Long-time lurker here who is going through the application process. This question is mostly directed to those who have gone though a similar situation as well as those who have completed their training and have sage wisdom reflecting back on the process.
I'm trying to decide whether to stay at my home program or leave to pursue training at more prestigious or "higher ranked" programs. I am going into IM and leaning towards a physician scientist academic medicine career, but not completely set on it. Right now I'm completely lost regarding my decision point as my home program is a well-regarded top 20 program, but I am deciding whether or not it is worth it to rank top 5 programs above it. I think very highly of my home program and there is no doubt I would get great training where I am, but during the interview trail, there have definitely been programs I have liked more and I feel may give me more structured support for my career goals. That being said, we have a house, support network of parents being fairly close by, as well as a child who will need daycare so leaving here would give up quite a lot of convenience, at least for the short term. It would also be a bit of a sacrifice financially in terms of moving costs and COL in almost all of those cities are more expensive than what we have here, though it wouldn't be a huge burden in the long term since my spouse provides a second income. My spouse has been supportive and is willing to relocate if it's best for my career. We are leaning towards eventually coming back to the region we are in for family reasons, but nothing is set in stone.
Given the circumstances above, do you think it would be worth it to relocate temporarily for training (I'm leaning highly towards fellowship in cards) and aggressively building my career and consider relocation back to my support network later? I understand that ultimately the only one who can make this decision is my family and I, but I would appreciate any wisdom.
I'm trying to decide whether to stay at my home program or leave to pursue training at more prestigious or "higher ranked" programs. I am going into IM and leaning towards a physician scientist academic medicine career, but not completely set on it. Right now I'm completely lost regarding my decision point as my home program is a well-regarded top 20 program, but I am deciding whether or not it is worth it to rank top 5 programs above it. I think very highly of my home program and there is no doubt I would get great training where I am, but during the interview trail, there have definitely been programs I have liked more and I feel may give me more structured support for my career goals. That being said, we have a house, support network of parents being fairly close by, as well as a child who will need daycare so leaving here would give up quite a lot of convenience, at least for the short term. It would also be a bit of a sacrifice financially in terms of moving costs and COL in almost all of those cities are more expensive than what we have here, though it wouldn't be a huge burden in the long term since my spouse provides a second income. My spouse has been supportive and is willing to relocate if it's best for my career. We are leaning towards eventually coming back to the region we are in for family reasons, but nothing is set in stone.
Given the circumstances above, do you think it would be worth it to relocate temporarily for training (I'm leaning highly towards fellowship in cards) and aggressively building my career and consider relocation back to my support network later? I understand that ultimately the only one who can make this decision is my family and I, but I would appreciate any wisdom.
