Interview preparation guide
Weighing proximity to family: residency interview preparation guide
AAMC's questions to ask yourself list proximity to immediate and extended family among the location factors to weigh. Family distance affects support, childcare options, emergencies and holidays for the whole length of training.
How to prepare
- 1
Decide what family proximity means for you
The AAMC list names proximity to immediate and extended family as a factor. For some applicants that means weekly help with children; for others it means being reachable in a crisis within hours. Define your own version before you compare programs.
- 2
Map the real travel burden
Check door-to-door travel time and cost, not map distance. A direct two-hour flight can beat a five-hour drive on a post-call day, and travel cost over three to seven years is real money.
- 3
Be honest when proximity and quality conflict
If the stronger program is farther from family, say so plainly in your own weighing. A clear-eyed trade-off now is easier to live with than a surprise regret in February.
A practical exercise
What proximity means for me: [..]. Real travel time and cost: [..]. Trade-offs I accept: [..].
This is an editorial exercise to adapt to your own interview, not a script or a program requirement.
What the source guidance supports
AAMC's questions to ask yourself list proximity to immediate and extended family among the location factors to weigh. Family distance affects support, childcare options, emergencies and holidays for the whole length of training.
The exercises and checklists are editorial applications of the cited guidance, not required program procedures or predictions of interview outcomes. Costs and formats vary by program, so follow your actual invitation and school guidance.
Mistakes to avoid
- Treating proximity as all-or-nothing; the practical question is travel time and cost for the visits that matter.
- Discounting how call schedules limit travel even over short distances.
- Hiding the factor from yourself because it feels non-academic; AAMC lists it because it affects your training years.
Check your preparation
- Have I defined what family proximity needs to mean for me?
- Do I know the real door-to-door travel burden to family?
- Have I stated my trade-offs plainly where proximity and program quality conflict?
Questions for your practice review
- How important is being near family to me during residency, and why?
- What is the real travel time and cost between this program and my family?
- If this program is farther away, what exactly am I trading for the distance?
Common questions
Is this an official list of required questions?
No. AAMC describes its list as questions created by residents and students to help you assess fit, and says to build your own more specific questions from it.
Who should I ask?
This is a self-assessment, informed by residents' accounts of travel on their schedules. A partner or family member affected by the move belongs in the conversation before ranking.
Is this current for the 2027 ERAS season?
AAMC publishes this question list as current guidance for applicants interviewing in the 2027 ERAS season. Program answers change year to year, so ask each program for its own current answer.
Related guides
Sources
This page is general editorial guidance based on the sources above. It is not a prediction of any program's questions or a statement of its current policies.