State residency and the match

[bdvz]

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I'm sorry if this is a stupid question, but how much does it matter to be a resident of the state you're trying to match to for residency-say if you were trying to match general surgery in California, how much would it help to be a resident of California or attend a California med school?

 

[squareknot]

I thought that state of residency would be a big factor but from my experiences this past year, that did not seem to be the case at all. Even if you aren't a california resident, as long as you can sufficiently answer "why california?"/"why this program"? and you are competitive for the program, you will be sersiously considered. Of course if you have ties, like family/fiance/etcetc, that can only help your case.

Some programs post up lists of their residents and where they came from. Some programs do tend to keep their own or local folks but from what I saw, there were plenty that had residents coming from non-cali locations, like the midwest/eastcoast.

 

[bdvz]

Thank you.

 

[Law2Doc]

I'm sorry if this is a stupid question, but how much does it matter to be a resident of the state you're trying to match to for residency-say if you were trying to match general surgery in California, how much would it help to be a resident of California or attend a California med school?

Agree with squareknot. It has nothing to do with state residency. It does have to do with whether you have a decent nexus to the region. So if a PD is comfortable that you have such a connection with California such that he can believe it likely you will come if he ranks you high, then you are fine. If however he cannot tell from your application why exactly you, a lifelong New Yorker, are applying to his program in Nebraska, you often won't get the nod, even if you have your own reasons.

 

[bdvz]

Thanks 🙂