Is your state of residence as important for residency apps as it is for med school apps?

[deleted1118591]

I'm from the West Coast originally, but I'll be starting med school in the Midwest this summer. I'm thinking of becoming an "official" resident of my new state once I move (checked the laws and stuff for that state and pretty sure it's allowed), but while I'm not dead set on it or anything, it would be nice to be able to come back to the West Coast for residency. I know in-state status and ties to states are huge factors when it comes to med school admissions, but do they play as big of a role (or any role) for residency?

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[Niwrad]

They do, but it’s unclear how they evaluate it.

The ERAS supplemental application allows about 140 characters to describe the reason why you prefer one of three regions. The regions are based on the US census.

 

[cj_cregg]

In state status does not matter in the same way it does for medical school admissions, but it does help to have ties to the region and a willingness to stick around in the community after graduating. Your "official" state of residence is probably irrelevant.

 

[BobbyKoch]

I spoke to one pD who said one of their filters is for people who list the program’s city as their current address on eras. They preferentially look at those applicants and will often interview them assuming the rest of their app is up to snuff.

You have plenty of time to think about what programs and region you want to train in. I originally intended on staying in my home state for residency but after moving around a bit for medical school and clerkships realized I wanted something completely different—matched 2,000 miles away.

 

[S R K]

It was for me, I got 16 interviews in my home state (CA). I signaled a lot of these residency programs and made it clear in my personal statement to these programs.

 

[deleted1095841]

It was for me, I got 16 interviews in my home state (CA). I signaled a lot of these residency programs and made it clear in my personal statement to these programs.

How did you make it clear in your personal statement? In other words, what kinds of things did you write? And is this the main personal statement that goes to all programs or are you referring to supplemental application essays?

 

[collegestud2013]

I'm from the West Coast originally, but I'll be starting med school in the Midwest this summer. I'm thinking of becoming an "official" resident of my new state once I move (checked the laws and stuff for that state and pretty sure it's allowed), but while I'm not dead set on it or anything, it would be nice to be able to come back to the West Coast for residency. I know in-state status and ties to states are huge factors when it comes to med school admissions, but do they play as big of a role (or any role) for residency?

It still does matter somewhat for residency as many will still give interview preferences to those with state or regional ties, but not as nearly in the same as for med school. Residency programs are mostly funded by CMS on a national level, while many medical schools like state schools get state-level funding and hence are pretty much required to take a certain amount of in-state students.

Becoming an official resident of this new state is not necessary for residency apps, but it may have other financial benefits such as better income tax rate than your home state, or if you're going to a public school it may in some cases allow you to get in-state tuition.

 

[BobbyKoch]

How did you make it clear in your personal statement? In other words, what kinds of things did you write? And is this the main personal statement that goes to all programs or are you referring to supplemental application essays?

You can send a unique PS to each program through eras if you want. I wrote a personalized one to 12-15 programs and the rest got a general PS.

 

[S R K]

How did you make it clear in your personal statement? In other words, what kinds of things did you write? And is this the main personal statement that goes to all programs or are you referring to supplemental application essays?

This is the main personal statement that goes to programs. For residency apps, you can have as many personal statements as you want, and you can assign each one to one or more programs. But I generally changed a few things in the personal statement to more align with that program's mission, and made it clear what ties I had to the area/program.

You can send a unique PS to each program through eras if you want. I wrote a personalized one to 12-15 programs and the rest got a general PS.

I did exactly what this person did