In retrospect: How would you prioritize residency selection ?

[Undecided_DPT]

Hey everyone!

From speaking to my college friends who are now early attendings (not PM&R) I noticed the advice they give for residency selection is -very- different from what I am told by current residents/fellows. I imagine there’s a lot of reasons for that - but it also made me curious what those of you on this board would advise for what to prioritize when deciding where to apply/rank (as I believe most on here are further in their career/successful.)

Just curious to hear general thoughts & imagine it may help others who see this thread. So on typical things - relative importance of Location v. Proximity to family v. City v. Prestige v. Fellowship v. Anything else you feel important. Naturally this will vary by individual goals (academic, desired work region, etc)

Edit: Just went back to cut out some of the more clearly identifying personal info

Thanks in advance for any thoughts!

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[PainDoc2025]

Prestige + Location

 

[Bostonspine]

Prestige is relative certain programs are know nation but other dominate a region so A California or Texas program will help you get a job or fellowship in those states but may not hold as sway in Philly Chicago or NYC. If you goal is to go back home but be close to you parents the go to the best program with the strongest alumni support near you… look at all the pain practice where you want to be and see where they trained.

 

[j4pac]

Certain programs will give you more options than others. There are certain programs where you essentially name your fellowship. It’s not a matter of if you can get a fellowship, the question is whether it’s worth your time and where do you want to go? If you are a great applicant, I would try to go to a great program. Pain Fellowships had a lot of open seats last year, but the competitive programs were still competitive. I’d find a strong residency program with a strong in-house pain program. You only get to do this residency thing once…and it largely determines the PM&R physician you become. I would make it count.

 

[sloh]

I’d go where you’ll get the most well rounded training. You’ll never know if your interests will change in residency and as an early attending. Many of the top programs are prestigious and offer great well rounded training even if they excel in a subfield. You have one shot at this. It’s only 4 years. With your stats, gun for the top 5.

 

[lejeunesage]

Depends on what you want to do, really.
You've stated that you're interested in a pain fellowship. You have the grades to get into a top program. Apply, at the very least.
In my own case, given what I was interested in doing, I could have gotten away with going pretty much anywhere. My program was pretty solid. But I could have been happy pretty much anywhere with a strong inpatient component.

The place where I trained has never to my knowledge made any difference to any prospective employer. Outside of academia, most places just want to know that you're board certified and don't have too many black marks against you.

 

[Undecided_DPT]

Thanks for the replies everyone! The theme pretty well follows what my attending friends recommended (vs current residents/fellows who seemed to emphasize residency work-hours/perks/location/etc. - which makes sense if that's what you're in the midst of I think)

Definitely appreciate the thoughts. Do agree on the well-rounded piece - has been a big thought of mine (because I do have rather wide interests and am not gung-ho about pigeon-holing into one area)

 

[MidWestRez]

For me location was the biggest factor. Was the program in a location where I felt I could be happy and thrive. There are some excellent programs in areas I wouldn't have wanted to live for one reason or another (COL, distance from support system, ruralness, etc). My thought process was that if I wasn't happy with the location and could be content, the program itself wouldn't be worth it for me.

After location I looked at the training opportunities. Did the program offer strong training in the area I wanted to pursue. Some programs may be very strong IP but less so OP or vice versa. I looked at my career goals and which programs on my list would help me get there. This did include fellowship opportunities as well. In almost all cases having a home fellowship program is helpful.

I then looked at prestige. In many ways this did follow the strength of training opportunities but not always. Some programs I ranked because they were stronger in a particular area than a more prestigious program also on my list.

Well roundedness also factored in to a lesser extent. I knew what my intended fellowship was, but I wanted a well rounded program in case my interests changed.

Here's a link to a great video by Dr. Carmody, a very active MedEd guy who gives some great advice on residency related topics. He did a breakdown factors that are often over and under emphasized when making a rank order list.