04/13/2026
How influential are family, friends, and community when deciding to pursue a career in medicine, all the way up until matching for residency?
KPSOM student Alexa Reilly shared some of the main factors she considered when applying to residency ahead of were location, academic vs. community, and culture. “Location near family was a big factor for me! One consideration … was family planning. If my husband and I decide to have a baby in residency, we will want to be near family, and I’ll want to be in a residency program where residents feel supported when they have family obligations. In general, having a supportive, close-knit culture was very important to me.”
Reilly continued to share, “My parents have always been supportive of me, including when I decided to start taking pre-med classes and got ready to apply for medical school after I’d graduated. My mother-in-law has also been very influential as I pursued this path. I didn’t have anyone in medicine in my family before meeting her, so she has always helped me see what it’s like to be a doctor and encouraged me along the way.”