MD My institution is discouraging me from going home for residency?

[Charchark]

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Hi there!
I’m planning to go back to my home state (FL) for residency from a top 10 Med school. My problem is that there aren’t any comparable institutions in Florida— I personally have no issue with this, but am receiving a LOT of pushback on my plans from advisors at my institution.

I have been told that programs in my home state may not look at my application because they think I’m applying as a safety. I have also been just generally discouraged from moving forward with this as my advisors think it would be a bad move for my career.

Has anyone had similar experiences in making plans for residency? And if so how did you end up making your final choices and where did you look for actual helpful advice?

 

[7331poas]

Hi there!
I’m planning to go back to my home state (FL) for residency from a top 10 Med school. My problem is that there aren’t any comparable institutions in Florida— I personally have no issue with this, but am receiving a LOT of pushback on my plans from advisors at my institution.

I have been told that programs in my home state may not look at my application because they think I’m applying as a safety. I have also been just generally discouraged from moving forward with this as my advisors think it would be a bad move for my career.

Has anyone had similar experiences in making plans for residency? And if so how did you end up making your final choices and where did you look for actual helpful advice?

What does "comparable institution" mean? Do an away at the program you are interested in and make it explicit that your aim is to match there (or vocalize your intention to match at home in the essay).

 

[Ho0v-man]

Hi there!
I’m planning to go back to my home state (FL) for residency from a top 10 Med school. My problem is that there aren’t any comparable institutions in Florida— I personally have no issue with this, but am receiving a LOT of pushback on my plans from advisors at my institution.

I have been told that programs in my home state may not look at my application because they think I’m applying as a safety. I have also been just generally discouraged from moving forward with this as my advisors think it would be a bad move for my career.

Has anyone had similar experiences in making plans for residency? And if so how did you end up making your final choices and where did you look for actual helpful advice?

Just a third year so take this with a grain of salt but...

Screw that noise.

You busted a** harder than most to get into a top school and survive through it. You did this to have the option to train where you want. This is your career and this is what you want to do with it. Sounds like they’re worried about the way their match list looks more than anything else.

 

[Dr G Oogle]

They will be able to tell you’re from Florida on your eras application and will think you are trying to go home. Might work in your favor. Never heard of anyone getting to advice not to apply somewhere because it’s not “comparable”. Sounds like terrible advice to be honest.

 

[soporific]

You can also make a personal statement for the florida programs and include your desire to go back home for residency. Alternatively can send letter of interest emails to those programs if they start sending invites and you haven't gotten one. They have a lot of applications and may not notice in your ERAS that you are from there if you don't make it explicit elsewhere.

 

[LoGo]

A lot of people will advise to “do what keeps the most doors open”, which is what a top 10 school usually provides. The problem with keeping the most doors open is that you aren’t really moving specifically in one direction or another and sometimes it can feel like you’re doing extra work keeping options afloat for no point if you know for certain what direction you want to go (eg. Why deal with a busier hospital, with more academic responsibilities, away from home, having to make more connections, with a more cut-throat culture when all you want is to chill as a community doc in Florida?). As long as you are aware of what potential opportunities you could miss out on by not staying within the elite track, and you are ok with that, then who gives a damn what an advisor says - do what gets you to where you want to be the fastest.

 

[Tenk]

While yield protection is real, you can easily call these programs or do an away at ones you are really interested in to help explain your interest. Your advisors are dumb.

 

[longhaul3]

As others have said, no shame in wanting to go where you want to go, but you should be proactive in trying to get interviews from these places when the time comes. Don't sit around after you submit and expect the interviews to come and then be sad about it 6 weeks later when you don't hear from them. If you're in a specialty where aways are commonplace, do one in Florida.

 

[y123]

Which specialty are you going in? If you want to primary care you should definitely train where you want to practice. However if you are interested in a competitive sub speciality or academic medicine, going into a low tier program is a bad move for your career.

 

[sanfran256]

Do what YOU want to do . I am personally ranking hybrid/community programs near home (CA) , over some T20s I have interviews at .

 

[2021Doctor]

Hi there!
I’m planning to go back to my home state (FL) for residency from a top 10 Med school. My problem is that there aren’t any comparable institutions in Florida— I personally have no issue with this, but am receiving a LOT of pushback on my plans from advisors at my institution.

I have been told that programs in my home state may not look at my application because they think I’m applying as a safety. I have also been just generally discouraged from moving forward with this as my advisors think it would be a bad move for my career.

Has anyone had similar experiences in making plans for residency? And if so how did you end up making your final choices and where did you look for actual helpful advice?

You are getting bad advice. Apply wherever you want to. Don't listen to the noise.

 

[studentdocftw]

They just dont want a graduate from your program to end up at a "lower tier" residency. The match list will be something like...BWH, Mayo, JHH, UF, MGH...and they wont like it. But..who cares? You put in the work, you get to decide where you train and live. I'd make a separate personal statement for the FL programs stating your desire to return home for training. As others have said, think hard about this decision..because in medicine the only thing that matters is where you trained last..aka for med school..where you went for undergrad...residency where you went for med school...and jobs/fellowship, where you went for residency. If you plan for a fellowship, or want to work in a highly competitive city, I'd reconsider FL and stick with going with the name brand.

 

[jdh71]

Gotta love the brains worms ivory tower nonsense. Elitism isn’t a pretty look.

OP what do you want to do anyway?

 

[NickNaylor]

I had a very similar experience in medical school. Ultimately, it doesn't matter what others think - this is your decision to make. I do think that having a good mentor that you can trust for candid feedback is important, but going to a prestigious program because you're coming from a prestigious school is nonsense. I got the double whammy as a medical student: my career choice (psychiatry) was viewed by some as a bad choice, and my interest in residency programs (which excluded the entirety of the northeast as neither me nor my wife wanted to live there) that weren't "up to par" to the school was chagrined by some. Now that I'm on the other side of training, I'm happy with both decisions that I made and wouldn't choose differently if I had it to do over again.

 

[clinicallabguy]

Some of the advice that you get from adcoms have an ulterior motive of increasing the prestige of the medical school. You match into a prestigious program and they look good. That's not to say that they're 100% wrong, but possibly biased. And from what you're describing they're completely dismissing your interest of being close to home as being unwise, and unwilling to see how important that is to you.

Find advice from someone that you think is non-biased and that practices in the field that you are interested in. They have more perspective on the strength of the programs you're interested in, and ideally would be more interested in helping you determine what is important to you in your training than how prestigious it makes the medical school.

 

[Angus Avagadro]

Some of the advice that you get from adcoms have an ulterior motive of increasing the prestige of the medical school. You match into a prestigious program and they look good. That's not to say that they're 100% wrong, but possibly biased. And from what you're describing they're completely dismissing your interest of being close to home as being unwise, and unwilling to see how important that is to you.

Find advice from someone that you think is non-biased and that practices in the field that you are interested in. They have more perspective on the strength of the programs you're interested in, and ideally would be more interested in helping you determine what is important to you in your training than how prestigious it makes the medical school.

I agree with the above. Great advice. I believe its a combination of yield protection for your schools match list and pedigree bigotry. They actually believe you are matching(marrying..so to speak), below your station in life. Elitism,as stated by another Poster, is an ugly thing. Go with what fits best for you and your goals. Good luck and best wishes!