Regionally speaking, does it really matter where I go for medical school when applying for residencies?

[jaffri1]

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I will most likely be attending a school in the midwest. I am from New York and would prefer to go there for residency as it is closer to my home. How exactly would attending medical school in the midwest hinder me from attaining a residency in the northeast? Or is this (as I imagine most would say) contingent on my board scores and what specialty I am applying to?

edit; I know of a couple of Caribbean grads who matched to residencies in NYS and knowing that it goes USMD>USDO>FMG/IMG it gives me some sense of security. However, my neuroticism still exists and your wisdom is still appreciated.

 

[ciestar]

Some PDs care, but that is more of an issue of them seeing you applying to places you have no ties to. If you’re from NY and are applying to residency there, it makes sense why you’re doing it. If ever any doubt, do aways where you want to go

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

Your school won't really matter, but depending on the specialty going back to NY could be very easy or extremely difficult.

NY is notorious for being a terrible place to do residency unless you're at one of the major centers.

 

[deleted610572]

You can also attend residency in NJ, philly, or upstate which are all pretty DO friendly compared to other parts of the US

 

[jaffri1]

Thank you for the replies! As much as a premed can be, I’m interested in anesthesia or internal medicine. I don’t think either are too difficult to match into.

 

[deleted610572]

Internal medicine won’t be. Anesthesia is yet to be seen. Is was trending down for the past several years due to CRNAs but this past year showed the first uptick in competitiveness for it. Still not competitive but it wasn’t continuing the downslope

 

[jaffri1]

Internal medicine won’t be. Anesthesia is yet to be seen. Is was trending down for the past several years due to CRNAs but this past year showed the first uptick in competitiveness for it. Still not competitive but it wasn’t continuing the downslope

Interesting. I was under the impression that it currently is less competitive than it was in the previous years. I’ve still four years to match if all goes well, so a lot can change. Where did you find the data showing the increase in competitiveness for this past year?

 

[deleted610572]

Interesting. I was under the impression that it currently is less competitive than it was in the previous years. I’ve still four years to match if all goes well, so a lot can change. Where did you find the data showing the increase in competitiveness for this past year?

its still not competitive. I can look for it but I matched this cycle so I was following trends across multiple specialties. Also just the quality of invites my classmates received were less than they expected

 

[deleted1020563]

Your school won't really matter, but depending on the specialty going back to NY could be very easy or extremely difficult.

NY is notorious for being a terrible place to do residency unless you're at one of the major centers.

I hear a lot of this from people going into IM/FM there. What's with the NY programs that makes them terrible?

 

[BorntobeDO?]

Internal medicine won’t be. Anesthesia is yet to be seen. Is was trending down for the past several years due to CRNAs but this past year showed the first uptick in competitiveness for it. Still not competitive but it wasn’t continuing the downslope

The expansion took care of that down slope.

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

I hear a lot of this from people going into IM/FM there. What's with the NY programs that makes them terrible?

Nursing unions. Residents are often relied on to do tasks such as patient transport, blood draws, etc. The hospitals are frequently old and decrepit.

 

[jaffri1]

its still not competitive. I can look for it but I matched this cycle so I was following trends across multiple specialties. Also just the quality of invites my classmates received were less than they expected

If you don’t mind me asking. Could you touch on the range of step scores that your friends applied with?

 

[deleted610572]

If you don’t mind me asking. Could you touch on the range of step scores that your friends applied with?

The Successful ones I know were 210+ Which shows it’s not competitive I would say you should still aim for 230 And be average to feel confident about matching. But then again you are more than 4 years away from matching, who knows what the landscape will look like then

 

[Blueprint Med School]

I will most likely be attending a school in the midwest. I am from New York and would prefer to go there for residency as it is closer to my home. How exactly would attending medical school in the midwest hinder me from attaining a residency in the northeast? Or is this (as I imagine most would say) contingent on my board scores and what specialty I am applying to?

edit; I know of a couple of Caribbean grads who matched to residencies in NYS and knowing that it goes USMD>USDO>FMG/IMG it gives me some sense of security. However, my neuroticism still exists and your wisdom is still appreciated.

Not really, with the exception that California is a sinkhole because it is so competitive.

The Northeast is an interesting beast (I am from Jersey). There are 'so' many programs for everything. For example, when I applied to ER residency I could have filled a list of 30 places with only NYC, NJ, Philly and taken zero flights. That is amplified by orders of magnitide for IM. If you are nervous, do an away rotation near where you want to be as a fourth year. Get a good letter / SLOE and include it when applying.

Long story short, you good fam.

David D, MD - USMLE and MCAT Tutor
Med School Tutors

 

[Angus Avagadro]

A couple points. I have a few students struggling for interviews right now with above average usmle 220+. Interviews are now starting to come in. I saw the same phenomena last year, with one 240+ score. I think programs are looking at DO apps, only after the MD pile has been gone through. I have NO evidence other than what I mentioned to support this view, just seems logical.
Second, Carribean schools often have guaranteed slots in NY that they pay for, so their best and brightest have a spot. Matching at a major center might not be as easy as you think. Agree with abundance of crappy programs in NY.