Residency Match: bias?

[Aisreb]

I am an incoming MD student in the fall, and am making my final choice for the institution I will attend. I was wondering if there’s any in-state bias for residency matches.

i.e. Will I necessarily have a greater chance of attending a California residency if I attend a California Medical school vs a medical school in Oregon?

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[DrStephenStrange]

There's always going to be a regional bias because you're more likely to also stay and practice in that area as well. But it doesn't stop someone from a different state to get a spot at an OOS residency program either as long the person has the stats, is a decent person, and for some specialties, also nailing an audition rotation at that residency program.

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

Going to OHSU won't close any doors for you in Cali.

 

[Philosopher Jagger]

Think of it like this:

Programs have incentive to rank applicants they can reasonably believe will rank them highly. Reasons you might rank them highly would certainly include your location and hometown.

I.e., if they know you are from California, have family in California, grew up in California, etc, but just happened to go away to med school in Oregon, they'll give you a higher rank than an equivalent applicant who may be from really far away and only applied as a "safety" or who is simply casting a bigger net. After all, this is all about filling seats, not necessarily meeting some diversity quota

 

[akinetopsia]

Yes, regional bias is a thing. Who's more likely to stay and work after residency/fellowship in the city/state they train - someone from there or someone from across the country (all other things being equal, e.g. not the person from across the country which has a partner/spouse from that city/state)?

 

[gozes]

It's a (kind of) a thing, especially if your school has their own programs. But that being said anything is obtainable. I'm from the east coast and was told I wouldn't match in Cali, but I did! I will say though that on my interview day most applicants were from the west coast. But that could also be just because more people want to stay close to home as opposed to moving across the country.

 

[deleted480308]

Think of it like this:

Programs have incentive to rank applicants they can reasonably believe will rank them highly. Reasons you might rank them highly would certainly include your location and hometown.

I.e., if they know you are from California, have family in California, grew up in California, etc, but just happened to go away to med school in Oregon, they'll give you a higher rank than an equivalent applicant who may be from really far away and only applied as a "safety" or who is simply casting a bigger net. After all, this is all about filling seats, not necessarily meeting some diversity quota

They don’t have any incentive at all to rank applicants based how the applicants might rank them. It is always in their best interest to rank the ones they like the most.

It is absolutely in their best interest to offer interviews to applicants they think might rank them highly because that is the choke point of limited resources.

Once the interviews happen, who they like most is how they rank

 

[operaman]

Echoing what others have said- the bias exists purely based on interviewing people who are likely to rank them. We don’t give a flip where you plan to ultimately practice but we do care if we waste an interview slot when you have no intention of seriously considering us over all the schools closer to home.

Oregon won’t close any Cali doors.

 

[Philosopher Jagger]

They don’t have any incentive at all to rank applicants based how the applicants might rank them. It is always in their best interest to rank the ones they like the most.

It is absolutely in their best interest to offer interviews to applicants they think might rank them highly because that is the choke point of limited resources.

Once the interviews happen, who they like most is how they rank

Actually yes, interview is what I mean to say. Ranking goes without saying that they shoot for the best, not necessarily who lives the closest. Good catch!

 

[Bonejorno]

If you want to do your residency in california, your best bet is to go to med school in California

 

[MSTP18]

They don’t have any incentive at all to rank applicants based how the applicants might rank them. It is always in their best interest to rank the ones they like the most.

It is absolutely in their best interest to offer interviews to applicants they think might rank them highly because that is the choke point of limited resources.

Once the interviews happen, who they like most is how they rank

The incentive is small and misguided, but programs absolutely brag about how far down on their rank list they have to go to fill their program.