Can someone explain natmatch results by college?

[macbookpro45]

---

Members don't see this ad.

https://www.natmatch.com/aoairp/stats/2013sklstats.html


I see PCOM matched 47.5% of 301 graduates but what does 'non participants' mean? How can they count 301 graduates applied for match, 47.5% matched, ~11% did not match and the remaining didn't participate? I'm missing something because >50% of the graduates not matching is terrifying.

 

[FamGuy]

I'm guessing a large percent of those that "did not participate" matched into an ACGME program, and thus were not in technically in the AOA match?

 

[macbookpro45]

That thought crossed my mind but then why are they still counted in AOA match? Anyone familiar with the match care to elaborate?

 

[Ogmora]

Some don't even register for AOA match, some withdraw from the match to try ACGME before the match (non-participants%), and then there are those who don't match their #1 or #2 in AOA (i.e. the "non-match" %) who prefer to try for something in ACGME before going to a non-preferred AOA. Of course there are also others who don't match at all, but it's likely that it's a much, much smaller percentage than what's listed, especially for PCOM.

 

[SnowDoggy44]

If you want to see many of the programs that did not fill all their spots, you can go here and sort the list by date posted in the last week: http://cf.osteopathic.org/aoapostmatch/students/index.cfm

You can even see what were the derm, radiology, anesthesiology, general surg, and orthopedic programs that didn't fill their spots.

 

[group_theory]

The AOA Match is through a different agency (in this case, the National Matching Service) than the ACGME match (which is through NRMP). Hence you're only seeing the AOA Match statistics.

For 2013, PCOM was expecting 271 graduates (who are eligible for both matches - NMS or NRMP). In addition, 30 additional applicants who graduated previously from PCOM were also entering the AOA/NMS match - for a total of 301 potential applicants from PCOM for last year's AOA/NMS match. Of those, 123 did not participate in the AOA/NMS - most likely they are the ones putting all their eggs into the ACGME/NRMP match.

If you look at other schools who traditionally have more of its graduates go into ACGME residencies than AOA residencies, you see the same trend. If you look at TCOM/UNTHSC - they have 184 potential applicants in 2013 (179 graduating, plus 5 from prior years). Of those 179, only 33 participated in the AOA match, with 151 not-participating in the AOA match.

I wouldn't put too much stock or read too much into how many people who did participate in the AOA/NMS match didn't match. With the nature of having 2 matches (NMS and NRMP) at 2 different times (February and April) - each individual applicants have to decide if they want to put all their eggs in one basket (whether all AOA/NMS or all ACGME/NRMP), or if they want to put eggs in both. And each individual will have to decide how to split up their rank list. So a high percentage of unmatched NMS is not necessarily an alarm bell. What would be more meaningful is the number of students who remains unmatched after NMS and NRMP (and have to scramble for a spot). Unfortunately I'm not aware of any aggregate data from schools on number of students who need to scramble.

 

[Postictal Raiden]

The AOA Match is through a different agency (in this case, the National Matching Service) than the ACGME match (which is through NRMP). Hence you're only seeing the AOA Match statistics.

For 2013, PCOM was expecting 271 graduates (who are eligible for both matches - NMS or NRMP). In addition, 30 additional applicants who graduated previously from PCOM were also entering the AOA/NMS match - for a total of 301 potential applicants from PCOM for last year's AOA/NMS match. Of those, 123 did not participate in the AOA/NMS - most likely they are the ones putting all their eggs into the ACGME/NRMP match.

If you look at other schools who traditionally have more of its graduates go into ACGME residencies than AOA residencies, you see the same trend. If you look at TCOM/UNTHSC - they have 184 potential applicants in 2013 (179 graduating, plus 5 from prior years). Of those 179, only 33 participated in the AOA match, with 151 not-participating in the AOA match.

I wouldn't put too much stock or read too much into how many people who did participate in the AOA/NMS match didn't match. With the nature of having 2 matches (NMS and NRMP) at 2 different times (February and April) - each individual applicants have to decide if they want to put all their eggs in one basket (whether all AOA/NMS or all ACGME/NRMP), or if they want to put eggs in both. And each individual will have to decide how to split up their rank list. So a high percentage of unmatched NMS is not necessarily an alarm bell. What would be more meaningful is the number of students who remains unmatched after NMS and NRMP (and have to scramble for a spot). Unfortunately I'm not aware of any aggregate data from schools on number of students who need to scramble.

Did these previously graduated DO's practice different specialties and now they are trying to switch, or were they ones who couldn't match in the past, took a year or so off and are trying again?

 

[group_theory]

Did these previously graduated DO's practice different specialties and now they are trying to switch, or were they ones who couldn't match in the past, took a year or so off and are trying again?

Probably all of the above. It could be someone who didn't match, and decided to do an internship and reapply. It could be someone who wanted more time to decide what field they want to go into, so bid their time doing an osteopathic internship before trying for the match. It could be someone finishing up residency in one field and wanting to switch to another field. Or someone applying for an advanced spot after an internship, etc. No way to know.

 

[macbookpro45]

Do osteopathic schools not report ACGME match results?

 

[costales]

Historically UNTHSC/TCOM has had 100% students getting a spot through either route. This also happened last year.

 

[Elevencents]

Do osteopathic schools not report ACGME match results?

Usually found on the schools website.

 

[katwaa]

Those were the 2013 not 2014 stats you posted, just so you know!

 

[TreadLightly]

If you want to see many of the programs that did not fill all their spots, you can go here and sort the list by date posted in the last week: http://cf.osteopathic.org/aoapostmatch/students/index.cfm

You can even see what were the derm, radiology, anesthesiology, general surg, and orthopedic programs that didn't fill their spots.

Are these the more undesirable programs that still have open spots in competitive fields?

 

[cliquesh]

Are these the more undesirable programs that still have open spots in competitive fields?

Maybe. It also may because the program director was cocky and didn't rank enough applicants. I've also heard of programs intentionally going unfilled so they can snag a desperate over qualified applicant in the scramble. I'm not sure how true or how common that last one is.

 

[hallowmann]

Half graduates did not participate, a third positions unfilled. AOA's refusal to the residency merger is really a lose-lose situation.

Aren't those stats from last year? Besides, don't tons of programs get filled by scramble? From what I recall, the only ones really left were a few hundred FM spots, a hundred IM spots, and a ton of TRIs (which don't really matter anyways). Unless a greater number of DOs go ACGME than the DO class size increase, I doubt they will get any sort of message in the match. Judging by this year's match, if anything DO programs are getting more filled (which has been the trend for years now).

 

[ManBroDude]

Here's this year's: https://www.natmatch.com/aoairp/stats/2014sklstats.html

 

[SnowDoggy44]

What additional data would help us best interpret these statistics? Median number of programs ranked of both the matched and non-matched categories?

Some of the data for the schools in states requiring DOs to have an AOA-approved year (e.g. Florida, Michigan) is harder to compare to the others as those graduates are more likely to pursue AOA-training.

 

[MerickManual]

So the "matched" column includes those who matched post-scramble? I would love to see the % of those who did matched initially and didn't have to scramble for a spot.

 

[SnowDoggy44]

So the "matched" column includes those who matched post-scramble? I would love to see the % of those who did matched initially and didn't have to scramble for a spot.

No, the data in the table is all pre-scramble, thus why there are so many open spots.

 

[MerickManual]

No, the data in the table is all pre-scramble, thus why there are so many open spots.

Thanks for clearing that up!

 

[SnowDoggy44]

Thanks for clearing that up!

Of the 679 people who did not match despite participating, many will go on to match into ACGME positions, while many will scramble into open AOA or ACGME positions. Of the 2625 non-participants, most will match into ACGME positions. But some of them will have to either SOAP into ACGME spots or scramble into the remaining AOA positions (assuming they registered for the AOA-match and then merely withdrew).