SoCal Anesthesia WAMC

[PeonyLeaf]

(Yes I'm aware there's a WAMC superthread. It hasn't been posted to in months)

M3 from the Deep South. Definitely want to get out of the Southeast and have family friends in LA. Loved the area ever since I was a kid and want to go out there for my career.

Step 1: 239
Clerkship grades: All Passes. My school doesn't do high pass, just Honors/P (I think this is unfair but I digress)
Class Rank: 3rd quartile, it won't do me any favors. (Is class rank important? I get mixed answers on this)
Research: Summer research with my med school, got a paper currently in press from that. 4 poster presentations, and likely 2 case reports that will be submitted in the next few months.
Evals: Consistently strong evals, including in surgery and IM.

Honestly would be happy with any program in the LA area (Loma Linda is a little far but if they accepted me of course I would go). WAMC? Happy to answer any other questions. My biggest hurdles IMO are a lack of ties to the area and my mediocre school grades. I've applied to VSAS and included most LA programs on my list. Waiting to hear back next week.

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[kidthor]

Probably.

 

[nimbus]

Overall I think it’s easier to get a job in SoCal than it is to match residency in SoCal. A lot of people move here after residency.

 

[PeonyLeaf]

Overall I think it’s easier to get a job in SoCal than it is to match residency in SoCal. A lot of people move here after residency.

Would you be willing to humor me though? If I'm trying to match in SoCal do I stand a chance?

 

[nimbus]

Would you be willing to humor me though? If I'm trying to match in SoCal do I stand a chance?

I’m wayyyy out of residency in nonacademic PP so I don’t really know. I do know we hire a lot of graduating residents and fellows from both CA programs and from all over the country.

 

[deleted697127]

Would you be willing to humor me though? If I'm trying to match in SoCal do I stand a chance?

Stanford, UCSF, UCSD are harder to match than the top Boston/ny programs (obviously i know stanford and UCSF aren’t SoCal) With your scores it wouldn’t be surprising to match at any of those but probably not a shoe in. Good chance at USC, cedars, Irvine, and Loma Linda, Maybe UCLA. Regional bias is real. With your scores you’ll get interviews from top programs but may seem random from which ones.

 

[deleted162650]

WAMC

A firm 53.782%

 

[PeonyLeaf]

A firm 53.782%

These are the kind of answers I’m looking for

 

[JiPo]

Your step is barely above average (it has been creeping up), and you are bottom half of your class. You are an average candidate and most likely will match at an average program.

Since you don’t have any real ties to the west coast, you should do an away rotation. When I was in medical school, the few times where away rotation was recommended was to break into west coast without real ties.

Family friend doesn’t really count as ties. At my program, the only ties that we considered legit were if you are from the city or if your SO is in the city or if the spouse is from this city. All others were pretty much ignored unless it was a special circumstance.

 

[deleted697535]

A firm 53.782%

So youre saying theres a chance

 

[Twiggidy]

OP.....you miss 100% of the shots you don't take. Just apply.

 

[repititionition]

you don't mention school. it can nudge an interview decision. Your numerical application coming out of duke is not viewed the same as the "same" application coming out of University of Nowhere.

I agree that the decidedly second-tier programs (Cedars, UCI, USC, Harbor, etc.) are very realistic, and that the better programs in Southern California (UCSD, UCLA) are possible, provided your letters are very good and you interview well. And if you actually are at Duke, you have a very fine chance at UCSD or UCLA.

As was said above: do an away, and do it at your first choice.