M3 - Advice from current applicants

[repititionition]

Me: M3 at well-regarded but not powerhouse midwestern state school, Step 1 mid 250's, many national meeting podium presentations and publications. Clinical grades will likely all be High Pass, only Honors being in internal medicine. I've been assured that the two letters that I have so far (anesthesiology clerkship director and chair of medicine) are outstanding.

Problem: I want to go west and my school essentially never sends people west to train. Our department leadership roster reads like a Harvard reunion mailing list (but come to think of it we don't send people to those programs, either...) so I don't have anyone who trained at western programs to make personal calls when the time comes.

Question for current M4 applicants (or anyone involved in resident selection): do I need to do a west coast away rotation to "show interest" if I want to land in WA/OR/CA? I'm a legal resident of my midwestern state but came here from California (not sure how I indicate this on ERAS since current legal address is here).

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[deleted162650]

No not necessary. You won't have any issues. You could mention in personal statement reasons for returning. That being said, unless you have all of your family and friends in CA, you would nuts to come here. There are some gems in OR I could be very happy in or even a few in WA (no state income tax is huuuuuuge).

 

[Bru]

I applied from NE with little tie to the west and got interviews all in Pacific NW. Cali was more problematic although I didn't really apply there seriously. My stats were slightly below yours.

I have a classmate who had similar step + AOA and got all sorts of west coast love without aways or any ties (he was similarly NE-y as me).

 

[Psai]

If you really want to go west, you should probably invest a month. You'll probably get some interest but I had a similar step score with less research and crickets from california. I only applied to the top programs though.

 

[deleted162650]

If you really want to go west, you should probably invest a month. You'll probably get some interest but I had a similar step score with less research and crickets from california. I only applied to the top programs though.

Well just to the muddy the waters further: I had a high step 1 and clinicals and 0 research coming from a no name EC med school and got interviews at all the respectable CA programs without doing an away rotation.

 

[Psai]

Well just to the muddy the waters further: I had a high step 1 and clinicals and 0 research coming from a no name EC med school and got interviews at all the respectable CA programs without doing an away rotation.

For some reason anesthesia seems to be getting rougher at the top lately
Or maybe I just suck

 

[NotFrankUnderwood]

Aways in anesthesiology can be tough because there's no consistency with who you work with and a single bad impression can eliminate you from consideration. I did an away in socal at a "low" ranked school did not not receive an interview there while receiving interviews at almost every other school in the state. During my away rotation I had two attendings who openly stated they would fight for me to join the program and were extremely impressed by my performance. However two-three days (bad luck for me) with another resident who I did not jive with despite my best attempts to be friendly and helpful I'm sure played a role in the radio silence from the program. With so many applicants it's just easier to rule someone out with negative comments.

 

[repititionition]

Thanks, everyone.

I'm torn. As @NotFrankUnderwood points out, there's downside risk, even for a strong student. But as @Psai points out, sometimes they just walk past your application if you don't demonstrate geographic interest.

Who knows.

 

[BLADEMDA]

Thanks, everyone.

I'm torn. As @NotFrankUnderwood points out, there's downside risk, even for a strong student. But as @Psai points out, sometimes they just walk past your application if you don't demonstrate geographic interest.

Who knows.

So, if you do residency at WashU or Mayo then you think practices/universities won't hire you out West? Stop worrying about whether you can get a job in Oregon and match at a solid program. There are so many strong Midwestern programs to pick from. If you have still have a desire to go West then plan on doing your fellowship where you want to practice.

 

[repititionition]

So, if you do residency at WashU or Mayo then you think practices/universities won't hire you out West? Stop worrying about whether you can get a job in Oregon and match at a solid program. There are so many strong Midwestern programs to pick from. If you have still have a desire to go West then plan on doing your fellowship where you want to practice.

Of course that's an option, and I'm far from worrying about jobs beyond residency at this point.

But, respectfully, I want to enjoy the few hours each week I won't be inside a hospital. My wife wants to go back. It's where we want to be now and in the long term, and I busted my ass to crush step 1, grind out high-quality research, and do well in my third year so I could position myself to go to my #1, not my #5.

I appreciate your advice and insight (and everyone else's). It seems like anesthesiology is a middle ground between specialties that require aways and those in which they are essentially never done, leaving folks like me to try and guess which is the right strategy in their particular case.

 

[Psai]

Of course that's an option, and I'm far from worrying about jobs beyond residency at this point.

But, respectfully, I want to enjoy the few hours each week I won't be inside a hospital. My wife wants to go back. It's where we want to be now and in the long term, and I busted my ass to crush step 1, grind out high-quality research, and do well in my third year so I could position myself to go to my #1, not my #5.

I appreciate your advice and insight (and everyone else's). It seems like anesthesiology is a middle ground between specialties that require aways and those in which they are essentially never done, leaving folks like me to try and guess which is the right strategy in their particular case.

No man, anesthesiology does not require aways. It's not even recommended. You should do it to express interest in a geographic area or if you want to know if a program is right for you. One interview day won't tell you much, especially since they're trying to put their best foot forward.

 

[teacher2md]

I think that you shouldn't do an away.

1. It's a risk with little reward-- It's hard enough to be helpful and non-intrusive as an MS3 in the OR. Couple that with being in a new institution where you don't know how anything works, and you're setting yourself up to be 'that guy that's always around and who no one knows what to do with'.

2. You don't need an away, or even any ties at all to a region, to be competitive for west coast residencies. I have no ties at all, and interviewed at many of the 'top' west coast programs. If you have as good of a Step score as you say, then you will be set.

 

[BLADEMDA]

Of course that's an option, and I'm far from worrying about jobs beyond residency at this point.

But, respectfully, I want to enjoy the few hours each week I won't be inside a hospital. My wife wants to go back. It's where we want to be now and in the long term, and I busted my ass to crush step 1, grind out high-quality research, and do well in my third year so I could position myself to go to my #1, not my #5.

I appreciate your advice and insight (and everyone else's). It seems like anesthesiology is a middle ground between specialties that require aways and those in which they are essentially never done, leaving folks like me to try and guess which is the right strategy in their particular case.

Well, if you want weather then UCSD is certainly a much better choice than UW in Seattle. You can interview at 6 West Coast programs and 4 midwest ones. My hunch is you will match at one of your top 3 choices.

 

[sigrhoillusion]

I think that you shouldn't do an away.

1. It's a risk with little reward-- It's hard enough to be helpful and non-intrusive as an MS3 in the OR. Couple that with being in a new institution where you don't know how anything works, and you're setting yourself up to be 'that guy that's always around and who no one knows what to do with'.

2. You don't need an away, or even any ties at all to a region, to be competitive for west coast residencies. I have no ties at all, and interviewed at many of the 'top' west coast programs. If you have as good of a Step score as you say, then you will be set.

Yup, one lip lac and you are done-zo!!!

 

[OTHrocksmysocks]

My story is similar to yours, born and raised in Cali, moved to the South during high school and have been there ever since but want to go back to Cali. I got 255/256, honors in 4/6 3rd year clerkships, have 4 pubs (2 1st author) but was concerned about getting interviews in Cali. I decided against doing an away because of cost and was advised that doing an away can be risky. In my personal statement, I added an extra sentence about wanting to move back to Cali for residency for the Cali programs. Applied to UCSF, Stanford, UCLA, and UCSD and got interviews at all 4. So my advice to you, as been previously said, is just to add it to your personal statement. You can upload separate personal statements for different programs.