Matching out West

[dermhopefully]

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Hi Everyone,
I am a fairly competitive (I hope) derm wannabe, currently doing a year of research b/t 3rd and 4th year. Anyways, I am interested in trying to match a program out West (I am single, I want to live out West, perhaps permanently, before I die. I realize that in the interview this will not be enough). I come from a mid-level state school in the Southeast, -def not top 25 probably not top 50. Any advice on going about this during my 4th year? I am hearing on the interview thread that it seems impossible for an East Coast student to get interviews out West (unless you are a superstar like sweatybrain). I am specifically interested in Wash, Ore, Cali, Colo, Ariz, NM. Are certain programs more friendly to East Coast applicants?
Hope all is well, good luck on the trail,

 

[starryskies]

I will preface this by saying it is just my opinion and I'm but a lowly applicant who has yet to match, but it seems to be difficult for ANYBODY to match on the west coast, even if they have ties to the area. I would say that if you honestly want to try to match on the west coast you should do aways and make as many connections as possible with the west coast programs.

 

[asmallchild]

I will echo the same advice. I personally avoided applying to California as my complete lack of ties there would have resulted in a probable bagel for interview invites.

If you are truly determined to end up out West (again, if you match in derm, you do have the benefit of being in one of the more flexible fields in medicine. it might not be ideal but you can always do residency anywhere and relocate out west as a fresh attending or perhaps fellow), I would recommend putting lots of facetime out west. Moreso, I'd recommend focusing on one state as the areas you mentioned are quite broad, California again comes to mind as there are a lot more institutions there: research, clinical rotations, path rotations, etc... etc...

 

[dermhopefully]

California would be a dream, esp SoCal. However, several "ivory tower" programs might be out of my reach, e.g. UCSD, Stanford, and UCSF. How about other programs though, would Irvine be a possibility?

 

[moinmoin]

I know University of Washington has matched only UW people the last two years.

 

[sweatybrain]

Moinmoin: really? I got an interview there... have no ties to Seattle, but have always really liked that city.

 

[chef]

Moinmoin: really? I got an interview there... have no ties to Seattle, but have always really liked that city.

you're an exception, not the norm, b/c of your PhD and research. you've been getting offers throughout the country right? most ppl get regional offers iirc.

 

[sweatybrain]

Strangely enough I still haven't heard from 1/2 the programs I applied to in my home city. And I'm 1 for 4 in the midwest.

 

[N-Surge]

California would be a dream, esp SoCal. However, several "ivory tower" programs might be out of my reach, e.g. UCSD, Stanford, and UCSF. How about other programs though, would Irvine be a possibility?

I only had 4 interviews last season, and UCSD was one of them.

 

[moinmoin]

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