22 New Med School in 3 Years

[Astarael]

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If that was true, then even now, all the US grads would match before residencies looked at FMGs. That isn't happening.

The majority of US grads do match, though. You're looking at maybe 5% of all US grads that don't match, and there are plenty of reasons that can explain it. Most of them have to do with the way the match works; if a person doesn't list enough schools or they list schools that are too competitive, they won't match. It's also possible that some students come out of US medical schools with bad marks on their records, like a failed step 1. However, given that the match rate is 95% for US grads vs. 50% for foreign grads, you can't make a real argument for residencies wanting foreign grads as much as they want US grads. The difference there could be due to academics or it could be due to bias; I don't think anyone can say for sure. That being said, if there was no bias whatsoever, there would be a couple people going into really competitive specialties each year from foreign schools based solely off their own intelligence, and the numbers don't really fit with that.

Guju, to answer your question on numbers, there are approximately 25,000 residency positions affiliated with the NRMP. I don't know what the numbers are for the other matching systems.

 

[gujuDoc]

If that was true, then even now, all the US grads would match before residencies looked at FMGs. That isn't happening.

The majority do match and those that don't do so because they ranked schools unrealistically or tried to apply for a field that they were not competitive enough for or other such things of that nature. At least every time I've heard of people not matching from a US school it was a story similar to such.

And i heard the same thing at Wayne State when I was there. They said those that didn't match weren't realistic about things.

So I mean it is not due to lack of enough spots but lack of applying right. Besides the fields with the most spots are the ones that need physicians most but aren't the best lifestyle or even paying fields i.e. primary care fields. This is often what FMGs/IMGs fill but would be nice if people who studied here in America could fill instead in the future.

 

[ruiner]

This seems like way too many. Anyone else worried? What happens when the baby boomers die and demand slows down? Won't everyone see salary cuts. Obviously IMGs and to a lesser extent DOs will have a harder time landing residencies...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_medical_schools_in_the_United_States

(scroll to very bottom for list)

who cares ill be about graduated by the time most of em opened. NOT MY PROBLEM 😀

 

[tabascosauce]

sort of addressed this, but yeah, there are bad doctors, I'm not interested in debating how they are classified, but I'm fine with a system that leaves room for them to be shut out. if residency programs are picking people based on things that don't have anything to do with how good of a physician someone will become, that's on them.

I'm 29, not so starry eyed, and I'm going into medicine despite how screwed up it already is because that's where my heart is. I think you've got this exactly backwards. I think it requires more passion to go this route by the unconventional path than it does the conventional straight out of undergrad path. most nontrads are fighting an uphill battle to begin with and won't be afraid of a little competition.

I'm sure all the surgeons would be pissed if they ended up in FM. so what? right now those undesirable FM spots are being taken by FMG's who don't want to be there either. I'd rather those spots at least be filled by US MD's who don't want to be there. ideally if expansion makes the more desirable specialties that much harder to reach, people will have to recognize that coming into med school. If FM is such a terrible thought, then they can stay home and leave room for people willing to meet the need. again, besides being annoying for med students, please explain to me how this is bad for medicine in general? the approach you're taking which seems to imply that med students should get to do whatever they want, demand be damned, hasn't worked out so well and that's why it's starting to change.

increased competition for spots across all specialties, less reliance on foreign grads. don't tell me how this is bad for med students, because even if that is true, you still haven't told me how this is bad for medicine and the population in general.

question: does anyone feel sorry for the lawyers who went to a terrible school or didn't do as well at a decent school and aren't doing what they had envisioned when they began med school? they were aware of the market when they went in, right? and even if you do feel sorry for them, has this actually been bad for the profession? is the quality of work being done diminished because the market is saturated? or what about in pharmacy where some markets are saturated, do you think those markets get worse care or better? medicine will never get to the point either of those fields are, and I'm not advocating for a system that trains far more people than it needs, but we're not even close to that so all of this "the sky is falling" talk is ridiculous. even if you will be fellowship trained by the time this matters, you're still only looking at it as a med student.

I'm not your sweetheart.

i aintcha bra

 

[FuturePharm21]

well not everyone can work in a big city like NYC, Chicago, Miami, or LA

In the end, medical schools are looking for doctors to work in underserved and rural areas because there is a severe shortage of doctors in many regions of America, you just have to sacrifice location and salary for a lifetime of service to well-deserved communities

and yes IL is not that bad to be a resident but UIC is the only school that shows preference for IL residents meaning 80% is in-state residents and SIU only takes people from Southern IL region including rural central IL