Regret my rank list post-match

[whooooopwhoop]

I had an insane interview season for Match 2020 - 30 interview offers, 8 out of the top 10 programs. I chose to rank a california program #1 for lifestyle (spouse, family), above SRA/UW/UPMC/etc. and matched to my #1.
I am now having regrets.... I thought my california program would provide me the training to succeed as a physiatrist in california with the option for fellowship in sports, spine, or pain. I am now thinking I made a huge mistake and should have SRA and UW at the top of my list for reputation and strength of training.... Did I make a huge mistake that is going to affect the quality of physiatrist I will be?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[waytogo1]

Hi, I also have similar regret as you do... Regretting ranking a program I thought would be the best fit for me (and thought I liked the residents more) over Spaulding. At the time, I thought I made the right choice, but since starting PGY2 I realized I may have made a mistake.
But I think wherever we do our training, how much we learn during our residency will highly depend on how hard we work and study, and does not solely depend on where we do our training.
For me, after doing my away rotations as a med student at my current program and Spaulding, I thought that the vibe and people at my current program would be a better fit for me and thus despite harder call schedule and worse facility, I decided to rank my current program higher. I do regret time to time because I overemphasized how I felt as a rotating medical student but I am telling myself that as long as I work hard I can become the physiatrist I want to be. Stay positive! Regretting doesn't help and since we can't change our residency programs now, might as well try to enjoy the ride and make the most of it

 

[Chelsea FC]

Its hard to know how much of a bad decision you made until your couple years out of training. For all you know you would probably think the same thing if you ranked the more prestigious programs and now regretting not following your gut/being closer to family. The grass is always greener.

 

[Eurycea]

Don't overlook the impact of happiness (spouse, family as you say). If the goal is to be the best physiatrist you can be- a "top 10" isn't always going to be the thing to get you there.

Given the caliber of places you interviewed at, the pretest probability of you being a great physiatrist is already so high that I wouldn't be too worried.

 

[Chelsea FC]

Unless you wanted to do ACGME pain at an academic facility which would be a little difficult coming from a less prestigious residency your future path is what you make of it.

 

[j4pac]

You’ll be a PM&R physician and though certain programs undoubtedly give you some advantages...you can still achieve your goals and live your dream with hard work, playing nicely, and good planning. Life is too short to fret over something you can’t control and live with regret. Move forward and live your best life. Good luck!

 

[drg123]

What kind of physician you will become is in your hands. Decide what you want to know and be able to do. Find the relevant resources (book, videos, courses, people). Then implement what you learn in your patient encounters. That's the formula. Having experienced people (attendings) can be helpful to refine what you do, but I think that plays a lot less of a role in one's development than just doing the hard work of studying + doing and getting the repetitions to be competent. So all that to say, don't dismay about your program. So long as your program is not actively hindering your efforts to develop yourself, then you're in as good a place as any to become the physician you want to be. Good luck!

 

[Czech777]

Unless you wanted to do ACGME pain at an academic facility which would be a little difficult coming from a less prestigious residency your future path is what you make of it.

Even that you can do. I graduated from a top 10 academic hospital Pain program as PM&R resident from a non-elite program.

 

[Dave1980]

I had an insane interview season for Match 2020 - 30 interview offers, 8 out of the top 10 programs. I chose to rank a california program #1 for lifestyle (spouse, family), above SRA/UW/UPMC/etc. and matched to my #1.
I am now having regrets.... I thought my california program would provide me the training to succeed as a physiatrist in california with the option for fellowship in sports, spine, or pain. I am now thinking I made a huge mistake and should have SRA and UW at the top of my list for reputation and strength of training.... Did I make a huge mistake that is going to affect the quality of physiatrist I will be?

You should never regret picking family and lifestyle over prestige. You definitely made the right choice. Don't second guess yourself.

I thought this was going to be the more common scenario of someone choosing prestige over family and lifestyle.

 

[runfastnow]

You will be fine. You can do whatever you want from any program. Your family, spouse, and patients don't care where you went to training or what papers you've published or task force you were on - they (spouse/family) want you to be happy and (patients) take care of them appropriately.

The biggest advantage the "Top 5" programs have is that you can easily jump on readily publishable projects and get face time with current field leadership. IMO it is one of the bigger problems with our field - it seems to be becoming more and more "inbred" with people from the same 4-5 institutions in all leadership positions.

If you want to be a hardcore academic ... that is hard to beat and those programs will get you a few steps ahead of everyone else.
If you want to be a physiatrist and don't care about becoming AAPM&R president or writing the latest meta-analysis on Gabapentin ... become a good physician at whatever program you are at.

 

[Iamnew2]

I had an insane interview season for Match 2020 - 30 interview offers, 8 out of the top 10 programs. I chose to rank a california program #1 for lifestyle (spouse, family), above SRA/UW/UPMC/etc. and matched to my #1.
I am now having regrets.... I thought my california program would provide me the training to succeed as a physiatrist in california with the option for fellowship in sports, spine, or pain. I am now thinking I made a huge mistake and should have SRA and UW at the top of my list for reputation and strength of training.... Did I make a huge mistake that is going to affect the quality of physiatrist I will be?

Fortunately for you, you matched! Congrats, as PM&R has far more applicants than spots these days. Now you have no idea whether you will like your program or not. Regardless, for inpatient it really matters not where you go - for spine/pain - meh no one really cares where you trained. Some programs might give you a better shot at a fellowship, but people from just about every program match for fellowships regardless. I wouldn't worry about it. You'll be a PM&R physician regardless as long as you finish. And no one will even ask you or care where you went except in official jobs where you are interviewing or something like that. Patients have no idea for the most part what residency is - dont think a single one has ever asked me where I went. A lot of residency is what you make of it, and very few employers will care about where you wen.t Sure if ou want to do super high end academics go to super high end program, but otherwise no one will care! Having a happy spouse/family is important - residency kinda sucks so having others who can support you is very important - and for them to be happy too! Nothing worse than having a miserable spouse while you are training.

 

[Carson_Beckett]

I had an insane interview season for Match 2020 - 30 interview offers, 8 out of the top 10 programs. I chose to rank a california program #1 for lifestyle (spouse, family), above SRA/UW/UPMC/etc. and matched to my #1.
I am now having regrets.... I thought my california program would provide me the training to succeed as a physiatrist in california with the option for fellowship in sports, spine, or pain. I am now thinking I made a huge mistake and should have SRA and UW at the top of my list for reputation and strength of training.... Did I make a huge mistake that is going to affect the quality of physiatrist I will be?

I had a similar interview season as you, for the same year, and matched at one of those prestigious programs you mentioned. Now I find myself having second thoughts as well if I'm being honest. Funny enough my internal debate is not having ranked a certain California program higher. It really could be a grass is greener scenario, PGY-2 is a tough transition for anyone, but I'd love to chat if you'd be open to it. Send me a PM/DM

 

[qwerty89]

Keep in mind that you do not know the tremendous advantages that you have by going to an elite program. You are currently being shaped into who you will be as a physician for the rest of your life. Residency is temporary. I personally loved my program, and it was a great program (Mayo)...but even if it wasn't as enjoyable as it was, it would have still been definitely worth it because of the education and opportunities that it gave me.

The OP did the opposite though.

 

[j4pac]

The OP did the opposite though.

Yeah…totally misread that sentence. I’ll edit my post.

 

[Iamnew2]

The OP did the opposite though.

How so? OP went with CA program.

 

[j4pac]

How so? OP went with CA program.

It was actually my fault. I thought that the OP selected the more prestigious place, and qwerty corrected me. I misread it