Does the region from which one receives an SLOR matter?

[vanilla60]

So I am trying to be in the NY/NJ region but, as an FMG, I am having a very hard time lining up EM rotations in those areas. So I am faced with the possibilities of going to random places in the country for EM clerkships.

My question is when the programs int he region I want to be see that my SLORs are from programs far away will they look less favorably upon my application? Or does it not matter so much?

Thanks in advance!

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[Thoracotomy]

I'm from the Midwest, rotated in the midwest for an away. Also rotated in California. Matched on east coast. Sooooooo I think it showed I was willing to leave my original region. However what programs appreciated is that I rotated at very different hospitals which looked good apparently. So if you can't get your top choice try for some variety, different regions of the country. Also try a county hospital, private hospital, and a academic hospital (or some combo).

 

[jbar]

I think it's more a matter of most of the program directors in an area know the other program directors and probably some of the APDs. So if you get a good letter from program A in New York and Program B can say "I know this person, and I trust them, so this is really a great letter." Versus "good letter, but it's from someone I've never heard of." So not a bad idea to rotate near where you want to be. But if you can't do that you can't do it, so not worth worrying over.