Med School Location and Residency

[deleted600623]

Does the location of your school affect if you can match into a program in a different part of the country? For context, I am about to start school at a US MD school in the NW and am considering doing my residency in a different part of the country, specifically the south/southeast region. Is there regional bias associated with residency programs?

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[AnatomyGrey12]

Is there regional bias associated with residency programs?

Yes but not nearly as much as with medical schools.

 

[NickNaylor]

There is, but this is something that can be dealt with relatively easily (e.g., doing an away rotation in a region that you may want to go to).

 

[deleted600623]

There is, but this is something that can be dealt with relatively easily (e.g., doing an away rotation in a region that you may want to go to).

Okay good. Even if it's to a specialty that most typically recommend not doing aways, like IM?

 

[Nugester]

Does the location of your school affect if you can match into a program in a different part of the country? For context, I am about to start school at a US MD school in the NW and am considering doing my residency in a different part of the country, specifically the south/southeast region. Is there regional bias associated with residency programs?

Your best bet is to check the match list from the last few years for your school. Also, the name of your school will matter to a certain extent. Ex) LSU graduates tend to stay in Louisiana or match mostly to the Southeast, while Tulane matches all around the country.

And somehow I found myself in the "Medical Student" section. Time to show myself out and hopefully be back next year!

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

Also, the name of your school will matter to a certain extent. Ex) LSU graduates tend to stay in Louisiana or match mostly to the Southeast, while Tulane matches all around the country.

That's not a good example. Something like that is much more likely to be because LSU likely has a lot more in state kids who want to stay nearby for residency than Tulane.

 

[Nugester]

That's not a good example. Something like that is much more likely to be because LSU likely has a lot more in state kids who want to stay nearby for residency than Tulane.

Yes, while that is true, Tulane has more of a "brand name" than LSU.

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

Yes, while that is true, Tulane has more of a "brand name" than LSU.

Not really.

 

[DrMcLovin]

Your best bet is to check the match list from the last few years for your school. Also, the name of your school will matter to a certain extent. Ex) LSU graduates tend to stay in Louisiana or match mostly to the Southeast, while Tulane matches all around the country.

And somehow I found myself in the "Medical Student" section. Time to show myself out and hopefully be back next year!

Yes, definitely show yourself out next time before making such uniformed comments.

LSU mainly recruits and accepts students from Louisiana. Tulane is a private school that accepts from across the country equally. People tend to want to match near their families and social support systems.

 

[Nugester]

Yes, definitely show yourself out next time before making such uniformed comments.

LSU mainly recruits and accepts students from Louisiana. Tulane is a private school that accepts from across the country equally. People tend to want to match near their families and social support systems.

Will do! Thanks for informing me! If @DrMcLovin and @AnatomyGrey12 could answer the OP's question with better examples so I can learn too.

 

[Osteoth]

Okay good. Even if it's to a specialty that most typically recommend not doing aways, like IM?

Do you have connections to the area or is it a random choice?

 

[deleted600623]

Do you have connections to the area or is it a random choice?

Lots of family in the southeast.

 

[FamousLinen]

Do an away or two in the region you're interested in. I'd say between that and talking about having family there your commitment to wanting to be there will be obvious enough.

 

[mvenus929]

You'll have some mobility. Getting into the South or Southeast is relatively easy compared to, say, California or the NE.

I did med school and residency in the mid-Atlantic and am in fellowship in the midwest. My residency program matched several students from the midwest each year.

People have different reasons for choosing where to do residency. Some want to focus on the prestige of the program (or opportunities available at the program), while others want to focus on living close to family. If you choose a specialty that is relatively easy to get into (i.e. IM, Peds, FM, Psych--where there are lots of residencies across the states), and you're a competitive applicant, you should be fine. If you want to do Derm, then you'll have to be less picky about the location.

 

[nimbus]

Both OHSU and UW are highly regarded medical schools. They won’t handicap you from matching anywhere.

 

[deleted600623]

Both OHSU and UW are highly regarded medical schools. They won’t handicap you from matching anywhere.

Thank you! I looked at some of the recent classes of IM at Vanderbilt, Emory, UNC, Duke, Mayo Jax, UF Jax and didn’t see any UWash grads but that might be just because they choose to stay on this side of the country.

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

that might be just because they choose to stay on the best side of the country.

FTFY.

 

[deleted600623]

FTFY.

Haha touché. I miss my southern bbq and fresh seafood though.

 

[Snoopy2006]

Should do fine in IM. If you're a top performer in med school you'll definitely be able to write your own ticket. But even if not, writing about the family draw will help.

Some of the bias is because residencies don't want to rank candidates they think are unlikely to come to their program. It's a terrible hangup and I've argued with our PD about it multiple times. But for these cases, if they hear you have family drawing you back to the SE, you should be fine.

A lot harder to do this for people trying to return home to California. For the SE, I don't see this being a problem.

 

[LutGholein]

Lots of family in the southeast.

This will help.

 

[deleted600623]

Should do fine in IM. If you're a top performer in med school you'll definitely be able to write your own ticket. But even if not, writing about the family draw will help.

Some of the bias is because residencies don't want to rank candidates they think are unlikely to come to their program. It's a terrible hangup and I've argued with our PD about it multiple times. But for these cases, if they hear you have family drawing you back to the SE, you should be fine.

A lot harder to do this for people trying to return home to California. For the SE, I don't see this being a problem.

This is good to know. If I have the step scores, do you think an away is necessary for programs like Emory, Duke, Mayo (Jax), UVA?

 

[DrStephenStrange]

Sorry for invading this thread and being lazy of starting my own, but since this is already talking about what I wanted to ask, I figured I would ask anyway.

From what I read here, having family members in the Southeast would help for residency, especially IM, FM, Peds. So, what about someone coming from a DO school would it still be relatively easy to land a good IM program (w/ possibility of Cards fellowship later) in the Southeast with family/ethnic connections in the region?

My background: I'm originally from the Caribbean, I'm attending a DO school (OMS2), and looking to do IM in Florida hopefully. I have lots of family down there, plus most people from my country also live down there.

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

Sorry for invading this thread and being lazy of starting my own, but since this is already talking about what I wanted to ask, I figured I would ask anyway.

From what I read here, having family member in the Southeast would help for residency, especially IM, FM, Peds. So, what about someone coming from a DO school would it still be relatively easy to land a good IM program (w/ possibility of Cards fellowship later) in the Southeast with family/ethnic connections in the region?

My background: I'm originally from the Caribbean, I'm attending a DO school (OMS2), and looking to do IM in Florida hopefully. I have lots of family down there, plus most people from my country also live down there.

Rotate at programs you are most heavily interested in. That's pretty much how most DOs get back to programs they are specifically targeting.