Where you end(ed) up practicing

[Dragonsimot]

Hey guys, Im currently a meager premed but I felt no one in Pre-Allo would be able to answer my question lol...soooooo

When choosing to apply to Med Schools should one try to get into places they would love to end up practicing ultimately? I feel that most likely you can move around freely like anything else but it's logistically easier to get somewhere if your already there(local / job wise)...that might be a bit wordy...hopefully you understand the logic.

So is there a relationship between Med School location ...residency location...and practicing location? From your experience or friends or family what have you noticed.

Why I ask is because I really have narrowed where I'd like to live for the rest of my life down to a few regions... (was in the military for an enlistment so Ive seen my share of the country I believe) And obvly will eventually have to make a decision as to where I'd like to attend med school.

Thanks Everyone for your consideration!

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[gutonc]

So is there a relationship between Med School location ...residency location...and practicing location? From your experience or friends or family what have you noticed.

Between med school and practice location? Very little. Sure, many people stay where they went to med school for residency and practice but that's usually b/c they're from that region, have never lived anywhere else and don't have any desire to leave. You see this the most in the NYC area in my experience but there are other places where this is common as well.

There's more of a link between where you do residency and where you practice, simply because it's easier to create contacts and find jobs in a place where you already live and work. That said, there are plenty of people who move after residency or fellowship to practice somewhere else.

The only situation I can think of where med school and residency location will have a real, palpable effect on where you ultimately practice is if you want to be in California. Programs there tend to take top applicants from all over and people who went to med school there preferentially. Again, lots of exceptions to the rule.

Bottom line is that med school is hard to get into. Go where you get in and fit in and worry about the rest of it later. There are so many variables between now and then (not to mention a bare minimum of 7 years) that basing any decision on where you think you might want to be in the future is foolhardy at best.

 

[VALSALVA]

There is no reason why where one goes to medical school should have anything to do with where they end up practicing unless they want it to...the same goes for residency/practice location.

 

[Winged Scapula]

Not for me.

Raised in California.

Med school in Australia.

Residency in Pennsylvania.

Fellowship in New Jersey.

Practice in Arizona.

I might also add that many people do NOT want to stay where they did residency as an attending. In talking with friends and acquaintances that did, it can be hard, in an academic medical center, to get allied staff and some faculty to forget about you as a student and resident and treat you like a grown-up attending. "You'll always be an intern to me" is a common refrain.

 

[elwademd]

raised in california
college in louisiana
med school in georgia
residency in california
signed a contract to be an attending in las vegas.

the only thing i didn't choose was being born and raised where i was!

I might also add that many people do NOT want to stay where they did residency as an attending. In talking with friends and acquaintances that did, it can be hard, in an academic medical center, to get allied staff and some faculty to forget about you as a student and resident and treat you like a grown-up attending. "You'll always be an intern to me" is a common refrain.

very true.

add to that, some find it hard to have that "respect" as a junior attending with residents and interns who were their colleagues the year before.

 

[TRAMD]

For the most part it doesn't matter but I do know medical students (including myself) that were offered jobs for when they finished residency.