Getting into CA residency from the east coast

[indy06]

Hi everyone,
Is it much harder to match into a CA residency program coming from a east coast med school? Would you be disadvantaged compared with someone else who went to a CA med school?

The reason I ask is because I am having a very hard time deciding where to go next year for med school. I need to choose between USC and NYU, and one aspect of that decision is that I want to come back to CA for residency. Could someone who's familar with this match scenario comment? Thanks.

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[Dr.Inviz]

Hi everyone,
Is it much harder to match into a CA residency program coming from a east coast med school? Would you be disadvantaged compared with someone else who went to a CA med school?

The reason I ask is because I am having a very hard time deciding where to go next year for med school. I need to choose between USC and NYU, and one aspect of that decision is that I want to come back to CA for residency. Could someone who's familar with this match scenario comment? Thanks.

Go to USC.

 

[Tired]

The reason I ask is because I am having a very hard time deciding where to go next year for med school. I need to choose between USC and NYU, and one aspect of that decision is that I want to come back to CA for residency. Could someone who's familar with this match scenario comment? Thanks.

Anecdotally, you will hear two things. First, a significant number of programs will prefer their own students for residency (the "known commodity" factor). Second, it is difficult to go from one coast to the other.

In the first case, my own school shows strong preference for our graduates. I do not know if this is the case at USC, but it would not suprise me.

In the second, I have no idea if this is actually true, but that was the story I heard from classmates this year, and was definitely my experience.

So yeah, I'd say if it's that big a deal to you, take USC.

 

[tkim]

You would have more opportunity to rotate at CA hospitals if you lived in CA than not. Cross-country audition rotations aren't cheap.

If your goal is to come back to CA, then stay at a CA school.

When I interviewed at east coast programs they commented on why someone who went to school on the west coast wanted to go east. I had to make sure they knew I had come from the east coast to go to school, and my goal was to get back east. Coming from an west coast school didn't hurt me that way, though flying back and forth during interview season cost a ****load.

 

[njbmd]

Hi everyone,
Is it much harder to match into a CA residency program coming from a east coast med school? Would you be disadvantaged compared with someone else who went to a CA med school?

The reason I ask is because I am having a very hard time deciding where to go next year for med school. I need to choose between USC and NYU, and one aspect of that decision is that I want to come back to CA for residency. Could someone who's familar with this match scenario comment? Thanks.

The major criteria for successful match is grades/boards. If you have done well in medical school, any school, you can potentially match in the specialty of your choice in the location of your choice. I would not choose a medical school based on where you believe you might want to do residency. There are too many variables between matriculation into medical school and matching into residency. You may change your mind about the specialty or change your mind about the location between admission and application.

Choose the medical school that you believe is the location where you can do your best work.If you don't have a choice, go to the medical school that accepts you and do well. More than half of my classmates (east coast [Mid-Atlantic] medical school) matched in specialties in California because they were from California and wanted to return home. They had no difficulties and entered specialties from EM to orthopedic surgery to optho. If you want to match in California, only apply to residency programs in California.

Where ever you go to medical school, do well and by doing well, you become the master of your fate.

 

[pagemmapants]

From what I've heard, it's more difficult to go the other direction - like from CA to the Northeast. Of course, that's anecdotal so it's probably not worth much. However, keep in mind that residency directors will get to see where you went to undergrad, and if that's in CA they might be more likely to think you're serious about staying in CA. Just a thought.

 

[Hednej]

From what I've heard, it's more difficult to go the other direction - like from CA to the Northeast. Of course, that's anecdotal so it's probably not worth much. However, keep in mind that residency directors will get to see where you went to undergrad, and if that's in CA they might be more likely to think you're serious about staying in CA. Just a thought.

Really? Not to hijack this thread, but can someone comment on theoretically it might be harder to go from the West Coast to the East?
I guess it's just harder to go from any coast to the other.

 

[microgal]

Well if we're throwing out anecdotes, then I have one of the opposite persuasion. My brother is graduating from a top notch east coast medical school this year and he would have given his right arm to match back in California (where we grew up). He will be starting at Mt. Sinai this June and could not be more upset. Granted he matched in Ortho, but what he really wanted was USC and it just didn't happen. For what it's worth, USC's match list from this year has about 80% of it's grads staying in California.

 

[deleted77919]

My brother is graduating from a top notch east coast medical school this year and he would have given his right arm to match back in California (where we grew up). . . Granted he matched in Ortho,

A deal like that would be tragic because he would be back in CA, but unable to complete the residency because of his missing limb (or at least hings would be a lot harder . . . I've never seen a one armed surgeon, although I do not preclude the possibility that there is one somewhere).

 

[Hednej]

Well if we're throwing out anecdotes, then I have one of the opposite persuasion. My brother is graduating from a top notch east coast medical school this year and he would have given his right arm to match back in California (where we grew up). He will be starting at Mt. Sinai this June and could not be more upset. Granted he matched in Ortho, but what he really wanted was USC and it just didn't happen. For what it's worth, USC's match list from this year has about 80% of it's grads staying in California.

sorry to hear that. But Ortho's no slouch either.

 

[HreComesTheSun]

Well if we're throwing out anecdotes, then I have one of the opposite persuasion. My brother is graduating from a top notch east coast medical school this year and he would have given his right arm to match back in California (where we grew up). He will be starting at Mt. Sinai this June and could not be more upset. Granted he matched in Ortho, but what he really wanted was USC and it just didn't happen. For what it's worth, USC's match list from this year has about 80% of it's grads staying in California.

that sucks microgal...fwiw it could just be timing (who applied what year). i don't know how many spots they have for ortho each year, but i do know that one year one of the spots went to the son of a distinguished faculty member at usc, this guy also graduated from keck...another year a spot went to this guy from a very very low ranked (according to sdn) med school in the midwest, who's from cali, no big connections.

 

[Gabujabu]

Interesting...

I've lived on the east coast almost all my life and am considering going to CA for medical school for a change of scenery. Would that make it harder to match back on the east coast? I am a PA resident and went to ugrad in the NE.

Though who knows, there is the possibility that I may like CA so much that I don't want to come back. As a famous song goes, "You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave."

 

[Hook17]

x

 

[deleted77919]

Is there anything special about completing residency in a specific state? Do you have to stay in the state to practice? I just got accepted into medical school for the fall so im not very familiar with residency stuff.

No, but residency can be a long time to be in a place you don't want to be, and it can help land a job if there's a network of alumns around, etc.

 

[indy06]

Thanks for all the suggestions and anecdotes. I guess I have another week or two to decide which coast I want to spend the next four years or more. This is turning into one of the hardest decisions I've ever had to make.

 

[njbmd]

Moving to Pre-Allo with the rest of the "Which medical school should I attend?" threads. Allopathic medical students can reply in that forum.