Choosing a med. school based on geographic location

[gomizzou]

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I have heard that if you want to someday live in a certain geographic region (such as the West Coast) and work as physician you should try to do your residency in that general area. If this is true, isn't it in your best interest to attend a medical school somewhere around there as well? Or, would good UMSEL scores be enough to allow you to switch regions of the country? I am trying to figure out if it would be worth it to pay the extra money to attend an out-of-state medical school versus choosing my state school (if I were fortunate enough to be accepted to both).
Thanks for any advice!

 

[UseUrHeadFred]

My advice, which is, as I have said in other threads, worth very little:

Of course, like any job, it's easier to get hired if the people who are doing the hiring know you. So, if you're doing rotations or residency in a hospital and do good work, they're a lot more likely to hire you than some MD they've never met before. Of course, this only applies to hospital-based practices.

Also, even if you don't have a hospital-based career, you need to build a patient network. It can make life a lot easier if people come to know and trust you as a physician - they're a lot more likely to choose you as their doctor.

As far as tuition is concerned, my advice is to go where you will be the happiest and least stressed out. If, to you, that means staying near home, that's fine. If it means journeying boldly forth into a new area, that's fine, too. Don't sweat the finances too much, unless you really don't have a preference for any given school.

I hope this helps.

 

[Vandyfox]

Hey Tiger (that's a Mizzou joke),
I'm from Southern IL, and I want to practice in my home-land, so I applied only to Midwest schools. After it was all said and done, I am chosing to go to Southern IL U. (Mizzou gave me the boot after a lengthy post-interview process)
Long story short, I felt it would be a great benefit to go to school in the area I will be working- learn referral patterns, build my own rep in area (both for patient care and collegue respect / friendly relationships), and to graduate with physicians I could actually be working with in the future. So, those are some positives to going to school "in the area" as it were.
That said, make sure you like the school- the curriculum, the atmosphere, the board / residency matching stats.

Hope my situation gives you a helpful perspective. Good luck with your selections.
Vandyfox