“So if someone asked you for advice about medical school, in all fairness, you would need to advise that after finishing school, they may not be able to have a career unless they work on Shabbos.”
Yes.
however it is a question of priorities.
For example given the current duty hours where everybody gets one day off in 7 it isnt that hard to work with a program that otherwise might have trouble filling its spots t ogaurantee that his day off would be Saturday even if they never formally had a “shomer shabbos spot”
Of course if a person doesnt match one year, he can take a year to do research and try again the following year as a more competiive applicant.
The Bottom line is for a non-competiive specialty it isnt that hard t o arrange for Shabbos. Though yes, I caution their is no gaurantee just like anything in life, (there is no gaurantee of getting a residency at all) and like in any career a hefty dose of syata d’shmaya is needed.
I never met anyone who wanted a Shomer Shabbos spot and couldnt get one. The people I know who ddidnt do shomer shabbos either:
a. were in a competitive specialty where “shomer shabbos” spots dont exist
b. Decided for whatever reason they didnt want a shabbos spot
c. Had Shomer shabbos spots available but opted for a non-shomer shabbos spot at a more prestigous institution.