Med School Location & Residency (East vs. West)

[nowitspartytime]

if i were to go to a med school in the east (hopkins or harvard) vs. one in the west (stanford or ucsf), will i be at an advantage/disadvantage on getting a competitive residency spot (i.e. surgical residency) in the west coast (where i ultimately want to be in life)?

(and please don't say stuff like "you'll be fine getting into whichever residency coming from those schools" -- that doesn't help me at all in picking which school to attend)

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[blizzah]

If you want to end up on the west coast, stay on the west coast

 

[Nymphicus]

if i were to go to a med school in the east (ihopkins or harvard) vs. one in the west (stanford or ucsf), will i be at an advantage/disadvantage on getting a competitive residency spot (i.e. surgical residency) in the west coast (where i ultimately want to be in life)?

(and please don't say stuff like "you'll be fine getting into whichever residency coming from those schools" -- that doesn't help me at all in picking which school to attend)

Too bad all those schools you listed are all pretty terrible.

 

[eccentric jet]

If you actually get to choose between those schools, and do well, you won't be at a disadvantage anywhere.

 

[eccentric jet]

But if you want to be West Coast later, might as well go there now.

 

[thlaxer]

Similar question here: if I want to eventually end up in the East Coast for residency, would it be beneficial to go to an East Coast school vs one in the Midwest (both schools have similar reputations)? Thanks!

 

[eccentric jet]

Apparently I didn't read your entire post, so pardon my first post but it sounds like you already knew the answer to your question.

 

[nowitspartytime]

yes i have been accepted to all those schools i mentioned
can someone please provide some data on this topic?

 

[aSagacious]

can someone please provide some data on this topic?

A couple options.

1) Use the NRMP data to identify residency programs by state. Google them and look at the med schools represented at each program (to see if there is a trend).

2) Look at the US News data for each candidate med school to see how many graduates remained in-state for residency (this would be especially helpful for Stanford, UCSF).

Caveats:
As I'm sure you're well aware, residency programs may select applicants for any number of reasons and med school location probably falls way down the list. Similarly, graduates of a particular med school may choose to hang around for residency (or not) for any number of reasons. Combined, these circumstances make it very difficult to determine if a program has a preference for a particular school.

 

[drizzt3117]

Theres no hard data on this because of self selection, but all the anecdotal evidence i've seen suggests you should go to med school in the region you'd like to practice in. My brother applied to a competitive surgical subspecialty several years ago with 270+/AOA/pubs from a top NE program, wanted to go to CA badly and ranked UCSF and Stanford 1/2, rotated there, and in the end ended up matching a bit down his list to one of the Harvard programs. In small fields where programs might reserve a spot or two for their own students, it's hard to break regional biases.

 

[eccentric jet]

If you have particular west coast programs in mind for residency, you can also go to their websites and check out the resident profiles for any given specialty and see where they came from.

 

[MrLahey]

if i were to go to a med school in the east (hopkins or harvard) vs. one in the west (stanford or ucsf), will i be at an advantage/disadvantage on getting a competitive residency spot (i.e. surgical residency) in the west coast (where i ultimately want to be in life)?

(and please don't say stuff like "you'll be fine getting into whichever residency coming from those schools" -- that doesn't help me at all in picking which school to attend)

I want to help you but, it does not matter! Even if you went to the University of (enter any state school) as long as you have good grades, AOA, high board scores, research and good LOR in the field you want you can work where you want to work. Maybe not the one specific hospital you had in mind, but definitely on that side of the country. Ultimately when you interview with the residency director, it's whether he(or she) like you....on top of your other grades. (Trust me I know...I live with one)

Now if you want to do a residency at school XXX, then going to medical school at XXX would definitely help you because you essentially have the opportunity for a 4 year interview with the department.

If you want to get nit picky there might be some small benefit on studying on the side of the country you want to work because your letter writers probably attend the same regional meetings together. (This is more relevant in smaller more competitive specialties)

If you want the best ability to choose where you want to do your residency, I got two peices of advice from the residency director (competitive surgical subspecialty at a major academic hospital) GET AOA and ROCK YOUR STEP 1

 

[nowitspartytime]

ppl are telling me to go to HMS or Hopkins, since I will be a more "attractive" applicant to UCSF or Stanford for residency, since I will have a unique perspective coming form the East (and will add to the overall "diversity"). Is this true?

 

[Instatewaiter]

ppl are telling me to go to HMS or Hopkins, since I will be a more "attractive" applicant to UCSF or Stanford for residency, since I will have a unique perspective coming form the East (and will add to the overall "diversity"). Is this true?

Not true.

Hopkins does not have a good reputation nationwide and is known to deliver poor clinical training. You would be best served going elsewhere.

 

[drizzt3117]

ppl are telling me to go to HMS or Hopkins, since I will be a more "attractive" applicant to UCSF or Stanford for residency, since I will have a unique perspective coming form the East (and will add to the overall "diversity"). Is this true?

No.

 

[theronguard]

I am in a similar predicament (different schools), but want to end up in CA. Can any medical students or residents chime in? I also am interested in competitive surgical specialties.

I was looking at match lists, and despite being top east coast programs, not too many matched into California. Is this mostly due to preferences of the students?

 

[Osteoth]

If you want to end up on the west coast, stay on the west coast

What if you're a CA resident and must leave to attend school? Would it be advantageous to attend a slightly lower tier school in the mid-west or go to a higher ranked school in the east?

 

[drizzt3117]

What if you're a CA resident and must leave to attend school? Would it be advantageous to attend a slightly lower tier school in the mid-west or go to a higher ranked school in the east?

East coast > Midwest for CA.

 

[TheMightySmiter]

yes i have been accepted to all those schools i mentioned
can someone please provide some data on this topic?

You got accepted to Harvard, Stanford, Hopkins, and UCSF, yet you can't research their match lists on your own?

 

[MrLahey]

you got accepted to harvard, stanford, hopkins, and ucsf, yet you can't research their match lists on your own?

lulz

 

[plumhill]

pick the med school that's best for you. you know yourself best, and you know what you're looking for in a medical school. if you got into all of those schools, then matching into a residency on a particular side of the country will be the least of your problems.

 

[45408]

dude, everybody knows the east side always be beefin' with the west side