If I want to come back to NYC for residency or after. Is it okay if I go to an OOS medical school (T20)?

[CuriousMDStudent]

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The title sums it up. I have the choice of going to a T20 OOS medical school or a few unranked schools in NYS. I am deciding to attend the T20 OOS medical school because I like the environment, student body, and they will likely offer me much more financial aid.

However, when looking at their match list, I am concerned to see that they only have ~10 people matching back into NYC yearly but their match list is very diverse in terms of geography with people matching all over America. I recognize there are a few possible factors to explain this which are:

1. They don't have a lot of people from NYC attending their school. They accept a lot of OOS students and a ton of them come from other states like CA, Minnesota, and etc. The geographical diversity of the match list matches that of the geographical diversity of the medical students. (I.e 5-6 people from NYC->~10 NYC residency matches with other people interested as well. 1-2 people from St. Louis->1-2 St. Louis residency matches). These were just estimations.

2. NYC is known to be very toxic for residency hence why many people who aren't from NYC don't come here hence only a few matches to NYC due to only a few students coming from NYC.

However, my question/fear is the following: If I go to my T20 OOS medical school, will it be harder for me to match back into NYC for residency? Is it possible that NYC residencies will look down on my app for going OOS for medical school even though I am going to a T20 or am I just being paranoid and it's actually due to the reasons I mentioned above? I have noticed when I look at match lists at the unranked schools I have that their match lists have more matches to NYC residencies but then again most of their classes are from NYC. I also looked at a lot of other match lists from other T20 OOS medical schools and noticed that they tended to be just as geographically diverse as that of my medical school with a few people matching in NYC but then again their classes don't have a lot of people from NYC.

Not saying that I want to go back to NYC for residency as I hear the environment is toxic for residency training here but I just wanted to know if that option was open to me.

Also, let's say I got into a great residency program that was also not in NYC, would it be hard for me to come back to NYC to find a job?

 

[Dantrolene FC]

I don't think you'll have any problems going back to NYC if you're from NY. I have no connections to NY and I got interviews at 2/3 of the places I applied to.

 

[CuriousMDStudent]

@Dantrolene FC I have lived in NYC my whole life so that is a relief to hear and thank you.

 

[seeinghowitgoes]

Another n of 1, but I didn’t go to Med school in NY, had no connection to nyc and I got interviews at 4/4 NYC places to which I applied for residency.

You can definitely get back to NYC from a top Med school. If you were debating a top NYC school vs another top 20 not in NYC then yes being in NYC for med school would be an advantage. But I actually imagine coming from a top 20 outside the state is an advantage to end up back in NYC in your situation.

As for doing residency elsewhere and coming back as an attending - depends largely on what you want to do and what kind of setting you want to practice in. The more specialized the more random it can be (ie fewer openings for things like interventional cardiologists than general internists). If you want to do something relatively general then there are usually openings pretty much everywhere and having institutional connections matters much much less.

 

[efle]

You're just seeing that most people at the t20 prefer to match elsewhere. I promise they got tons of NY interviews. If the t20 is cheaper and a better fit, pick it and don't look back. You aren't giving up any match advantages, if anything you are gaining more advantage.

 

[Dantrolene FC]

You're just seeing that most people at the t20 prefer to match elsewhere. I promise they got tons of NY interviews. If the t20 is cheaper and a better fit, pick it and don't look back. You aren't giving up any match advantages, if anything you are gaining more advantage.

I would second gaining the extra advantage by going out of state. It shows the residency programs that you’re willing to move across the country and aren’t just applying as a backup.

 

[CuriousMDStudent]

Thank you @efle and @Dantrolene FC for the insightful comments!

 

[sovereign0]

Pretty sure applying out a top 20 med school is an equal if not stronger factor in matching in NY than applying from a non-top 20 in-state medical school. The power of pedigree in the match shouldn't be understated, IMO assuming the fit is passable, you should attend the highest-ranking medical school available to keep as many options available to you come match season.

 

[longhaul3]

Nope, go to the top 20 school.

And don't go back to NYC for residency. Everything about it is worse than everywhere else.