Migrating to the coasts

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VoxelMD

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I'm a current 3rd year at a reputable med school in the Midwest. As of now I plan on applying to internal medicine programs, with the eventual hope of fellowship. I am interested in programs on the east/west coasts if for no other reason than to get out of the area for a few years. A few that are particularly appealing are Mass Gen, UCSF, New York Presbyterian. I have exemplary grades, Step 1 scores, more-than-likely AOA, research w/ publication, and a Masters degree between years 2 and 3.

I have heard that getting into these programs is difficult if you are not from the area. Is there any truth to this? I don't want to sacrifice quality of program for geography. Thoughts?

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you won't have any trouble at all. I've grown up in the midwest and go to school here, but really want to get out to the coasts as well, and I've seen tons of people from midwestern schools match out on the coasts. There's even been an MD/PhD from my school that matched neurosurgery in UCLA, though he's been in Illinois his whole life. Since your stats are stellar and you are applying in a non-competitive specialty, it's a non-issue. I would think the west coast would be slightly harder because there's less programs, but even that should not be a problem.

I've noticed that residency is the best time to completely make a switch out and start a new life, but it's also a time when more people tend to apply closer to home, because they might have a spouse/SO and family issues that keep them tethered down. So those of us with no ties have an easier time getting out than we did when we applied to med school.
 
Geography does have some influence, but with good scores, etc. you can get around it. Do some away rotations at your top locations.

In my understanding you were a DO? DO world and MD world have different rules of the game when it comes to away rotations. An MD doing away rotation at super top places may not be the best thing.
 
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