Is a Brand Name Residency Important for FP?

[dualdegree]

Hello,
I am a DO student applying for allopathic residency in Family Practice. I have received interviews from all programs I applied to...My big dilemma is whether to go for a brand name like Emory University or a community program like Atlanta Medical Center. I want to practice in the Atlanta community and cannot figure out if coming from one program or the other has it's advantages or disadvantages....
I feel that AMC has a stronger program, but don't know if Emory's brand name has a lot of weight...

I'd appreciate all your help!!

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[Newdoc2002]

Go where you fit best. You'll get pretty good training at most places. Remember that residency is also three years of your life, so enjoy them as while you are getting good training.

 

[PACtoDOC]

Hello,
I am a DO student applying for allopathic residency in Family Practice. I have received interviews from all programs I applied to...My big dilemma is whether to go for a brand name like Emory University or a community program like Atlanta Medical Center. I want to practice in the Atlanta community and cannot figure out if coming from one program or the other has it's advantages or disadvantages....
I feel that AMC has a stronger program, but don't know if Emory's brand name has a lot of weight...

I'd appreciate all your help!!

I would say go to the program that prepares you to be the best FP, and rarely is that in an academic setting. Funny thing though is that many of the community programs are catching on to this though and are gaining affiliations with big name schools for no other reason than having the name on your training credentials. For instance, many of the small unopposed FP programs in Cali are now affiliated with UC-Davis, UCSF, and UCLA. But the cool thing is that you never have to even set foot in those academic centers.

 

[MtnDoc]

Here's some advice from a gal who is thinking sorta like you... go with your heart! Go with the program that is going to train you BEST to take care of others.

In all honesty, Emory has very little prestige in the FP fields. Yes, telling someone you went to medical school or have a degree in undergraduate Neuroscience at Emory... or especially doing a surgery residency at Emory is a BIG deal. LOTS of prestige.

BUT... anyone who knows much about family medicine is NOT going to be impressed with training there. You'll learn more (probably-- most people do--- unless you're different from the majority of people) at an unopposed program. Or a program that fits you individually. What kind of doctor will you be if you never see any good patients because their being followed by IM or an ID fellow????

But honestly, I have considered ranking Mayo (and yeah, believe it or not, I have the scores to do it... I do FP because I LOVE it, not bc I HAVE to), and in reality, I know that in the end- if I choose a place for it's name.. than I might as well marry someone with the last name of Vanderbuilt or Hilton... In other words, I encourage you to instead choose a place as you would a future soul-mate--- look at the substance. Look at what it is that will make you the BEST you can possibly be.

I know that all sounds cheezy, but I'm passionate about family medicine. Whats more, I'm even more passionate about FP doctors choosing a place that will, in the end, do their patients the most good.

 

[MD_Guru]

Mountain Doc:

Good advice. One caveat though. Emory family medicine program is unopposed at their Dunwoody Medical Center. You seem to be from the South, but not from GA. My understanding is that Emory Family Medicine is a very good program.

Unfortunately, your suggestion about marrying Vanderbilt will not help guys though 🙂)

The field of Family Medicine needs more passionate docs like you.

Cheers,
MG

Here's some advice from a gal who is thinking sorta like you... go with your heart! Go with the program that is going to train you BEST to take care of others.

In all honesty, Emory has very little prestige in the FP fields. Yes, telling someone you went to medical school or have a degree in undergraduate Neuroscience at Emory... or especially doing a surgery residency at Emory is a BIG deal. LOTS of prestige.

BUT... anyone who knows much about family medicine is NOT going to be impressed with training there. You'll learn more (probably-- most people do--- unless you're different from the majority of people) at an unopposed program. Or a program that fits you individually. What kind of doctor will you be if you never see any good patients because their being followed by IM or an ID fellow????

But honestly, I have considered ranking Mayo (and yeah, believe it or not, I have the scores to do it... I do FP because I LOVE it, not bc I HAVE to), and in reality, I know that in the end- if I choose a place for it's name.. than I might as well marry someone with the last name of Vanderbuilt or Hilton... In other words, I encourage you to instead choose a place as you would a future soul-mate--- look at the substance. Look at what it is that will make you the BEST you can possibly be.

I know that all sounds cheezy, but I'm passionate about family medicine. Whats more, I'm even more passionate about FP doctors choosing a place that will, in the end, do their patients the most good.

 

[MNTransplant]

I think opposed programs get a bad rap... Sure, there are many out there that would be horrible to train at as an FP, but you've really got to look at the individual program. If you're comfortable with an opposed/University program and its run properly, I think you would get better training there.

Think about it: you've got three years to learn a whole crapload of stuff over all of the major fields of medicine. Doesn't it make sense to learn from the best? In my opinion, if you want to be a good family doc, you have to take advantage of the opportunites presented to you at bigger residency programs to get the best training possible. The rest of your FP career is for getting comfortable with outpatient bread and butter stuff.

I wonder if the push for unopposed residencies is going to contribute to the decline of FP. We need to accept that we live in specialist driven times and we have to play the game by their rules. Having all FP residencies based in community settings is just going to make the specialists think less of us even more than they already do, and its not going to do anything to draw the top students into the field.

 

[PACtoDOC]

I think opposed programs get a bad rap... Sure, there are many out there that would be horrible to train at as an FP, but you've really got to look at the individual program. If you're comfortable with an opposed/University program and its run properly, I think you would get better training there.

Think about it: you've got three years to learn a whole crapload of stuff over all of the major fields of medicine. Doesn't it make sense to learn from the best? In my opinion, if you want to be a good family doc, you have to take advantage of the opportunites presented to you at bigger residency programs to get the best training possible. The rest of your FP career is for getting comfortable with outpatient bread and butter stuff.

I wonder if the push for unopposed residencies is going to contribute to the decline of FP. We need to accept that we live in specialist driven times and we have to play the game by their rules. Having all FP residencies based in community settings is just going to make the specialists think less of us even more than they already do, and its not going to do anything to draw the top students into the field.

MN,
You have it all wrong. Unopposed community programs give you instant access via one on one learning from specialists. IN academic centers, FP residents get at the back of the line behind every residency there. And you are crazy if you think the best unopposed programs are nothing but outpatient. The best ones have FP residents in the hospital all 3 years, and some only provide 1/3 of the time in clinic. Show me a university based program where FP's can get the numbers of procedures as a program like Ventura, Ca, Greeley, Co, Martinez, Ca, and I will be impressed.

 

[MNTransplant]

PACtoDOC, I agree that at unopposed programs you'll generally have more opportunities for procedures. But my point is that you can't sterotype all "University" programs as being these horrible places where FP ranks last. I can think of several university programs in the midwest that are delivering 100-150+ babies because of the way they are set up. They either have their own OB service or they're in a seperate hospital where the OBs are only around for high risk deliveries, so all SVDs go to FP residents.

But my point isn't about number of procedures or amount of time spent in the clinic. If you want to judge the quality of your training on the number of procedures you do, that's fine. I see many other applicants doing this, and I understand that its driven by several factors, like compensation and staying competitive against the influx of primary care PAs. However, I think that this focus on procedural training is going to hurt the field in the long run.

I once heard a first year cardiology fellow (in his fourth month of fellowship) say that the good news is that he can cath anyone and anything; the bad news is that he has multiple more years of fellowship. Procedures can be learned relatively quickly and almost anywhere. You can go to a weekend workshop and learn many primary care procedures. But primary care physicians need to learn how to think. We have to be able to sort through complex presentations and diagnose or suspect many things without the benefit of definitive diagnostic modalities. I think that during your FP residency you need to go to the place thats going to teach you the most and make you think the most. Maybe thats at a community program, maybe thats going to be at the big university. I just don't want applicants to write off university programs just because they're opposed and you're not going to get to do 50 central lines or whatever. Pick the place where you feel the most comfortable and where you're going to learn to think so that you can be the best FP possible.

Show me a university based program where FP's can get the numbers of procedures as a program like Ventura, Ca, Greeley, Co, Martinez, Ca, and I will be impressed.

 

[juddson]

What does "opposed" and "unopposed" mean?

Judd

 

[marie337]

What does "opposed" and "unopposed" mean?

Judd

I was just about to ask the same question. I'm just starting to look into this whole residency issue that I will face in a few years. I'm not up on all the lingo 😕 .

 

[dr.smurf]

opposed means there are other primary care residencies like IM, Peds, Ob etc. to compete with for procedures and teaching...so some say. not all places are like this.

unopposed means you are the ONLY residency there. for instance the hospital only has an fp residency there, which means you are the only resident for each rotation.

 

[DRealDrZ]

Many "opposed" programs are universiy based (i.e. UC San Diego, Stanford). Many of the unopposed are community based like the one mentioned earlier in Greeley, CO. They are the only residency so you get to do whatever you want (in general) as far as procedures and such.