location over specialty

[aggiecrew]

has anyone out there applied to several different specialties all at the same location or around the same basic geographical area? in other words, you needed or wanted to live in a particular city and were equally interested in several different fields.

thanks!

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[CambieMD]

has anyone out there applied to several different specialties all at the same location or around the same basic geographical area? in other words, you needed or wanted to live in a particular city and were equally interested in several different fields.

thanks!

I could understand a med student applying to one program with a second as a back up if the first specialty that they're applying to is very competative.
Location shpould never matter over specialty. I think that it is short sighted to choose a specialty due to the location of the program. I can understand if you're an old man like me with a family and deep connections to a particular community. If you are coming straight out of medical school and you are a traditional sudent(not a million years old and a spouse with an established career) location should not matter that much. Go for what excites and interest you.

CambieMD

 

[shellfish]

I applied to 2 specialties, one extremely competitive, the other not competitive at all as a back up. For the uber-competitive specialty, I applied everywhere, but only received interviews from the region of the country I live in, as I predicted would happen since location is used as a screener for this field. For the less competitive specialty, I chose cities that I've always wanted to live in - that is big metropolitan cities with a lot going on, and I got almost every interview I wanted. I didn't double apply at any hopsital out of fear that I'd be caught, but in retrospect, I don't think it would have mattered. So on match day hopefully it will be a win-win situation. I'll either get either the specialty I wanted or the city I wanted.