Applying to residencies in places you've never been or lived

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People take jobs to new cities they have never visited all of the time. I would google things like luxury apartments in the area, beer leagues, any hobbies you may have, and ect. Make sure you can enjoy the area around the hospital on the wages and there are things to do in your time off.
 
Anecdotal data: I had a good interview at a program in an area where I’d never been before. The program I matched at is in the suburbs of a city that I have no ties to other than a one month rotation I had at the beginning of fourth year at a different hospital.

n=1
 
What about applying to the other side of the country far away. I'm debating some West Coast programs atm.
 
For me the biggest thing would be cost of living. The west coast is really cool if you have money. However, when rent is $2500 a month for a 400 square foot studio and your living off of $3200 a month after taxes it puts you in a tight spot. If I was going to be living off of a fixed income of 55k a year I would look for a city with a low cost of living and a lot of white collar millennials living down town or a fun millennial suburb. This should set you up to make some friends, find a wife if you need one, and have a pretty good time on your days off. 55k a year is enough to have a really good time in some cities and be pretty miserable in others. If you have a wife or partner that will also be working sharing an apartment on the west coast would be a lot more feasible. I would also take into consideration the competitiveness of the residency based on the desirableness of the location.
 
Interview yield may be lower, but there’s no reason why not. I have friends who interviewed and ended up at places all over the country.

That said, if you WANT to end up somewhere that you don’t have obvious ties to on ERAS, it’s worth making a separate personal statement with a sentence thrown in about why you want to train and/or practice there so they realize you’re not just “shotgunning” applications. I did that for the state I now live in and I believe it helped.
 
ortnakas said:
Interview yield may be lower, but there’s no reason why not. I have friends who interviewed and ended up at places all over the country.

That said, if you WANT to end up somewhere that you don’t have obvious ties to on ERAS, it’s worth making a separate personal statement with a sentence thrown in about why you want to train and/or practice there so they realize you’re not just “shotgunning” applications. I did that for the state I now live in and I believe it helped.
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My SO wants to go back to her state (not a state I have any ties to). Is there anything I can do other than write a sentence in a PS?
Since she already has ties, she doesn't have to feel pressured to do away rotations there, but at the same time, its tough for me to try and schedule aways in a specific place (i heard you have to apply everywhere, and you never really know where you will end up).
 
Drrrrrr. Celty said:
Waste of time/money?
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Not at all. I'm in residency in a place I saw a total of 2 times (collectively I think it was even <48 hrs total) prior to match day, and that was for the interview and 2nd look.

Drrrrrr. Celty said:
What about applying to the other side of the country far away. I'm debating some West Coast programs atm.
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Its worth it if you'd want to go there.

acapnial said:
Totally worth it. Although the interview yield may be lower.
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Exactly this. Yield will probably be lower, but probably not 0.
 
gensurghopeful said:
Why do you think that is - actually curious

Would love to come back to Detroit, my home town, when I get to this point in my career.
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Its a good way to gauge the likelihood of someone coming to an interview/ranking highly a specific residency program. You don't want to waste interviews on people that just thought it would be a fun idea to add some extra places. Programs want to interview people that will/want to come to their program. If you have a tie to the area, it increases the likelihood that you'll come here.

It definitely played a pretty big role in how we ranked people. Their enthusiasm for the area/program and whether they had ties to it bumped them higher on our lists. It ended up working out because we matched pretty highly and it sounds like we were in the top couple ranks for the people that did match here.
 
hallowmann said:
You don't want to waste interviews on people that just thought it would be a fun idea to add some extra places. Programs want to interview people that will/want to come to their program. If you have a tie to the area, it increases the likelihood that you'll come here.
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Exactly this, plus it increases the likelihood that you’ll stay in the area after residency (which many programs are hoping for). During my interview with the APD at the program I ended up matching into, I had to explain mine and my wife’s interest in the area. I had to explain that even though we don’t have familial ties to the area, we truly had fallen in love with it over the last several months.
 
I assume everyone would be applying to residency programs to places they have never visited/lived assuming people apply to 15+ programs and unless you had time to travel a lot, its the programs and what ppl read about the locations is what makes ppl apply there. Im from the northeast and plan to apply all over the US, is this not a good idea?
 
HuskyPride149 said:
I assume everyone would be applying to residency programs to places they have never visited/lived assuming people apply to 15+ programs and unless you had time to travel a lot, its the programs and what ppl read about the locations is what makes ppl apply there. Im from the northeast and plan to apply all over the US, is this not a good idea?
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From midwest and intend on doing the same...
Although coming back home for residency in Detroit I'd be good with but after that would likely want to move elsewhere

I think it's worth doing - not going to hurt but would def apply to some at home as well
 
do you really want to be in big coastal elite cities? bigly huge and loser metro elite places? should i keep going or
 
hallowmann said:
Its a good way to gauge the likelihood of someone coming to an interview/ranking highly a specific residency program. You don't want to waste interviews on people that just thought it would be a fun idea to add some extra places. Programs want to interview people that will/want to come to their program. If you have a tie to the area, it increases the likelihood that you'll come here.
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Do you have the opportunity to include your hometown when applying for residencies? I'm interested in going back to South Florida when the time comes, where I would like to permanently stay, so just wondering if I would be given the chance to express that pre-interview.
 
fldoctorgirl said:
Do you have the opportunity to include your hometown when applying for residencies? I'm interested in going back to South Florida when the time comes, where I would like to permanently stay, so just wondering if I would be given the chance to express that pre-interview.
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In your personal statement, which can be different for each program
 
fldoctorgirl said:
Do you have the opportunity to include your hometown when applying for residencies? I'm interested in going back to South Florida when the time comes, where I would like to permanently stay, so just wondering if I would be given the chance to express that pre-interview.
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Yes. Like @acapnial said, in your personal statement. You may need to write more than one though if you approach it this way. I did this. It's not that time consuming though because the body of the statement was essentially the same. I just added a blurb about why that area/my ties. Mainly did this for my home city and California since it's hard to get to Cali without either ties or outstanding numbers.
 
redfish955 said:
For me the biggest thing would be cost of living. The west coast is really cool if you have money. However, when rent is $2500 a month for a 400 square foot studio and your living off of $3200 a month after taxes it puts you in a tight spot. If I was going to be living off of a fixed income of 55k a year I would look for a city with a low cost of living and a lot of white collar millennials living down town or a fun millennial suburb. This should set you up to make some friends, find a wife if you need one, and have a pretty good time on your days off. 55k a year is enough to have a really good time in some cities and be pretty miserable in others. If you have a wife or partner that will also be working sharing an apartment on the west coast would be a lot more feasible. I would also take into consideration the competitiveness of the residency based on the desirableness of the location.
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I get that you kind of said this, but cost of living depends on where you are on the west coast, so just look into it. I've never met anyone where I am that is paying $2,500 a month for 400 sq ft, but that doesn't seem impossible for the Bay Area. Also, I'm not sure why anyone would want to live in a "fun" millennial suburb. Sounds anything but fun, although I did get a kick out of the comment.

Bottom line, do research on the city you are looking into and see if it's worth it to you. You don't have to have visited there to know if it sounds remotely like somewhere you would be able to live, although it probably helps.
 
fldoctorgirl said:
Do you have the opportunity to include your hometown when applying for residencies? I'm interested in going back to South Florida when the time comes, where I would like to permanently stay, so just wondering if I would be given the chance to express that pre-interview.
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Pretty sure hometown is on ERAS somewhere, plus you can make a personal statement for programs in Florida that includes a tidbit about how you want to train/practice there.
 
I assumed since you have to apply to so many programs that it was normal to apply without history or ties to an area. How do people apply to enough programs without doing this?
 
sunshinefl said:
I assumed since you have to apply to so many programs that it was normal to apply without history or ties to an area. How do people apply to enough programs without doing this?
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My original concern was really about adding programs half way across the country ex. Seattle. I've never been on that coast at all. My desire to add it to my list is mostly to check the program and the city out.
 
Drrrrrr. Celty said:
My original concern was really about adding programs half way across the country ex. Seattle. I've never been on that coast at all. My desire to add it to my list is mostly to check the program and the city out.
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Ah okay. Btw I wasn’t trying to challenge you, I was actually asking to learn. 🙂
 
sunshinefl said:
I assumed since you have to apply to so many programs that it was normal to apply without history or ties to an area. How do people apply to enough programs without doing this?
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Normal to apply anywhere and everywhere, but most applicants end up staying in their own region, so out of region programs can be reluctant to interview you.

I interviewed at a program in the pacific northwest, and the program director started the interview by saying "You're not going to rank us above programs in your own area". This might have been one of those prove-me-wrong challenge questions, but I couldn't muster up any meaningful answer about why I would move there other than really liking the area (and saying some nice things about his program), so I'm sure I just confirmed his suspicion. FWIW I didn't end up ranking it that highly so he had a point.
 
acapnial said:
Normal to apply anywhere and everywhere, but most applicants end up staying in their own region, so out of region programs can be reluctant to interview you.

I interviewed at a program in the pacific northwest, and the program director started the interview by saying "You're not going to rank us above programs in your own area". This might have been one of those prove-me-wrong challenge questions, but I couldn't muster up any meaningful answer about why I would move there other than really liking the area (and saying some nice things about his program), so I'm sure I just confirmed his suspicion. FWIW I didn't end up ranking it that highly so he had a point.
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Honestly when I was interviewing for residency I consistently got the impression that programs tend to heavily favor applicants from within the region. Programs always asked me why I would apply to their program. Conversations with my PD since, and watching my program's recruitment process, have confirmed that. Ironically, I'm at a program in a region didn't have any ties to.

This can be kind of troubling, because if you're from some parts of the country and/or applying to certain specialties, there simply aren't enough 'close to home' programs to have a realistic chance of matching. Especially if you're a DO from a less DO-friendly region.

I anticipate the same bias in applying for fellowship, and I plan to work hard to have solid answers to "why here" for each program.

All that said, I think if you're interested in a given area, you should definitely apply. It can't hurt, except for the small hit to your wallet when applying.

Sent from my SM-G930V using SDN mobile
 
NurWollen said:
Honestly when I was interviewing for residency I consistently got the impression that programs tend to heavily favor applicants from within the region. Programs always asked me why I would apply to their program. Conversations with my PD since, and watching my program's recruitment process, have confirmed that. Ironically, I'm at a program in a region didn't have any ties to.

This can be kind of troubling, because if you're from some parts of the country and/or applying to certain specialties, there simply aren't enough 'close to home' programs to have a realistic chance of matching. Especially if you're a DO from a less DO-friendly region.

I anticipate the same bias in applying for fellowship, and I plan to work hard to have solid answers to "why here" for each program.

All that said, I think if you're interested in a given area, you should definitely apply. It can't hurt, except for the small hit to your wallet when applying.

Sent from my SM-G930V using SDN mobile
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What do you consider less DO friendly regions? Maybe states that don't have a state funded DO school?
 
NurWollen said:
I consistently got the impression that programs tend to heavily favor applicants from within the region
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As in went to school in the region, or have strong ties to the region (like, it's their home and where they want to permanently end up)?
 
UWIdahoan said:
I get that you kind of said this, but cost of living depends on where you are on the west coast, so just look into it. I've never met anyone where I am that is paying $2,500 a month for 400 sq ft, but that doesn't seem impossible for the Bay Area. Also, I'm not sure why anyone would want to live in a "fun" millennial suburb. Sounds anything but fun, although I did get a kick out of the comment.

Bottom line, do research on the city you are looking into and see if it's worth it to you. You don't have to have visited there to know if it sounds remotely like somewhere you would be able to live, although it probably helps.
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A suburb with twenty bars in walking distance and ball fields with daily adult rec sports doesn't appeal to you? Add in a house with enough yard for a dog. You can find stuff like this near college campuses and ect in big cities or even on campuses near small cities.
 
I matched to a program in a city I have zero ties to. On the hand, a handful of programs in my home state didn't rank me hight enough.
 
redfish955 said:
A suburb with twenty bars in walking distance and ball fields with daily adult rec sports doesn't appeal to you? Add in a house with enough yard for a dog. You can find stuff like this near college campuses and ect in big cities or even on campuses near small cities.
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Millennials don’t appeal to me. You can find all those things in places without a douchey sub population.
 
Question: do residencies know where you did your clinical rotations?

i.e if someone goes to school in NY and does core rotations in FL, have they "unlocked" that region?
 
sunshinefl said:
What?? Millennials are ~22-38 years old right now. Millennials isn’t synonymous with “dumb youth”. Most people in medical school and residency right now are Millenials.
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I didn’t call them “dumb youth.” I called them douchey.

NVO said:
Unless you're over 37, you're a millennial! 🙂
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Surprisingly enough, I’m smart enough to have already known how old millennials are. But thanks!
 
NVO said:
Question: do residencies know where you did your clinical rotations?

i.e if someone goes to school in NY and does core rotations in FL, have they "unlocked" that region?
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For my mspe programs could see the name of the hospital/clinic I rotated at, but it didn't say where it was. Programs did have a generally positive reaction during interviews when I told them I had rotated at a nearby program though.
 
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NVO said:
Question: do residencies know where you did your clinical rotations?

i.e if someone goes to school in NY and does core rotations in FL, have they "unlocked" that region?
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Also wondering this, because my school has some FL rotations and I’m curious if it would be better to go to ones there if I’m interested in matching back home.
 
NVO said:
Question: do residencies know where you did your clinical rotations?

i.e if someone goes to school in NY and does core rotations in FL, have they "unlocked" that region?
Click to expand...

Not necessarily. But doing a rotation somewhere can sometimes "build connections" that help you get a residency at that institution. It also shows that you're dedicated to a certain region. Keep in mind that this is often institution and specialty specific - i.e., this strategy might work better in IM or FM, but in something hyper competitive like derm or rad onc, it might not matter.
 
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Douchey folks calling others douchey lol. Some immature folks asking 8yo questions for obvious things that they should know by now. Name calling and stereotyping. This thread shows that sdn pre-med mentality is still strong even among soon to be residents. Come on now people, take that butt plug out, maybe your brain will start getting more oxygen finally
 
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