California Residency

[bigdream74]

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Hi guys,

Wanted to know if there is anyone here familiar with the current competitiveness of Cali anesthesia programs. I'm an older med student with my whole family back in Ca... including kids =(. I miss them and i can't stand to be flying back and forth anymore to see spouse and children another 4 years durign residency like i've had to do for medical school. Looking to get into Davis in particular but honestly would settle for anything in Ca or even if need be on the west coast.

Quick back ground, started 3rd year 234 step, high honors so far in my rotations. No research... and now that i've started third year i doubt ill be able to get any under my belt before i needa start applying. Was an ICU nurse for 6 years before going to medical school, both staff nurse (4yrs) and management (2yrs) and chose medical school over the CRNA route b/c well... i figured i was driven enough to make it through med school and perhaps would want fellowship training later. I go to an allo school on the east coast (along the lines of tufts, bu, einstein, ect.). I am applying for a away rotation at Davis next year.

Thanks for any insight anyone could give me, lately i've been getting anxious about residency and really can't bear another 4 years of flying back and forth constantly (not even sure if i would have the time to do so).

 

[lord_jeebus]

With a 234, I think you have a very good chance of matching somewhere in CA. Davis is less competitive than other CA programs, as long as you make a good impression you should have a good shot.

 

[bigdream74]

Thanks for the reply.

I was just really a little anxious that my no research would hinder me getting back to Califorinia after the career advisor told me that california is really competitive. Then i started to doubt my step 1 score which i was perfectly happy with... then it became a downward spiral of will i make it back to california. Ahhh this feels like worrying about getting into medical school all over again 😛

 

[lord_jeebus]

Lack of research isn't really a deal-breaker. Only a few of the interviewees at my CA program have anesthesia research. I'm not sure how many have research of some sort, but usually it's some kind of poster that shouldn't make or break your application.

 

[cchoukal]

Competitiveness varies by program, perhaps more than by state. Although Stanford, UCSF, and, I suppose, UCLA, are highly regarded programs (I hesitate to say highly "rated," or "ranked," because no such organized rating exists other than in the minds of premeds), but Davis, Irvine, USC, Loma Linda are all in CA and are not really on the radar of competitive, prestigious programs.

To be honest, many of the residents I've worked with at UCSF have done SOMETHING on the extracurricular front, but as was mentioned above, it is the rare exception that someone comes into residency w/ anything other than a poster or an abstract (aside from, of course, the high number of MD/PhDs here, but their research is rarely more than tangentially related to the field).

Anyway, your Step I is +/- 1 standard deviation above the mean which puts you in a good spot, and your clinical grades seem to be high (is AOA in the differential?).

The question will invariably come up whether you should do an "away" in order to increase your chances at a program. Reasonable people will disagree about the value of this. One the one hand, if you are able to work with one or two faculty regularly enough that one could write a strong letter on your behalf, that can only help. On the other hand, that rarely happens and, if you're a tool, your toolishness will be immediately obvious, whereas it could easily be hidden in a written app and brief interview. I would also add the following:

1) I have no idea if, at my program at least, the rank stats are any better for people that do aways vs those who don't.
2) I can say for a fact that doing an away here will not guarantee you an interview.

Anyway, to sum up:

1) there's a range of programs in CA.
2) your stats as you posted them could certainly fit into the accepted range of a number of CA programs
3) An "away" is controversial.

 

[bigdream74]

Thanks for the reply, i definitely am hopeful for AOA but am definitely not counting on it, i will probably fall into the top quartile of students but definitely not the top 5-10%, although AOA is definitely not only academic. We are P/F though so my third year grades will definitely matter the most.

I was hoping to get an away rotation because i think (and hope) i come off as pretty easy going yet hard working and focused. One benefit as a nurse was it really taught me how to play nicely with anyone/everyone and get the job done without stepping on anyone's toes. My clinical evaluations so far have been "shining" as per my advisor. (one benefit of working as an ICU nurse i think)

Quick follow-up question, if an away rotation isn't necessarily "advised" is there anything else you would suggest to do in order to show interest in a particular program? or do you think im on track to getting back somewhere in the West coast? I know perhaps im being a little "too" anxious at this point, but the family and I were really banking on getting back together at least on the same coast at the end of my four years... i don't want to let them down.

Thanks again for any input, one kid starts middle school soon, and now friends are really important to him... really don't want to move them away from friends and family but definitely can't do this coast to coast thing for another 6 or so years, the time change alone makes it almost impossible to fly back just for a 2 day weekend.

 

[doctor712]

one kid starts middle school soon, and now friends are really important to him... really don't want to move them away from friends and family but definitely can't do this coast to coast thing for another 6 or so years, the time change alone makes it almost impossible to fly back just for a 2 day weekend.

I miss them and i can't stand to be flying back and forth anymore to see spouse and children another 4 years durign residency like i've had to do for medical school.

Hey Big Dream, Also a non-trad on the way to med and anesthesia hopefully. Lemme say this, I can relate to the cross-country bi-coastal family thing. I did it from LA to NY for 3 years. Religiously, EVERY other weekend over 156 weekends. Sometimes, two or three weekends in a row. Add in holidays and vacations. Had two boys in NY at the time, and work meant LA (we're now all under same roof in FL!!!) Friday night red eye, Sat/Sun with boys, Monday AM back to LA for work by 10am. And this year, I did it from Mia to Boston for 6 months. Brutal, and I'm DONE doing it. If I stay in Miami for med school, we're here, residency, we're here, or wherever I match.

So from your POV, I feel that. All I can say, that others haven't necessarily explicitly said yet, is to apply to ALL cali (and geographically favorable) programs. A-L-L. If that's where you want to be, and family location is most important, and things are such a crapshoot with the match that you may end up matching at UCSF before UCDavis, so apply to all. Too many of my younger resident friends didn't match last year into Cards because they didn't wanna leave florida. Then, when they didn't match, and a spot in NewHamp opened up, they flew up there as quick as they could...regretfully!

So, better to match SOMEWHERE in Cali (or Nevada or Oregon or Arizona or New Mexico dependent upon where in Cali your family is), some of those hops to Vegas or Phx from Bur or LA are 45 mins... that's almost as quick as LA-SFran. Think about it. So, I'd get out that protractor, make a circle of 45 mins flight time and apply to every program within it.

Good luck! Make us non-trads proud.

D712

 

[cchoukal]

712 makes a great point. It costs you next to nothing (in the grand scheme of things) to apply to as many programs as you want, so don't leave anything on the table. I would add that OHSU in Portland and U Washington in Seattle are also great programs and would be just as "fly-able" to wherever in CA your family is as most programs IN California would be.

Oh, and I wouldn't strictly advise against an away, just that it can be tricky and it's not guaranteed to increase your odds. Other things you can do are the things you'd imagine would be helpful: getting an NIH grant to study the underlying mechanisms of inhalational anesthetics, building an AIDS-ICU in subsaharan Africa, or finding a cheap source of Xenon. Beyond that, just be excellent all the time (sounds easy, right?). If you can get in on some kind of research project in the meantime, even if it doesn't yield anything tangible before interview season, it would at least give you something interesting and unique-to-you-so-they'll-remember-you to talk about at your interviews beyond the usual "I like pharmacology and I want to help people." EVERYONE says that.

 

[CaliforniaBound]

Sounds like you have a fairly good shot. I'm currently a CA 1 at Loma Linda. Most of the people I interviewed with in Cali didn't have research. Not sure about board scores, but I know you would have a good shot at Loma Linda! Good luck!

 

[bigdream74]

Thanks for the input guys, it all sounds great. I'll look into Univ. Arizona's program along with some texas ones (any suggestions?). Btw... anyone flown from SF to texas? how long is the flight?

 

[doctor712]

It's a 2.5 to 3 hour flight. Maybe a touch more, depending on wind or direction. I still think that's going to be the same sort of difficult situation as Boston-Miami or even NY-LA. Once a flight is longer than 45 mins, it's an "event" and will require planning and timing and all that. You can't get up, EASILY, at 6am, hop a non-stop flight after a rotation to wherever and be feet on the ground at 7am. Back at work for example, if the flight is 2.5 hours. Check in. Bags maybe. Delay. Etc.

I'd really limit it to a 45 min, 1 hr flight tops. But that's just me and I've got George-Clooney-in-Up-In-The-Air airport time under my belt... 😀

D712

 

[IlDestriero]

I found that movie so funny on so many levels. My wife was a card carrying United/Hilton/Amex superpoint ***** for many years. Fortunately that period is over. She still has 7 figure Hilton points.

 

[doctor712]

IlD,

I felt like I was watching my life on the screen, it was depressing! 😱
When I got home a few weeks ago I *threw* my roll-on luggage into the garage.

Good movie though.
😀

D712