Does state residence matter?

[djipopo]

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I'm planning on going to a private med school in D.C., but I'd like to maintain my California state resident status. When it comes to matching into a medical residence program, does it matter where you're from? I know it's a long way off, and I may even change my mind, but I think I'd like to match into a program on the West Coast.

Also, a newbie question - what does "q" call status mean? 😀

 

[Winged Scapula]

Easy answer first:

q refers to "every". So call q3 means you are on-call every 3rd night, q2 every other night and so on. You may find youself ordering qdaily labs, or giving meds qam (ie, every morning).

Since residency programs are largely federally funded, state residency does not often make a significant difference. However, there are some programs which prefer to recruit those who will stay in the area after graduation - generally these are areas which find it difficult to recruit physicians after residency (California not being one of those). Going out of state for medical school will not hurt you come residency time and while you may get some preference being a Cali resident, IMHO it will not be a major selection factor.