What are the pros of doing residency where you want to end up?

[himomitsme]

I assume most people choose to try and do residency where they want to eventually relocate, but does that really make a difference?

With the plethora of FM jobs available in every city, does it really matter to try and do residency where you wanna eventually practice? Does it open more opportunities for jobs in that area than if you were applying for jobs from out of state? Or does it just give you a sense of how the local healthcare in that area and maybe you know about the good jobs and bad jobs before applying?

Just trying to figure out if I should try to aim for a residency in the city I want to eventually live in, or go experience a new city for a few years before I come back home.

Any thoughts, advice, words of wisdom from those with experience?

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[hallowmann]

FM is in demand everywhere, but there are a lot of advantages to doing residency where you want to end up. You will often have the inside track for jobs, people will be familiar with graduates from your program, you'll usually have an easier time transiting to a positron in your program if that's what you want, etc. You'll also know more about the area and everything which will help. That said, you can overcome these with a lot of reaching out and effort. Ultimately go where you fit the most and gives you the best training, and if it's in the area you want to live, even better.

 

[Cranjis McBasketball]

FM is in demand everywhere, but there are a lot of advantages to doing residency where you want to end up. You will often have the inside track for jobs, people will be familiar with graduates from your program, you'll usually have an easier time transiting to a positron in your program if that's what you want, etc. You'll also know more about the area and everything which will help. That said, you can overcome these with a lot of reaching out and effort. Ultimately go where you fit the most and gives you the best training, and if it's in the area you want to live, even better.

What if the residency in the area you want to practice is newer and so you dont know how great it will be? I guess my question is at what point do you say “doesnt matter if its in the area i want to practice. Not worth it.” Or does that pt not even exist?

Sorry I dont mean to derail the thread, OP

 

[hallowmann]

What if the residency in the area you want to practice is newer and so you dont know how great it will be? I guess my question is at what point do you say “doesnt matter if its in the area i want to practice. Not worth it.” Or does that pt not even exist?

Sorry I dont mean to derail the thread, OP

I wouldn't go to a brand new residency. The quality of the residency would probably trump the region for me (it did in my match), but chances are you can find a good program in the state or neighboring states to where you want to end up. That said, I might say things differently if you had a support system near the newer residency program, because that's important for success in residency too.

 

[himomitsme]

What if the residency in the area you want to practice is newer and so you dont know how great it will be? I guess my question is at what point do you say “doesnt matter if its in the area i want to practice. Not worth it.” Or does that pt not even exist?

Sorry I dont mean to derail the thread, OP

No problem, this is a great question I wanna know the answer too as well

 

[AMEHigh]

I wouldn’t go to a new residency program if you had other options.

I think staying in the same area definitely has advantages, but it’s obviously not 100% necessary. Like other jobs/careers it can be all about who you know. Not all jobs are always advertised so word of mouth can definitely help one get a job and get inside info about a job.