Does prestige/ranking of rads residency really matter?

[aleezay]

---

Members do not see this ad.

I was wondering if the radiology residents here felt if the prestige or lack thereof of their particular program opened/closed any doors for them in terms of fellowship, salary, location in the future, etc. Does it really matter in the end which program you go to (excluding reasons of family/location/social stuff) in terms of your training? i.e. Penn or MIR over, say, (this is just for an example) University of Arizona or something similiar.

If you went to a middle-tier program on the East Coast, would it be hard in the end to find a job in Seattle, San Fran or Los Angeles? Or would those jobs be snapped up likely by West Coast grads....

 

[hans19]

I was wondering if the radiology residents here felt if the prestige or lack thereof of their particular program opened/closed any doors for them in terms of fellowship, salary, location in the future, etc. Does it really matter in the end which program you go to (excluding reasons of family/location/social stuff) in terms of your training? i.e. Penn or MIR over, say, (this is just for an example) University of Arizona or something similiar.

If you went to a middle-tier program on the East Coast, would it be hard in the end to find a job in Seattle, San Fran or Los Angeles? Or would those jobs be snapped up likely by West Coast grads....

It depends on what you want. If you want to join the most desireable prestigious groups in hot places like Manhattan, SF, LA, it definitely helps if you have a good pedigree. If you are cool with a job in middle america or BFE, they are hurting so bad for radiologists it won't matter where you come from.

 

[unoriginal]

It depends on what you want. If you want to join the most desireable prestigious groups in hot places like Manhattan, SF, LA, it definitely helps if you have a good pedigree. If you are cool with a job in middle america or BFE, they are hurting so bad for radiologists it won't matter where you come from.

even for fellowships?

 

[hans19]

even for fellowships?

What do you mean? Do fellowships matter for good jobs? Yes, even more than your residency.

To get a fellowship? Depends on the field. Some fellowships you can walk in to, even at the best places. Other fellowships like MSK at UCSD for instance, need good pedigree, research, and more importantly connections. Big names at big programs are more likely to have connections to other bigh programs with big names FWIW.

Bottom line, get into the best place you can!

 

[unoriginal]

What do you mean? Do fellowships matter for good jobs? Yes, even more than your residency.

To get a fellowship? Depends on the field. Some fellowships you can walk in to, even at the best places. Other fellowships like MSK at UCSD for instance, need good pedigree, research, and more importantly connections. Big names at big programs are more likely to have connections to other bigh programs with big names FWIW.

Bottom line, get into the best place you can!

The dilemma I fear I might be in would be between highly ranking a smaller community program closer me and my wife's hometown or highly ranking larger academic programs a few hours away. So I was wondering if you might have trouble getting into certain fellowships if say you went to a smaller community program (read less prestigious). I am not sure what I will be most interested in, but what if it were something like IR, MSK, or Neuro?

 

[hans19]

The dilemma I fear I might be in would be between highly ranking a smaller community program closer me and my wife's hometown or highly ranking larger academic programs a few hours away. So I was wondering if you might have trouble getting into certain fellowships if say you went to a smaller community program (read less prestigious). I am not sure what I will be most interested in, but what if it were something like IR, MSK, or Neuro?

Only you can make that decision. If someone is single, and flexible, I would go to the best place that you can get into, if you can tolerate being at that location for 5 years.

If you have family obligations, you have to ask yourself what is most important in your life. That is not to say you can't get into a good fellowship from a community program. You can, if you have the right connections, or if you have done interesting research during your residency. Again university programs are going to have the best connections to competitive fellowships (which tend to be affiliated with universities) and more opportunities to do research.