<p>For those who are residents or beyond or have done the research, if a person has not decided to commit to academic medicine, so could go either way in residency, is there anything in particular one should consider in choosing community v academic based residency?</p>
<p>If looking to do a fellowship, I think its better to go to an academic program for the connections, research, etc.</p>
<p>Academic is always better, in my experience, unless you’re absolutely sure you want to be a “generalist” in your field. You won’t close any doors by going to an academic residency program. That is to say, if you know right off the bat that you want to be a pediatrician in private practice who sees all sorts of kids in the community, then a community residency program would be fine. If, however, you know you want to be a pediatric cardiologist who deals with neonatal cardiac birth defects, then going to an academic residency program is important. (Note that you can go into private practice as a general pediatrician from an academic program, too.)</p>