For current residents/attendings: Rank list

[Carotenoid]

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You have gone through the process, and in retrospect, what ranking strategy absolutely worked for you? Did you make any mistakes? (e.g. allowing (or not) location/program prestige weigh very high in your decision, choosing cutting-edge technology over research opportunities, ignoring (or relying on) your "gut feeling" , etc.)

I have about 5 programs in my own "top tier", but I am not sure how stratify them.

Thank you!

 

[thesauce]

You have gone through the process, and in retrospect, what ranking strategy absolutely worked for you? Did you make any mistakes? (e.g. allowing (or not) location/program prestige weigh very high in your decision, choosing cutting-edge technology over research opportunities, ignoring (or relying on) your "gut feeling" , etc.)

I have about 5 programs in my own "top tier", but I am not sure how stratify them.

Thank you!

Location and predicted personal happiness (based on personal knowledge of the program and what I saw at my interview with the residents) was my number one. Life's too short to spend years some place you're unhappy. Institutional prestige was probably number 2, but would never trump number 1. I didn't pay much attention to the technology.

 

[crd117]

does the number of spots at the programs you are considering factor into your decision in any way? Do you try to maximize the total number of residency positions that you rank? For example, if you rank 10 programs with 1 or 2 spots each vs ranking 10 programs with 2-4 spots each, it seems that you would have better chances with ranking a larger total number of spots.

 

[hot sauce]

does the number of spots at the programs you are considering factor into your decision in any way? Do you try to maximize the total number of residency positions that you rank? For example, if you rank 10 programs with 1 or 2 spots each vs ranking 10 programs with 2-4 spots each, it seems that you would have better chances with ranking a larger total number of spots.

I don't think many people really have the luxury of making that distinction. I liked programs that had more than 1 resident per year as I preferred to have more comradery and a bigger department. (But I ranked all the program I interviewed at as not a lot of candidates are turning down many interviews.)

 

[thesauce]

does the number of spots at the programs you are considering factor into your decision in any way?

Only in terms of whether you want other residents at your same training level - and how many.

Do you try to maximize the total number of residency positions that you rank?

Yes, by ranking all programs you interview at.

For example, if you rank 10 programs with 1 or 2 spots each vs ranking 10 programs with 2-4 spots each, it seems that you would have better chances with ranking a larger total number of spots.

I'm not sure I understand what you're asking. If you're ranking all of the programs that you interview at, this is a moot point. More spots generally increase your chances of matching. Of course, you have to take into account that larger programs are also interviewing a proportionally larger number of people to fill those spots - and larger programs tend to be at more competitive programs so others are also ranking it highly.

 

[RadRadRad]

Location and predicted personal happiness (based on personal knowledge of the program and what I saw at my interview with the residents) was my number one. Life's too short to spend years some place you're unhappy.

Totally agree with this. I also think its really hard to learn/maximize your potential if you're unhappy. At the end of the day being at the number "X" program vs the number "X+10" program is unlikely to have any bearing on your career. (perhaps outside the top 3 programs which do have some extra name recognition)

 

[stankem]

A mistake I'm glad to have avoided - I looked at the mandatory prelim year as a negative. No doubt there are many painful moments of EKG subtleties and realizing elsewhere you could have signed in to a path elective and been beachside etc But it's been worth it to meet good friends outside the claustrophobic rad onc dept who will be around the next couple of years.
I could just be rationalizing.

 

[memberBlue]

I would not let a mandatory prelim year influence your decision. With the new duty hour rules even the most difficult prelim year is managable. Also, rank everywhere you interviewed.

The order is determined differently for everyone. It's four years, the goal of residency is to find and prepare yourself for your perfect job, ideally a place you will be at for a long time. For academics the research opportunities/mentors and quality/reputation of the program carry the most weight. For academics geography plays a big role as does the reputation of the department.

The main factors for me were reputation, location, and research opportunities. Secondary factors included size of program (felt larger was better) and technology (don't fall into the proton trap).

 

[Neuronix]

For me the important things were: location, research time/opportunities, and happiness of the residents. I didn't factor in prestige at all. I couldn't be happier with my decision. Some of the big name academic programs have unhappy residents and less protected research time. There's no point to subjecting yourself to that in my opinion.

I love my cush TY program as well. I made a lot of money between the moonlighting and the benefits (free meals, subsidized housing). I had plenty of time to work on some research and have a good time too. 👍 Plenty of learning as well, with lots of lecture time, and especially useful in all the outpatient and elective months. I really tailored my experience to useful information for rad onc, as opposed to ICU and most of floors, which just seemed like a waste of time to me.