I have a special interest in peds, so I looked at the type of peds training I would receive at each different program
- the outpatient clinic - what types of patients you will see (is there a wide variety of patients or is there mostly a geriatric population?)
- if you get a chance, talk to the current residents in some of the programs you are interested in.This was the most telling thing for me - my interest in some programs went down when I saw that the residents were mad most of the time for some reason.
- call schedule is also important. Our call schedule is great - we have a night float resident from Sunday to Thursday, so our calls on those days are only until 8:30 pm. Our only overnight calls are Friday and Saturday nights. You don't want to be at a program where you get killed with call.

And one other thing, I am at an unopposed program, and none of our faculty are "weak."