How do I get a residency in a desirable location?

[longhorn97]

Current M2 about to start clinical rotations. I'm at a campus in a rural location but my school has affiliated hospitals throughout the state.

How can I set myself up so that I can have the best chances at matching in a city (preferably east coast)? Currently interested in IM, OBGYN, EM. I don't have any connections so getting away rotations or even getting my foot in the door seems impossible.
Any advice would be gladly appreciated?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[GoSpursGo]

The biggest factor, by far, is going to be your academic performance and probably step 2 assuming that you take it in time for your applications.

IM and EM are both uncompetitive, so if your primary goal is just matching in any city I'm sure you can do that unless there are major red flags hiding in your app. OB/Gyn is slightly more competitive, so for that you'll probably want to take step 2 early enough to have it on your app.

 

[aldol16]

Do well in school. Crush your board exams. Do some research if possible, otherwise try to network. Research helps with that if you can get yourself on a paper or poster and present that somewhere nationally.

 

[TakotsuboOkazaki]

I don't think it is that hard to match *ANYWHERE* in a given city, but you do so by varying the reputation/type of program significantly if you make your rank list solely based on geography.

For instance, someone who wanted to stay in the following cities as a top priority:

Baltimore: Sinai Baltimore vs. Hopkins
Philly: Albert Einstein vs. Penn
New York: Maimonides vs. NYU

None of these are bad hospitals but different programs better support different career aspirations.

Do as well as you can academically, network and interview well. That's all you can really do to maximize your chances of matching anywhere in any specialty.

Good luck my dude!

 

[Ho0v-man]

Be a desirable candidate for the field you apply?

Some people prioritize location so much I’ve seen them switch to less competitive specialties to maximize their chances of matching in a large city/near family.

 

[gyngyn]

In the last 5 years there have been fewer than 5 unfilled categorical OBG positions in the SOAP. There were only 4 this year, for example.
APGO/CREOG indicates that 19% of US MD applicants did not match in their preferred specialty if that specialty was OBG. That's 252 folks.
39% of DO's did not match in OBG. 63% of IMG's did not match (includes US IMG's).
Of your 3, IM and EM are far more likely to meet your geographic needs.

 

[longhorn97]

I don't think it is that hard to match *ANYWHERE* in a given city, but you do so by varying the reputation/type of program significantly if you make your rank list solely based on geography.

For instance, someone who wanted to stay in the following cities as a top priority:

Baltimore: Sinai Baltimore vs. Hopkins
Philly: Albert Einstein vs. Penn
New York: Maimonides vs. NYU

None of these are bad hospitals but different programs better support different career aspirations.

Do as well as you can academically, network and interview well. That's all you can really do to maximize your chances of matching anywhere in any specialty.

Good luck my dude!

Thank you for the context! Are all the academic programs (Harvard, Tufts, BU) considered competitive? Would UMass be considered uncompetitive?

 

[Redpancreas]

Current M2 about to start clinical rotations. I'm at a campus in a rural location but my school has affiliated hospitals throughout the state.

How can I set myself up so that I can have the best chances at matching in a city (preferably east coast)? Currently interested in IM, OBGYN, EM. I don't have any connections so getting away rotations or even getting my foot in the door seems impossible.
Any advice would be gladly appreciated?

You create a competitive application as competitive programs are in cities. There's perfectly good training everywhere and you can always choose to live in a city when it's all said and done. I personally believe what residency you choose >>>>> location you do it in.

 

[TakotsuboOkazaki]

Thank you for the context! Are all the academic programs (Harvard, Tufts, BU) considered competitive? Would UMass be considered uncompetitive?

Academic is usually > community in terms of competitiveness.

Otherwise It really varies by specialty. Brand names (Mayo/Penn/Duke/etc.) will always be regardless of specialty.

However, there are some specific programs you may not expect that are very strong & thus very competitive. Michigan for surgery and U of Rochester for FM come to mind.

 

[anesussy]

Academic is usually > community in terms of competitiveness.

Otherwise It really varies by specialty. Brand names (Mayo/Penn/Duke/etc.) will always be regardless of specialty.

However, there are some specific programs you may not expect that are very strong & thus very competitive. Michigan for surgery and U of Rochester for FM come to mind.

Why would Michigan not be strong/competitive? They're an academic powerhouse with an amazing resident union.

Also, Rochester's hospital is definitely Strong.

 

[LunaOri]

Thank you for the context! Are all the academic programs (Harvard, Tufts, BU) considered competitive? Would UMass be considered uncompetitive?

Those Boston programs are all highly competitive. IM at UMass is less competitive.

 

[cincincyreds]

Current M2 about to start clinical rotations. I'm at a campus in a rural location but my school has affiliated hospitals throughout the state.

How can I set myself up so that I can have the best chances at matching in a city (preferably east coast)? Currently interested in IM, OBGYN, EM. I don't have any connections so getting away rotations or even getting my foot in the door seems impossible.
Any advice would be gladly appreciated?

A few things. I would recommend to study as hard for your boards as possible and score as high as possible. Second, as a 4th year student I would do away rotations at these places. But remember, when you do the away rotations you really need to shine and make sure the program directors get to see how you work.

 

[DefNotaGOAT]

A few things. I would recommend to study as hard for your boards as possible and score as high as possible. Second, as a 4th year student I would do away rotations at these places. But remember, when you do the away rotations you really need to shine and make sure the program directors get to see how you work.

How many away rotations would students be able to do? :0

 

[cincincyreds]

How many away rotations would students be able to do? :0

4th year medical students can do away rotations. Many do.

 

[obiwan]

Is there any place where we can search for such jobs nation wide?

Thank you for the context! Are all the academic programs (Harvard, Tufts, BU) considered competitive? Would UMass be considered uncompetitive?

With respect to IM, MGH and BWH are "top 5" programs. Beth Israel is a top 10-15 range program. Tufts and BU are top 25-50. Then UMass

 

[CyrilFiggis]

How many away rotations would students be able to do? :0

If you do EM, you’re required to do away rotations.

 

[Phloston]

Current M2 about to start clinical rotations. I'm at a campus in a rural location but my school has affiliated hospitals throughout the state.

How can I set myself up so that I can have the best chances at matching in a city (preferably east coast)? Currently interested in IM, OBGYN, EM. I don't have any connections so getting away rotations or even getting my foot in the door seems impossible.
Any advice would be gladly appreciated?

Do well on 2CK and get good grades. Do an away rotation at an institution/clinic you're interested in working at. Get a letter from that institution. Outside of the numbers game, it's about whom you know / who will vouch for you.