How exactly does the type of residency matter?

[Didierdrogba]

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Community vs University program. Please explain in a way so an MS1 can understand

 

[Rendar5]

It's a little early to worry about it, especially since it affects different types of residencies differently. But in general, rare and unique stuff ends up getting transferred to academic centers many times and you have a fuller gamut of specialists and interact with a wider range of residents and fellows at an academic hospital. The politics are also different because of the size and number of programs present. If you're interested in a particular field of medicine, it might be better to aks residents in that field what the differences are because as I said, the overall effect is specialty dependent.

 

[projectlogic]

It matters if you want to do a fellowship.

 

[chasing5]

I'm not going to pretend to have answers so I won't lie to you but you can be sure that after you've gone through a few replies you can be sure of two things:

1. It probably matters in some small ways
2. I guarantee it matters much less than many people on this thread will say and probably truly believe

 

[whoknows2012]

I'm not going to pretend to have answers so I won't lie to you but you can be sure that after you've gone through a few replies you can be sure of two things:

1. It probably matters in some small ways
2. I guarantee it matters much less than many people on this thread will say and probably truly believe

It matters a lot more than "some small ways." Depending on what specialty you decide, whether you complete your residency in a university hospital vs community hospital could have HUGE implications. It may mean the difference between getting a fellowship or attending position where you want, and not. It is surely not the end all be all, but you (obviously naively) are grossly mis-stating its importance

 

[ArcGurren]

I'm not going to pretend to have answers so I won't lie to you but you can be sure that after you've gone through a few replies you can be sure of two things:

1. It probably matters in some small ways
2. I guarantee it matters much less than many people on this thread will say and probably truly believe

Errr yes it does matter if you're going into certain fields. For internal medicine, if you want to go into fellowship, then going to a good university program will do wonders to help you, especially if it's a competitive fellowship (GI, cardiology, heme/onc, etc). University programs will help you get good research opportunities and allow for networking especially if the program has its own internal fellowships. This is beyond the fact that university programs are typically referral centers in all specialties, so this is where you will get those weird/interesting cases which are difficult to diagnose or manage.

That being said, there are SOME community programs which are excellent and probably just as good as university programs in their fellowship placement. However, the majority of non-academic/non-affiliated community programs tend to have a much, much tougher time matching their residents to good fellowships; I remember interviewing at a couple of them and the program director quite frankly admitted that it was going to be a long road if they wanted to match a competitive fellowship; however, as most of the applicants there were IMGs, their primary concern was matching to a US residency, period. But as a US applicant, if you really want to get solid training either for good attending positions or fellowship positions, you really should go to a university program.

 

[Didierdrogba]

thanks guys, so is it safe to assume that im gonna be kissing fellowships goodbye if I do community programs?

 

[fizzle]

thanks guys, so is it safe to assume that im gonna be kissing fellowships goodbye if I do community programs?

Nope, as has been mentioned above, there are some community programs that have better reputations and fellowship placements than many academic programs. You'll have to do some research to figure out which ones, but the community vs academic distinction isn't as clear-cut in terms of quality and reputation as it first might seem. It also depends on what specialty you're talking about. For example, internal medicine fellowships are strongly dependent on your institution, while radiology fellowships at prestigious institutions are possible for residents in pretty much any program to obtain.

 

[evilbooyaa]

thanks guys, so is it safe to assume that im gonna be kissing fellowships goodbye if I do community programs?

Generally when most people say fellowships, they are talking about fellowships after an IM residency, where there is significant competition. As a whole, getting into a fellowship from academic programs will be easier than getting in from a community program. However, I'm sure some (the better) community programs are better than some (the worse) academic programs.