Questions on Med school/Residency match-up

[Bridaddy]

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I posted this in the pre allo forum, but wasn't getting a lot of feedback, so I thought I'd ask people who had already gone through the whole process, and knew what they were talking about 🙂

In another thread the:
"does prestiege of med school matter? " (pre-allo)

a topic got brought up, and several people responded, but I'm still a little confused, maybe you guys can help out.

Right now I'm interested in a couple of different fields, Anesthesiology or Endocrinology specifically. Both I've been told are not particularly competitive.

Its been discussed that its more helpful to come from a higher tier med school than not, to get the residency match-up you want.

My question is, for fields that aren't highly competitive, can you just go to a mid-level/low level school and still match-up in a relatively uncompetitive residency?

Not looking to go into academic medicine, just be a doctor who treats patients.

If you guys can elaborate on this topic, specifically on mid-range competitive residencies, I'd really appreciate it!

I know no matter what I do, I couldn't see working more than 60 hrs/week after training.

Thanks for your help!

(FYI, I did try to find this using the search button, but didn't have much luck).

 

[DrDre']

These topics really have been debated ad nauseum on these forums. Search and ye shall find.

Long story short:
I think what you bring to med school is more important than what school you go to.

A great or well-known school may provide tons of research opportunities but if you just put in your time without doing anything extra, they don't do you any good. A big name on your transcript or resume means less than outstanding individual achievement at a po-dunk med school.

Sometimes less known schools can offer a more intimate relationship between students and faculty (no pun intended) as the faculty are less inundated with responsibilities. They will get to know you better, be able to write a more personal letter and might go to bat for you, if necessary.

The main oculoplastics attending (who is internationally recognized) at my med school counseled me that I "could go anywhere from anywhere". If you work hard, study hard and network, you can go into any field.


Granted, the recognition value of some well known attendings writing your letters from a big name school can help. However, there are influential attendings all over. They don't all work at Hopkins or Beth Israel.

If I had to choose where to go to med school again,

1. Cost of tuition, living
2. Location- there is more time for sports and such that I had hoped
3. Opportunities and prestige

Despite the fact you should make good $ when you are done, why pay pack $250k when you can pay back $100k?

Good luck,

 

[G'ville Nole]

Bridaddy,

Dr. Dre is absolutely right, as was his oculoplastics attending. If you come into medical school with a good attitude and work ethic, and do well in your studies, you will be able to match into whatever you want to. A prestigious med school does not equate into an outstanding physician; I've run into some real pinheads from prestigious schools, and some stellar docs from very "average" programs. I would think that these relative strengths and weaknesses would be manifest during the interview process, and if I were a PD, I'd be more inclined to take the latter over the former regardless of alma mater.

I will offer a caveat, though. When I had to decide between two med schools which I liked a great deal, the match lists of the two schools played a big role in my decision. The school which I ultimately chose placed its graduates in very good programs all over the country, while the other one tended to place its graduates within the region. This second school matched its students into all kinds of fields, and into good programs, mind you, but I felt that the school I went to kept more doors open in terms of residency location. If this sort of thing is important to you, then prestige of the program becomes less trivial. Keep in mind though that as a graduate from a U.S. allopathic medical school, you will be a welcome commodity anywhere. Period. Just concentrate on becoming the best doc you can, and the rest will take care of itself.

 

[DrDre']

Excellent point about checking match lists. I would definitely see this as a tie breaker, personally.

Regional v. national representation of graduates is perhaps more important than school name. Although, they could be synonymous. A built in network of graduates who will ideally choose you for their program or practice.

Good luck

 

[neilc]

what about the idea that a bigger, more "prestigious" program will have students from all over the country, therefore, they will likely scatter for residency. and the more "average" schools would tend to have more local students that want to stay in the area for residency. i would think that where the grads match has greater correlation to the type of students at the school than anything else. a more useful stat would be how many matched to first choice, not location.

i don't go to a US school, but my thoughts are that if you do well, it really doesn't matter a whole lot. i envy the US grads from the average programs, as they can most assuredly get into the specialty of thier choice, at least a whole lot easier than i can.

go somewhere cheap, and somewhere you can be happy. a happy student is a good student, and that will serve you better than anything else.

 

[G'ville Nole]

neilc:

"what about the idea that a bigger, more "prestigious" program will have students from all over the country, therefore, they will likely scatter for residency. and the more "average" schools would tend to have more local students that want to stay in the area for residency."

There is merit to that when talking about the private med schools. However, if you look at a lot of the middle to upper tier state schools (I include my own school, Univ. of Florida, in this category), they are tremendously provincial when bringing students in. In my class of 117, I think we have one student who is not a Florida resident. Yet, when match day rolls around, we have a significant contingent of grads who go pretty far afield to train. I'd guess the same could be said about UVa, UNC, any of CA state schools for example.

You make an excellent point about going somewhere that you will be happy. The best match lists in the world will not compensate for being miserable during your med school training. Remember that in many cases, "prestige" is a function of research dollars generated, which is not necessarily relevant to everyone going into medicine. As I go through the residency application and interview process, I am finding that things are much the same as they were when I went through the med school interviews; for all the bells and whistles of the various programs, a gut feeling that one place is "right" for you is pretty valuable, and in many cases will rightly trump many of the things that get talked about in these forums.

Hope this discussion is helpful to you. Good luck with everything!

Wes

 

[neilc]

yeah, i didn't consider the regional top-tier guys.

i am the wrong person to get involved in this discussion...i would kill to have been accepted to ANY school in the states. don't get me wrong, prague is nice....but, i would love to be stateside!

man, i can just imagine studying at UCSD, surfing black's during my study breaks, getting to enjoy thanksgiving turkey and football. so, my advice, is go to UCSD!

good luck with the choice, bridaddy! and congrats for having one!

 

[Bridaddy]

Thanks guys, this was exactly what I was looking for!

Now the daunting task of actually getting in! 😱