does "name" of residency matter at all for practice?

[chef]

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how much effect does one's residency program prestige & reputation have, if any, in ones' ability to start a successful practice in an urban environment?

does one's chances depend only on connections w/ current docs in that city, deep pocket to afford a big office & fancy equipment, etc? or does a big name like Hopkins, UCLA, etc help attract more patients and if yes exactly how much?

i'm curious if eye docs ever 'advertise' their place of training or if patients ask for the doc's 'pedigree' when inquiring about them... or are patients today smart enough to realize that any residency program offers equal level of clinical training and do not care at all?

i do realize place of training is very important for academic careers at top research institutions.

 

[Andrew_Doan]

You asked a similar question before:

http://www.studentdoctor.net/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=49427

But this question is slightly different.

I don't think it matters much once you have a practice up and running. It matters more early on when you're being recruited or applying for fellowship positions.

Furthermore, it's more than a name. Each program differs in it's philosophy about resident teaching and surgical cases. I don't think programs are the same. You'll see when you start interviewing.

 

[mjl34]

Originally posted by Icewoman
Are you sure that all Ophthalmology residencies are "equal"? I am sure that the top places deserve their names for good reasons.

I partially agree with what others have said - not all programs are equal. If you look at some of the "better" programs, look closely becaue they don't all "deserve their names" as our chilly female friend suggests. For example, I've heard BAD things about the department at Seattle and WORSE things about the department at Yale. Granted, these are not Wilmer and MEEI, but I would be wary of accepting ANY program based on its name/fame only. It's your responsibility to find out how as much as you can about a department before you turn in your final rank list.

Similar to what others have said, I think it's true that not all programs are equal, but thankfully neither are all applicants and their goals. If you want to do research/stay in academics, you'd better apply for a program that will tailor it's training towards those goals. If, however, you would like to get out of the ivory tower after 12 or more years, look for programs that give you lots of surgical experience even though they may be light on didactics.