Rank List Advice

[Os4prez]

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Ok I know i know i know. I know i should go with my gut feeling but....

I rotated and interviewed at a "top 10" institution that of course is really good. However, even though I currently ranked it very highly, my gut feeling tells me I wont be happy to go there. The conflict arises due to this place being such a good program plus being very geographically desirable for me... what should i do? I am considering ranking 2nd and 3rd tier places above just because I felt more comfortable there. (I have ranked other top tier places above this one place already.)

Thanks... It seems as 9pm ET 2/22 approaches, the more I get confused! haha.

peace

 

[TheOneTwo]

Ask yourself what it is you want.

Will you learn any differently? Will the education you need to become a good pediatrician suffer? Remember that many of these "top 10" programs are not top 10 because of their outstanding clinical reputations but because of their outstanding dedication to research and academic medicine.

Also what do you want after residency? Do you want to enter fellowships? If so, are the 2nd and 3rd tier programs MUCH worse than that top 10 program in placing their residents into fellowships? If there isn't much difference, then where does the difference lie? And does it matter to you to do a fellowship at a top name institution (better for a future in academic medicine) or does it only matter that you have the opportunity to do a fellowship. If your future is academic medicine, then how do the programs differ in placing residents in top name fellowships.

Do you want to practice clinical medicine or academic medicine? In the world of academic medicine, pedigree helps a LOT. A top 10 program usually differs from lesser ranked programs due to available research opportunities, not differences in clinical opportunities. In the world of clinical medicine, sometimes a big name can initially make you look a bit more appealing to established private practices, but this is most often not the case and will not be the thing that in any way makes or breaks you.

Finally, how important are research opportunities to you? And how do they differ between the top 10 program and the other programs you're ranking? If you care more about the clinical side and aren't interested in research, a lot of this ranking stuff will mean significantly less since research opportunities plays a significant role in how a program is perceived. However, if you're interested in research, going to a top name place can give you many research opportunities you won't otherwise have.

 

[14022]

I ranked a program number 1 that is a low first tier/high second tier program over boston childrens, chop, and northwestern because i liked the culture of my first choice much much better...so i would not hesitate to do this as long as the program wasnt too far down the ladder in terms of reputation/prestige

keep in mind, unlike medical school where there a bunch of objective measures of performance (usmle scores, shelf scores), in residency performance is simply subjective by evaluation...if you do not like the program and it hurts your performance, it will hurt your evaluations and potential for fellowships and jobs...if you go to a very good place and love it and do well, your morale will be much higher which will most certainly reflect on the way others perceive you, which may make up for any relative lack of prestige the program may have

however, there are other low second/high third tier programs that i did not rank as highly because of my plans on going into a competitive fellowship...so you have to way the risks and benefits of doing such

 

[jerseygirl22]

You have to be super careful here...


3 years of residency is a long time to be surrounded by folks that you don't like or "fit" in with.

I personally know of a woman who chose a very highly ranked program which happened to be in a city that she wanted to live in for personal reasons (ie significant other) and found herself extremely unhappy with her choice at the end of her internship year. To this day, she wishes that she would have choose a more, warm-fuzzy (though ranked lower) program in that very same city...as it would have made little difference to her fellowship applications but tons of difference to her overall happiness...

This is tough for all of us...my only advice is don't be a name ***** if it's NOT a place that is going to make you happy overall--academically, socially, geographically, etc.

And good luck...it will all work out for the best, right?

That's what I keep telling myself.
🙄

 

[TheOneTwo]

but there are also people who feel all warm and fuzzy inside when theyre able to say "I WENT TO _____ (fill in the blank)!!!" or look at their diploma from institution topoftheworld and smile. for these kinds of people being at that big name and having that is too much to give up and everything else (enjoyment, camaraderie, etc.) is secondary. its sad, but it is very true and pretty common.

 

[murphy]

Just curious Os4prez... I believe it was you who responded to my post about penn vs. uchicago med-peds. It sounded like you had some personal experience with penn, so I'm wondering if that is the program you are referring to here. Did you rotate at chop, and if so, what did you think was the personality there? thanks.

Ok I know i know i know. I know i should go with my gut feeling but....

I rotated and interviewed at a "top 10" institution that of course is really good. However, even though I currently ranked it very highly, my gut feeling tells me I wont be happy to go there. The conflict arises due to this place being such a good program plus being very geographically desirable for me... what should i do? I am considering ranking 2nd and 3rd tier places above just because I felt more comfortable there. (I have ranked other top tier places above this one place already.)

Thanks... It seems as 9pm ET 2/22 approaches, the more I get confused! haha.

peace

 

[SurfingDoctor]

Top 10, Schmop 10. I interviewed at a couple "top 10" places and cancelled a couple more pre-interview because honestly, I was unimpressed. I found the "top 10" (I keep putting them in quote cause honestly, whose top 10 they are representative of.... David Letterman?) schools to be too uptight and low on comradie. Though some of the house staff and attending physicians were great and all, a lot I found were very much on a high horse. Teaching often came second at those institutes simply because the attendings were too busy with the volume of patients to have time to teach. Education at those institutes are very much self-guided (I was admitted to this by an attending) and often sacraficed for patient turnover and discharges. I must say that my home program was a "top 10" peds program and I was very unimpressed with that hospital in general (though it wasn't a complete nightmare either). Though some of the attendings were great, an equal number were completely unapproachable. The residents were nice for the most part, but didn't seem really that close. The other "top 10" programs I interviewed at felt very much the same way. Needless to say, I didn't rank any top 10 programs above slot 6. But that's just what was best for me and obviously I can't speak for doing residency there... my experiences were based instead off interviews and my 3rd and 4th year clerkships/AI/electives.

But in the end, you gotta go with your gut 😉

 

[Os4prez]

Thanks to all who responded...And although i would like not to take names, upenn is not the place i was talking about.

my gut in this case tells me considering i want to go into a competitive fellowship i should just go for the big name cuz it actually might end up making a difference. maybe the reasons i didnt like it so much were only a med student thing. i can make myself believe cant i?

thanks and good luck to all today.

peace