Match Day 2014

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dcc23

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So today's the big day for graduating med students, but us pre-meds are also interested in the match lists of different schools. My thought was maybe we can post whatever info we see about all schools match lists in one thread for convenience?

I'm especially interested in seeing Virginia Tech Carilion's, since this will be their first graduating class.

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From Baylor:

match-day-2014-numbers.png
 
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The U-Michigan Medical School was ranked 12th among U.S. research-oriented medical schools and 8th for primary care schools by U.S. News & World Report. U-M also tied for fourth in the estimation of residency directors – senior doctors at teaching hospitals nationwide who interview and select graduating medical students to enter their programs.
Here are some highlights of this year’s match:
  • In all, 100 percent of U-M medical graduates matched to one of the specialty residency programs they had applied to – higher than the national average.
  • Over 45 percent of U-M’s graduates will enter a primary care field, to serve a growing need for internists, pediatricians, family practitioners, obstetrician/ gynecologists and dual specialists in internal medicine and pediatrics.
  • About 32 percent will stay in the state of Michigan for residency, including 28 percent who were selected from among thousands of applicants nationwide for some of the coveted slots in the U-M Health System’s own residency programs. More than 1,100 doctors-in-training in 96 residency and fellowship programs currently train at U-M’s hospitals and clinics. Others will train at hospitals in the metro Detroit area, Lansing and Grand Rapids. Those heading out of state are most likely to be going to California, New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania or the state of Washington.
 
Yale just sent out there match list. Pretty much everyone matched at a top academic program.
 
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No idea, just saw the link on twitter. Think their class is typically around 110, so my guess is not everyone matched.

I heard that they had a 100% match rate this year, so I'm guessing a few people extended and are graduating next year?
 
I heard that they had a 100% match rate this year, so I'm guessing a few people extended and are graduating next year?

Yeah I was completely speculating, no idea really.
 
I would like to see BU's if anyone gets a copy, I can't find it online ATM.
 
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I am certain that they had a 100% match rate

I heard that they had a 100% match rate this year, so I'm guessing a few people extended and are graduating next year?
 
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Does it seem to anyone that every school has a great-looking match list? Not sure how that happens. How can every school have an above-average-looking match list?
 
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High debt motivates students to pursue competitive and high paying specialties.

I don't know if I agree with that. I think being a competitive and driven med student motivate you to pursue high paying specialties regardless of how much debt you have.
 
I think you'd be surprised how many people reconsider lower paying specialties in the face of 300k+ debt.

I don't disagree with that statement. But I doubt the kid with 100K of debt is going to try any less hard to get a competitive specialty residency
 
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I don't know if I agree with that. I think being a competitive and driven med student motivate you to pursue high paying specialties regardless of how much debt you have.

You can disagree with it if you want. I'm pretty sure alot of people disagreed with the notion of our planet not being flat.

There do exist people who enter medicine because they are (perhaps naively) motivated by money and a 'high-society' lifestyle. Now, this certainly doesn't apply to everyone, but many of these individuals will pursue fields such as urology, opthalmology, derm, plastics, orthopaedic surgery, ENT, and once it is established that is the field lifestyle/salary they want for themselves, they will pursure it with unyielding determination.
 
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You can disagree with it if you want. I'm pretty sure alot of people disagreed with the notion of our planet not being flat.

There do exist people who enter medicine because they are (perhaps naively) motivated by money and a 'high-society' lifestyle. Now, this certainly doesn't apply to everyone, but many of these individuals will pursue fields such as urology, opthalmology, derm, plastics, orthopaedic surgery, ENT, and once it is established that is the field lifestyle/salary they want for themselves, they will pursure it with unyielding determination.
Uh, I think you missed what he was disagreeing with. Pretty sure he was questioning whether enormous student loan debt is enough of a motivator for someone to base their specialty choice off it, so that more expensive schools would have more people going Derm, rads, optho, etc. I don't think he was questioning whether people go into medicine and subsequently these fields for the money.
 
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Uh, I think you missed what he was disagreeing with. Pretty sure he was questioning whether enormous student loan debt is enough of a motivator for someone to base their specialty choice off it, so that more expensive schools would have more people going Derm, rads, optho, etc. I don't think he was questioning whether people go into medicine and subsequently these fields for the money.

What I was trying to drive at is that high-paying specialties offer a way out of that debt much faster than other specialties. I was trying to re-affirm that immense student loan debt can be a significant enough factor for someone to base their specialty, and then that student will do whatever they can to secure a residency in one of the specialties mentioned. We're on the same page, I'm just terrible at articulating myself. (Kinda makes you wonder how I ever got into medical school! :rofl:)
 
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Glancing at the Drexel list (another expensive school): 3 Derm, 6 Ophthalmology, 4 ENT, 16 Ortho, 11 Radiology, 5 Urology, 2 Rad-Onc, and 3 Plastic
 
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From Baylor:

match-day-2014-numbers.png

106 'primary care residents' - 75% of which will pursue IM and pediatric subspecialties.
The U-Michigan Medical School was ranked 12th among U.S. research-oriented medical schools and 8th for primary care schools by U.S. News & World Report. U-M also tied for fourth in the estimation of residency directors – senior doctors at teaching hospitals nationwide who interview and select graduating medical students to enter their programs.
Here are some highlights of this year’s match:
  • In all, 100 percent of U-M medical graduates matched to one of the specialty residency programs they had applied to – higher than the national average.
  • Over 45 percent of U-M’s graduates will enter a primary care field, to serve a growing need for internists, pediatricians, family practitioners, obstetrician/ gynecologists and dual specialists in internal medicine and pediatrics.
  • About 32 percent will stay in the state of Michigan for residency, including 28 percent who were selected from among thousands of applicants nationwide for some of the coveted slots in the U-M Health System’s own residency programs. More than 1,100 doctors-in-training in 96 residency and fellowship programs currently train at U-M’s hospitals and clinics. Others will train at hospitals in the metro Detroit area, Lansing and Grand Rapids. Those heading out of state are most likely to be going to California, New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania or the state of Washington.

Over 45 percent of U-M's graduates will eventually enter a subspecialty of internal medicine or pediatrics. ftfy ;-)

For the record, I'm not hating on anyone who sub-specializes. I just think it's kind of a joke when a medical school like UM or Baylor thinks they are boasting a dedication to meeting the primary care needs to address the ever elusive doctor shortage, when in reality many subspecialties are concerned with academic pedigree and you will find the overwhelming majority of alumni from the top medical schools practicing medicine in an academic setting and subspecialzing, as opposed to being the family doc or the GP or an emergency physician in southern indiana or wyoming or rural maine.
 
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Someone post NYU's match list. :)
 
Glancing at the Drexel list (another expensive school): 3 Derm, 6 Ophthalmology, 4 ENT, 16 Ortho, 11 Radiology, 5 Urology, 2 Rad-Onc, and 3 Plastic

16 ortho is impressive. Wow.
 
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16 ortho is impressive. Wow.

Don't get overly excited about it. Drexel has a massive class size too. 260 students, I believe. For a class size twice that of most medical schools, you're bound to have a larger-than-usual # of students that will be competitive enough for things like Derm, Ortho, Uro, etc. When you look at the match lists from places like UIC, NYMC, Drexel, VCU - don't neglect the class size.

It works out to about 6 Ortho matches per 100 students. I'd say that's probably average.
 
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Does it seem to anyone that every school has a great-looking match list? Not sure how that happens. How can every school have an above-average-looking match list?

The same way every school seems to advertise above-average Step 1 scores :p But most likely sample bias, I suppose
 
Someone called for a average match list? http://www.med.sc.edu/Match.Results3.pdf

I'm going to say that the school is either VERY good at selecting a class of people who really, truly want to be community physicians, or the school is doing a terrible job at preparing its students for the USMLE, based on that match. The most impressive feat on there is Vanderbilt, but for OB/GYN. Next up, its Mayo, but it's at the Florida satellite.
 
Someone called for a average match list? [/quote]

How incredibly rude and disrespectful of you. Do you feel better about disparaging a group of students who worked incredibly hard to get to this point by posting their names online and calling them average? And what's worse is that you're way off - there are many great matches in that list. Also, did you ever think that for a state school like that, many people have deep roots in the immediate or adjacent areas, and that's why so many matched in those places?
 
So looking through a couple match lists and I've got what may be a stupid question regarding matching.

When some people match into prelim/transitional years (with no other specialty afterwards), is that because they didn't know what specialty they wanted long term yet, because they didn't match into a residency position that builds in the training year for the more competitive specialty, or is there some other reason entirely?

I know that some residencies require the prelim/transitional year, but I also see that some people get it included with their residencies when it's called for, so I guess I'm also curious as to how it's viewed to do such a year separately?
 

I don't think he/she meant to offend anyone. Everyone works their butts off in school.

The truth is people will judge a match list by the percent top-specialty-matching students. I think if anything, that school may be doing something right if they are producing so many primary docs... or something wrong if step scores are lower.
 
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I'm going to say that the school is either VERY good at selecting a class of people who really, truly want to be community physicians, or the school is doing a terrible job at preparing its students for the USMLE, based on that match. The most impressive feat on there is Vanderbilt, but for OB/GYN. Next up, its Mayo, but it's at the Florida satellite.

what makes that match list bad? Apparently, most them wanted to stay in south Carolina or the south, in general.

You think the Vanderbilt- ob/gyn match is the most impressive? Huhh did you not see the derm match at Einstein, the plastics and ortho match at UNC, optho match at UT etc. Plus, they have a pretty small class of only approx. 80 students.
 
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So looking through a couple match lists and I've got what may be a stupid question regarding matching.

When some people match into prelim/transitional years (with no other specialty afterwards), is that because they didn't know what specialty they wanted long term yet, because they didn't match into a residency position that builds in the training year for the more competitive specialty, or is there some other reason entirely?

We have four people with prelim years without an advanced match.
1) early match applicant who didn't match, secured a prelim spot and apparently didn't succeed in the soap
2) military person going to do a general doctor job after a prelim year. Will go back to residency after some number of years of doing that.
3) international student with visa issues, ranked both categorical and prelim and matched prelim. Likely will try to turn prelim year into categorical slot when contract renewals come up.
4) tried for a very competitive specialty and only matched prelim. Unsure of his plan at this point.

Most people don't match into a prelim year because they don't know what they want to do... They do because they weren't competitive enough for the advanced positions they applied for.
 
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I'm going to say that the school is either VERY good at selecting a class of people who really, truly want to be community physicians, or the school is doing a terrible job at preparing its students for the USMLE, based on that match. The most impressive feat on there is Vanderbilt, but for OB/GYN. Next up, its Mayo, but it's at the Florida satellite.

Ummm what? Do you know what the top programs are for each specialty? Because they do vary by specialty and the DONT just equal whatever you think the best med school are. These are residency positions... For example I saw EM matches at Christiana, St. Lukes, and Carolinas, which are all top programs, with Carolinas being one of the most sought after in the country the past few years.

I have no connection to SC so Im not trying to defend my school or anything, just pointing out that i saw several programs that tend to get their pick of
Students with high Step scores. They could still obviously as a class have lower than national avg USMLE scores, but if I were you I wouldnt go as far as saying the school does a "terrible job" of preparing students, based on your clearly limited knowledge of what "impressive" programs student matched into, in a single given year no less. (Unless you have more evidence to back up that claim that you didnt mention here, in wich case my apologies!)
 
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what makes that match list bad? Apparently, most them wanted to stay in south Carolina or the south, in general.

You think the Vanderbilt- ob/gyn match is the most impressive? Huhh did you not see the derm match at Einstein, the plastics and ortho match at UNC, optho match at UT etc. Plus, they have a pretty small class of only approx. 80 students.

While specialties such as Derm, Plastics, and Optho are no doubt difficult to place into, it doesn't necessarily command a positive impression. Also, UNC is not renowned for its orthopedic program, neither is UT for opthalmology. Vanderbilt does have particular strengths in OB/Gyn, so even for a specialty that is not very competitive to match into, matching to Vanderbilt for OB/Gyn is pretty great. I'm sorry if anyone is upset that I don't think it is a particularly strong match list, but it's not like it's loaded with Surgical Matches to MGH, UTSW, and UPitt, or IM Matches to Vanderbilt, Emory, and UCSF, or Optho matches at B-P and Mayo. It's not just a matter of the specialty - it's also a matter of if your program is particularly known for that specialty. If you want to go into academic medicine, this comes up often. Even if you don't want to go into academic medicine, American's are concerned with 'the best', and you can be certain that patients will seek out a specialist with the best training in their area.

Ummm what? Do you know what the top programs are for each specialty? Because they do vary by specialty and the DONT just equal whatever you think the best med school are. These are residency positions... For example I saw EM matches at Christiana, St. Lukes, and Carolinas, which are all top programs, with Carolinas being one of the most sought after in the country the past few years.

I have no connection to SC so Im not trying to defend my school or anything, just pointing out that i saw several programs that tend to get their pick of
Students with high Step scores. They could still obviously as a class have lower than national avg USMLE scores, but if I were you I wouldnt go as far as saying the school does a "terrible job" of preparing students, based on your clearly limited knowledge of what "impressive" programs student matched into, in a single given year no less. (Unless you have more evidence to back up that claim that you didnt mention here, in wich case my apologies!)

Please see my response above. I keep meticulous tabs on what hospitals are considered 'the top' for a number of fields each year - because of match list self-selctivity and location bias, my analyses aren't adequate to say "good school or bad school" but they do give a sense for what the reputation of a given medical school is outside of it's region in the U.S., based on total out of region match as well as the proportion of matches to top hospitals for a given specialty.

Also, the idea of a 'top EM' program is debatable. EM is a unique specialty when it comes to rankings and reputation, because it is not as if someone with a blast wound in a mining town will arrange to fly to Baltimore Shock & Trauma for their treatment - you just go to the closest trauma-level center appropriate for your injury/condition. Sure, there tend to be several EM programs that are usually boasted for their high volumes, but these are usually in cities that are known to have some pretty violent areas (baltimore, brooklyn, detroit, oakland, LA, cleveland, for example.)

I honestly did not expect to get grilled over this. Yes, there is a certain degree of self-selectivity and perhaps location bias when it comes to match lists - but a decent number of people leave the state of S.C. in this match list, and it's not for residency programs at institutions that are particularly reputed for that field.

Also, regarding USMLE: SUNY downstate gives students 7 weeks off to prepare for USMLE I. It is not unreasonable to suspect that the school does this in recognition that their basic sciences curriculum may not have adequately prepared the students for the USMLE. Likewise, NYMC gives students 2 full months off to prepare for the USMLE. Same thing applies. Most programs give 4-5 weeks off to prepare for the USMLE - I'm not sure what the schedule at USC is. What I can say confidently, however, is that a mere handful of students that probably have an impressive USMLE score (according to their match) should not by and large tell you that the school is doing a good job in preparing students for the USMLE. When you see a litany of community programs though and very few top academic programs for a given field, it does raise that question.
 
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