How difficult is it to match into Californian residency?

[Messerschmitts]

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Hey guys, I'm sorry if this issue has already been beaten to death, but how hard it is to match into a residency programme in California? I've recently been accepted to medical school out of state, and would like to claw my way back home with bloody fingers at the earliest possible convenience, by any means necessary! 😛 I'm primarily interested in emergency medicine and OB/GYN at the moment. Is it true that pretty much all programmes regardless of specialty will be very competitive by mere virtue of being in California? Are the programmes going to give preference to students of Californian medical schools, or will people like me (who are native CA but got exiled for med school) given roughly equal brownie points? Thanks a lot! The prospect of spending the next 7-8 years of my life out of my beloved home state is very demoralising!

 

[BKN]

Congratulations.

Don't worry about it for now. You've got years.

 

[orientedtoself]

Bloody fingers. . . OB/GYN. . . yep, you'll definitely be able to do that!

 

[EctopicFetus]

It is a little harder but doable. You prob will need abive average board scores.. Way too far ahead to think of this.. Just show up and bust your tail, be involved and then everything else will work itself out.

 

[toofache32]

What's all the fuss about California? The USA is geographically tilted towards the West....all the loose nuts roll out there.

 

[Messerschmitts]

What's all the fuss about California? The USA is geographically tilted towards the West....all the loose nuts roll out there.

Ha ha, if only I could roll back too.

 

[neilc]

i got several interviews in CA, as a US citizen, IMG and low step 1 scores. there are a lot of programs that are less competitive. don't worry about it. do as well as you can, and something will open up somewhere.

best of luck

 

[EctopicFetus]

Neil for what field?

 

[rugtrousers]

You have a California connection, which will put you ahead of all the other out-of-staters who are applying for California residencies. As a CA resident (i.e. from California) who went to med school out of state, I didn't have any problems getting interviews from CA programs. A strong app with good board scores helps, too.

 

[neilc]

Neil for what field?

ob/gyn. no major players, but some solid programs. i also had 2 FP programs that were heavy ob, and considered pretty darn competitive. i was actually more proud of those invites than any of the OB....but, i still wanted ob more

and, to the OP...i REALLY wanted to get back to CA after 5 years away. going into the interviews, i was thinking i would be very, very bummed to not be coming home. but, i actually accepted a pre-match on the other side of the country after interviewing in CA. after all of that, the programs (with one exception) just didn't knock my socks off....moral of the story: even though you think you want CA, some other program may sweep you off of your feet. don't be surprised if your tune changes after a few interviews, it could happen

 

[EctopicFetus]

Agreed.. Keep an open mind. My school has like 80 Californians.Thing is some people are literally switching specialties just to go back to Cali. You have to stick with your profession for the rest of your life but another 3-5 years away from Cali wont kill you like being in a miserable career might.

Now this isnt to say you couldnt go back and do what you want to do but you should keep an open mind and frankly once you live somewhere else people tend to love those other cities as well.

NeilC congrats on sealing your deal. I personally cant wait until match day!

 

[wrecked]

so is it that much harder for non-Californians (who have interviews out there) to get into residency there?

And besides legal residence, what is considered a tie to California?

 

[neilc]

so is it that much harder for non-Californians (who have interviews out there) to get into residency there?

And besides legal residence, what is considered a tie to California?

i think that there are many factors to consider here...on the interview trail, i found the vast majority of those interviewing were from CA, but there were still a few from other places.

basically, i don't really think it is all that different from anywhere else. if you are from an area, or have some ties there, the programs are likely to assume that you will be happy geographically. for example, as a californian interviewing in michigan, i was constantly asked why MI, do i have family there, etc...programs tend to want "good fits" and geographic familiarity helps with that fit.

additional factors would be that california students tend to rotate at california hospitals, be more familiar with the programs and the areas, they tend to know less about far flung places across the US and adjust the applications accordingly. lots of people from other parts of the country could never imagine living in CA, and don't even apply.

i guess the short of it is that i don't think there is some huge weight given to CA residents, at least no more than any other state gives it's natives. there may be a slight increase in competitiveness due to geography, but i think the fact that there are so many med schools here and it seems relatively few residency programs, that most want to stay, and that could fill up most of the spots as it is. just a numbers thing, i guess

 

[toofache32]

Why the special consideration for California? I don't understand what makes it different from anywhere else. Except maybe the Governator.

 

[Messerschmitts]

You have a California connection, which will put you ahead of all the other out-of-staters who are applying for California residencies. As a CA resident (i.e. from California) who went to med school out of state, I didn't have any problems getting interviews from CA programs. A strong app with good board scores helps, too.

What if I have to purposely "lose" my Californian residency and apply for Ohio state residency for the purposes of getting in-state tuition? I'm technically no longer a Californian, but will I still have the "CA tie" edge?

Btw, thanks for everyone's opinions and insight! I'm definitely not "closing the door" against doing residency somewhere else, in fact I think New York might be an interesting place too. My priority is definitely to match into the speciality I'm interested in. However, I'm pretty sure if I can match into an EM or OB/GYN programme in CA, that's where I'm going.

 

[neilc]

nobody is going to ask to see your tax forms to determine if you are a resident or not.

it is much more simple than that. on some peoples application, it is pretty clear that they are from CA, or have ties. others make it a point to mention geography in the PS.

it is really not this big of a deal.

 

[nacho77]

As everyone else said: relax you have lot of time - BUT doing really well on Step 1 should be your focus for the 1st 2 years...

I can give you an example (that may not be super encouraging):

I'm entering IM - middle of my class at a top 30-ish East Coast school; my "tie" to California is that I took time off before med school and lived there - shown on my CV by Cali MPH and employer locations...
*Keeping my fingers crossed* I think I have interviewed at enough places in CA to match there
these do include "community" programs (but I'd like to think they are the *stronger* community programs 🙂 )

A friend at my school is going into OB/Gyn and is from CA (high school, Undergrad at a UC, and her parents still live there) I don't know her specifics but I'm pretty sure her grades are better than mine... She only got ONE CA interview...

Good Luck!

 

[Pir8DeacDoc]

As everyone else said: relax you have lot of time - BUT doing really well on Step 1 should be your focus for the 1st 2 years...

I can give you an example (that may not be super encouraging):

I'm entering IM - middle of my class at a top 30-ish East Coast school; my "tie" to California is that I took time off before med school and lived there - shown on my CV by Cali MPH and employer locations...
*Keeping my fingers crossed* I think I have interviewed at enough places in CA to match there
these do include "community" programs (but I'd like to think they are the *stronger* community programs 🙂 )

A friend at my school is going into OB/Gyn and is from CA (high school, Undergrad at a UC, and her parents still live there) I don't know her specifics but I'm pretty sure her grades are better than mine... She only got ONE CA interview...

Good Luck!

you conveniently left out your relative step I score. you've only painted part of the picture. I would assume it wasn't stellar.

 

[daisyduke]

I'm applying for ObGyn with no ties to California and got all the cali interviews I wanted with the exception of UCSF. I think its about being a strong applicant more than your cali connection in terms of getting the interview. Once you have the interview though, EVERYONE asks "so why california?" "are you from here" "is your family here???" ..... but its NOT an issue of where you legally have your state residency as that is not listed anywhere on your ERAS application.... that whole state residency thing matters a lot for med school but not at all for residency!

Don't freak out about the possibility of not being able to get back to California for residency... they don't pay residents well enough there anyway! I can't imagine how people are making ends meet out there.....