Selecting a Specific Residency Program
Where do you want to live?
- Are there family ties or issues pertinent to a spouse or significant other that affect where you want to live?
- Can your spouse or significant other continue developing his or her career or educational goals in the community you are considering?
What size and type of program do you want?
- Large versus small
- University center versus community hospital
What are your career goals and lifestyle preferences after residency?
- Private practice: solo or group
- HMO or multispecialty group
- Academic medicine
- Subspecialty training
Do you have a secondary plan?
- What will happen if you do not match? Have you considered a secondary specialty if you fail to match in obstetrics and gynecology?
- If you do not match, do you want to wait to see what programs are unfilled and then “scramble” or are you willing to do a transitional year and then reapply for obstetrics and gynecology?
Factors to be weighed in selecting a residency program are varied and highly dependent on individual interests. Following are some things to consider when evaluating a residency program:
- Commitment to education (eg, number of formal teaching conferences, implementation of a structured 4-year curriculum)
- Ratio of full-time teaching faculty to residents
- Emphasis on subspecialty education (gynecologic oncology, reproductive endocrinology, maternal–fetal medicine, and urogynecology) versus private practice or primary care
- Quality of staff/resident and upper-level resident/lower-level resident interpersonal relationships
- Availability of adequate surgical training in both gynecologic and obstetric procedures (whether you do 500 or 1,000 deliveries does not make much difference, but if you only get to do three vaginal hysterectomies, it will make a huge difference in your ability to practice independently after graduation from residency )
- Variety of training options offered in the program, eg, operative laparoscopy and laser surgery, obstetric and endovaginal ultrasonography, and genetics
- Stability and status of the program, Degree of change in department staff and leadership over time
- Number of fellowships obtained by graduates
- Requirements of the call schedule, particularly the coverage at affiliated hospitals
- Availability of research opportunities and specialized facilities
- Availability of funds to attend extramural postgraduate courses and present papers at scientific meetings
The above infromation is from: http://www.apgo.org/binary/ResidencyProgram.htm