How difficult is it to match into California?

[Messerschmitts]

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Hello all! I'm currently a second year medical student who's interested in OB/GYN. I was forcibly exiled/ejected from my beloved home state 1.5 years ago, kicking and screaming, and am current attending medical school in Ohio. Now that match is over, I'd be grateful if any of you can shed any light on how difficult it has been to match into programmes in California. Also, if you have any insights on advice and observations, they would be welcome. Are less prestigious programmes like Bakersfield/Kern-County also highly competitive?

The prospect of being forced to wander in the proverbial desert for 8 years (4 years med school, 4 years OB/GYN residency) makes me want to cry. 🙁 Having travelled to many parts of the U.S., I have no desire to live anywhere else, and every day away from the Golden State tears me up inside with deep, dull anguish and a subtle torment which I find difficult to describe. If anyone of you has read His Dark Materials (or has seen the movie the Golden Compass) if feels like your daemon has been torn apart from you.

I was recently dismayed to learn that most OB/GYN programmes in California have only 3-4 spots. I have a strong feeling that if I don't match into a programme in California, I may never go back, because statistically most doctors end up practising within 100 miles of where they did their residency. There may be no job openings in California due to doctor surplus. That very real possiblity is so bleak, hopeless, and soul-killing I dare not look it in the face.

Sorry for all the off-topic sentimental blabbering! 😛 But yes, thoughts on matching into CA, please 😛

 

[smq123]

Now that match is over, I'd be grateful if any of you can shed any light on how difficult it has been to match into programmes in California. Also, if you have any insights on advice and observations, they would be welcome.

Being a guy, it may be easier for you to get into an OB/gyn residency of your choice - no matter where that residency is located. I've been told by other ob/gyns that guys are minorities when it comes to OB/gyn residency applicants, and therefore have an advantage.

In any case, do the best you can to make your application as strong as possible - do well on Step 1 (> 230), work hard during third year, get good letters. That, on top of your gender, will help a lot.

That being said - you may not even want to do ob/gyn (lots of people end up hating it, much to their surprise), so the whole question might be moot.

 

[Brickhouse]

Hello all! .....

Sorry for all the off-topic sentimental blabbering! 😛 But yes, thoughts on matching into CA, please 😛

I kind of felt the same way - I was exiled to DC and although I loved it I never saw myself actually staying out here. I think it's hard to comment on the state as a whole, and so take anything I say with a grain of salt, but I think if you have a reasonable application and aren't dead set on a top academic institution it's totally doable.

I just matched back in Los Angeles at a community program so I'm absolutely thrilled; I'm a pretty average student and had no illusions that I would match at Stanford or UCLA or anything like that. Just to go home is such a blessing, I'm so grateful for this.

So I think it depends - do you want to go back regardless or only if you can get a top ranked university program? I think all residencies in Cali are pretty solid though. And I think the Bakersfield and Fresno programs are maybe a little easier to get into? That's just a guess though.

 

[Messerschmitts]

I kind of felt the same way - I was exiled to DC and although I loved it I never saw myself actually staying out here. I think it's hard to comment on the state as a whole, and so take anything I say with a grain of salt, but I think if you have a reasonable application and aren't dead set on a top academic institution it's totally doable.

I just matched back in Los Angeles at a community program so I'm absolutely thrilled; I'm a pretty average student and had no illusions that I would match at Stanford or UCLA or anything like that. Just to go home is such a blessing, I'm so grateful for this.

So I think it depends - do you want to go back regardless or only if you can get a top ranked university program? I think all residencies in Cali are pretty solid though. And I think the Bakersfield and Fresno programs are maybe a little easier to get into? That's just a guess though.

Thank you! Your experience makes me cautiously optimistic. I used to be a very good student in the first year, but second year is kicking my ***, so I think I balance out to a fairly average student. I have no need to match into UCLA or UCSF, or anything like that. Any community hospital in one of the big cities will be wonderful, and even Fresno or Bakersfield will be fine.

 

[Messerschmitts]

Being a guy, it may be easier for you to get into an OB/gyn residency of your choice - no matter where that residency is located. I've been told by other ob/gyns that guys are minorities when it comes to OB/gyn residency applicants, and therefore have an advantage.

In any case, do the best you can to make your application as strong as possible - do well on Step 1 (> 230), work hard during third year, get good letters. That, on top of your gender, will help a lot.

That being said - you may not even want to do ob/gyn (lots of people end up hating it, much to their surprise), so the whole question might be moot.

Well, I did a summer mini-clerkship/shadowing thing at an OB/GYN clinic for underserved women last summer and loved it, so I'm pretty sure I like OB/GYN, but of course I'm still only a second year, so I'm not shutting the door on any possibilities, but right now I'm most interested in OB/GYN.

 

[smq123]

Well, I did a summer mini-clerkship/shadowing thing at an OB/GYN clinic for underserved women last summer and loved it, so I'm pretty sure I like OB/GYN, but of course I'm still only a second year, so I'm not shutting the door on any possibilities, but right now I'm most interested in OB/GYN.

Hey - that's pretty cool. We can always use more guys in OB/gyn. 🙂

I wasn't trying to discourage you from OB/gyn. But I think it's just as important to figure out what you'll want to do, and then figure out where you want to do it.

(I made that mistake during 2nd year - I had my life as an infectious disease specialist planned out up until retirement, including which city and what type of practice environment...and then I did my OB/gyn rotation and had to scrap all my ideas and start from scratch! )

Good luck with the rest of 2nd year and kill the boards! Hope your OB/gyn rotation confirms that this is the field for you. 🙂