How important is MD location when considering match location?

[deleted1080380]

If I want to match in a midwestern state, should I am to go to a midwestern/southern-midwestern school? I really, really dread huge cities and want to move back with family for residency to a more...relaxed vibe.

I looked at a few hospitals in the Michigan/Illinois/Wisconsin/Minnessota/Ohio area and it seems like even for competitive specialties, these schools tend to take a HUGE proportion of people from their own state schools.

Is this the case or am I just being misled by reading these residency lists.

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[LizzyM]

People often attend medical school in an area where they want to practice in the future (and often where they have family, roots, etc) This is, I think, particularly true for state schools in the Midwest and less true in areas such as California that export medical students out of necessity and then import them back as residents. So, if you see people graduating from schools in Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, etc who are matching at medical centers in Ohio, Indiana and Michigan, well, that makes sense.

Most people don't get a choice of where to go to medical school. They get one offer and they go there. If you have the luxury of a choice (and you don't yet have that luxury) you might want to pick a location where you feel comfortable but you may be weighing other factors as well such as the net cost of attendance after aid is counted in, the facilities, the grading scheme for pre-clinical and clinical years, distance from family, etc.

 

[deleted1080380]

Thanks for the note. I was just being cautiously optimistic based on my current IIs. I realized I would probably be miserable on a super high-octane urban campus like those in NYC and was weighing the benefit of attending one (for, let's say, higher prestige) if I wanted to match in a 'less desired' place like the midwest. I assume the reason I don't see many "top" MD admittees at competitive specialties in the midwest is because of selection, not that they actively deny people from those schools, correct? As in most people coming out of those schools would rather not live in the midwest.

 

[lumya]

I'm at an urban school on the East Coast and I'm planning on matching in the Midwest (family). I'm honestly not worried because I'm aiming for a specific area, but not a specific program (I'm also thinking IM or peds so not very specialized). If you have a choice in med schools and want to stay in the Midwest, that would definitely give you more opportunities to be familiar with and to the regional programs, but I doubt my East Coast degree will be the sole limiting factor in my ability to match to a community hospital in the Midwest.

 

[LizzyM]

It takes two to tango and two to match, the institution and the student. If you aren't seeing graduates of "high octane" medical schools doing residencies in the Midwest, is it because the Midwestern programs don't want them or because they don't want to go to the Midwest?? I suspect that many medical students attending school in what were the 13 original states, have no intention of moving further west than the boundaries of those states.

 

[RustySpitfire]

Don't forget that even if you attend medical school in one of those large urban areas, away rotations allow for the possibility of making yourself known to institutions you'd like to be a resident at in the future.