Going back to CA after med school?

[Iammeeee]

For all of us who are from California and absolutely love it, but have to leave and go somewhere else for med school... how easy do you think it will be to go back for residency? And after residency?
I wanna live in CA so badly!!!!

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[Brown8472]

For all of us who are from California and absolutely love it, but have to leave and go somewhere else for med school... how easy do you think it will be to go back for residency? And after residency?
I wanna live in CA so badly!!!!

 

[thejonqproject]

if u want it bad enough...ull figure out how to get it.

 

[sparkly]

I am not originally from California, but my siblings moved there after I started med school on the East Coast (where I am from). I fell in love with the state when I visited them on vacation, and I did my best to try to match there.

When I interviewed for residency programs there, they would ask me about ties to California. I ended up matching back on the East Coast- I really do think geographic bias plays a big part in program directors' rank lists (esp if you're a mediocre candidate in other ways- I was). They want to make sure you have a support network/would be happy to live there for years.

I think certain things would have helped my cause:
-permanent address in California
-good reason to be in the state (i.e. your partner lives there, parents live there, etc)
-be as competitive as you can be for residency apps- consider doing away rotations at schools and get to know the department
-if there are faculty members at your school who have connections to California, ask them for help
-applying for a less competitive specialty can give you an edge

btw, I was successful in getting my prelim year in Cali, but that was all.

good luck and I hope that helps.

 

[xylophone]

if i am interpreting the replies correctly: it would it be easier to get into a california residency if you go to a california medical school?

or does it not matter as long as you have strong ties to the state?

 

[sparkly]

In my opinion, I think going to a California school would have helped the most, esp if you get in the school where you want to stay to do your residency.

Strong ties is helpful, but I believe that staying in the same state would help more.

I know that I could have easily stayed at my home school, they all know me well. That counts for a lot- residents should be reliable and hardworking, and often there is preference for the known quantity.

bottom line, try hard to get into a CA med school. If not, do away rotations, keep a permanent address, have a good reason to be in CA, etc. The Match is so strange; I found it really weird to have so little control over where I ended up.

 

[Character]

why do you want to come back to cali?? land of stucko. cant wait to leave..but whatever floats your boat.

 

[pntgrd]

why do you want to come back to cali?? land of stucko. cant wait to leave..but whatever floats your boat.

Yet your mdapps says USC is your top choice...

 

[Character]

Yet your mdapps says USC is your top choice...

yeah, thats the only reason why id come back to cali...for family ties to the school. notice that i didnt apply to any other cali schools, even though i went to a uc.

 

[Character]

Yet your mdapps says USC is your top choice...

im leaving to grad school out east in a few weeks, and i hope to stay there..of course, unless i get into usc.

 

[tacrum43]

For all of us who are from California and absolutely love it, but have to leave and go somewhere else for med school... how easy do you think it will be to go back for residency? And after residency?
I wanna live in CA so badly!!!!

I think it depends a lot on how competitive the specialty you want is overall, and how many spots there happen to be in CA.