Can someone please explain to me how the whole residency thing works?

[Nutmeg1621]

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I would like to stay in Maryland and I was wondering do you get to pick where you want to do your residency. The whole process seems confusing to me. I was reading on the University of Marylands site and it made it seem like you don't pick them they pick you. If someone could explain this to me I would appreciate it. Oh and how competitive are the specialties and schools? Is it pretty much the same med schools that are competitive? ie. It is hard to get into UW med school so a residency there is equally as hard to get into.

Thanks.

 

[Law2Doc]

I would like to stay in Maryland and I was wondering do you get to pick where you want to do your residency. The whole process seems confusing to me. I was reading on the University of Marylands site and it made it seem like you don't pick them they pick you. If someone could explain this to me I would appreciate it. Oh and how competitive are the specialties and schools? Is it pretty much the same med schools that are competitive? ie. It is hard to get into UW med school so a residency there is equally as hard to get into.

Thanks.

It's a match system. After applying and interviewing at programs, you rank the programs you want, and they rank the students they want, and a computer gives everybody the best possible match based on those rankings. The best way to end up at the residency of your choice is to do well in school and on the boards. Residency and med school are totally different in terms of what is competitive, as this is driven mostly by specialty. It may be tough to match into derm at a school that isn't that high on the US News med school list while relatively more easy to match into a primary care specialty at a bigger name place. Hope that clarifies.

 

[MedicineNutt]

UW medicine is extremely hard for out-of-staters!!! like 99% of the class are selected from the WAMI (?) program...im from seattle so i know this!

dont know about residency though

 

[Nutmeg1621]

It's a match system. After applying and interviewing at programs, you rank the programs you want, and they rank the students they want, and a computer gives everybody the best possible match based on those rankings. The best way to end up at the residency of your choice is to do well in school and on the boards. Residency and med school are totally different in terms of what is competitive, as this is driven mostly by specialty. It may be tough to match into derm at a school that isn't that high on the US News med school list while relatively more easy to match into a primary care specialty at a bigger name place. Hope that clarifies.

Thank you so much! You explained that very well.

 

[DoctorPardi]

It's a match system. After applying and interviewing at programs, you rank the programs you want, and they rank the students they want, and a computer gives everybody the best possible match based on those rankings. The best way to end up at the residency of your choice is to do well in school and on the boards. Residency and med school are totally different in terms of what is competitive, as this is driven mostly by specialty. It may be tough to match into derm at a school that isn't that high on the US News med school list while relatively more easy to match into a primary care specialty at a bigger name place. Hope that clarifies.

Ok but do residencies place any consideration on whether or not you are likely to remain in state or not? That is, say I move from Alabama to New York for med school. Say I do well on the boards and have good grades, could I match to a residency in California?

Basically I want to ask 2 questions:
1) Do residency programs place any geographic bias on who they prefer to admit?
2) Does the match process work like this... first student chooses programs he is interested in and sends his application to all of them and ranks them, then the schools rank all of the students they receive interest from, then a computer matches a student for each spot ?

 

[Nutmeg1621]

Yeah I have another question.

Say each residency you pick is in a certian geographic location, but the computer doesn't put you with any of your choices. Then does the computer select a randomly located residency that you didn't even apply to, to ensure you get the specialty you want? Basically what happens if you don't get into any you applied to? How many residencies can you apply to?

 

[DrBowtie]

Yeah I have another question.

Say each residency you pick is in a certian geographic location, but the computer doesn't put you with any of your choices. Then does the computer select a randomly located residency that you didn't even apply to, to ensure you get the specialty you want? Basically what happens if you don't get into any you applied to? How many residencies can you apply to?

You don't match at all (basically have a year off to reapply). You can apply to as many as you want.

 

[dbhvt]

And there are interviews in there before you rank.

 

[Nutmeg1621]

You don't match at all (basically have a year off to reapply). You can apply to as many as you want.

That's good. Thanks. I was worried that they just stick you in bfe haha.

 

[MattD]

OK, here's the drill. You will send out applications to all of the residency programs you are interested in training at. They will review the applications, and select the students they are interested in for interviews. You will then attend interviews with any programs that invited you to. At the end of all the interviews, you will make a list of all the places you interviewed at, and rank them in order or preference. Each of those programs will also make a list of all their interviewees and rank them in order of preference. All the lists get sent to a central computer, which matches students to programs. The match algorith prefers students over programs, so if your top choice program has 5 slots, and you rank them #1 and they rank you #5, you'll go there. If you're not in the top 5, you'd get moved to your second choice, and so on. Now if one of the people in the top 5 at your first choice matched elsewhere, that program would move down to slot #6, which means you might get bumped back in. Kinda like med school waitlists. The programs iterates over and over again until all slots are filled. If you fail to match ANYWHERE, you do not have a guaranteed position. What will happen is a few days before match results are released, they'll let you know that you didn't match. They'll also release a list of all the programs that didn't fill all their slots. Then it's a 'scramble' to contact unfilled programs and try to convince them to take you. If you STILL can't get a position, you're unemployed for the year 🙂

 

[Nutmeg1621]

OK, here's the drill. You will send out applications to all of the residency programs you are interested in training at. They will review the applications, and select the students they are interested in for interviews. You will then attend interviews with any programs that invited you to. At the end of all the interviews, you will make a list of all the places you interviewed at, and rank them in order or preference. Each of those programs will also make a list of all their interviewees and rank them in order of preference. All the lists get sent to a central computer, which matches students to programs. The match algorith prefers students over programs, so if your top choice program has 5 slots, and you rank them #1 and they rank you #5, you'll go there. If you're not in the top 5, you'd get moved to your second choice, and so on. Now if one of the people in the top 5 at your first choice matched elsewhere, that program would move down to slot #6, which means you might get bumped back in. Kinda like med school waitlists. The programs iterates over and over again until all slots are filled. If you fail to match ANYWHERE, you do not have a guaranteed position. What will happen is a few days before match results are released, they'll let you know that you didn't match. They'll also release a list of all the programs that didn't fill all their slots. Then it's a 'scramble' to contact unfilled programs and try to convince them to take you. If you STILL can't get a position, you're unemployed for the year 🙂

OK that answers all my questions on that issue. Thanks everyone.

 

[DoctorPardi]

OK, here's the drill. You will send out applications to all of the residency programs you are interested in training at. They will review the applications, and select the students they are interested in for interviews. You will then attend interviews with any programs that invited you to. At the end of all the interviews, you will make a list of all the places you interviewed at, and rank them in order or preference. Each of those programs will also make a list of all their interviewees and rank them in order of preference. All the lists get sent to a central computer, which matches students to programs. The match algorith prefers students over programs, so if your top choice program has 5 slots, and you rank them #1 and they rank you #5, you'll go there. If you're not in the top 5, you'd get moved to your second choice, and so on. Now if one of the people in the top 5 at your first choice matched elsewhere, that program would move down to slot #6, which means you might get bumped back in. Kinda like med school waitlists. The programs iterates over and over again until all slots are filled. If you fail to match ANYWHERE, you do not have a guaranteed position. What will happen is a few days before match results are released, they'll let you know that you didn't match. They'll also release a list of all the programs that didn't fill all their slots. Then it's a 'scramble' to contact unfilled programs and try to convince them to take you. If you STILL can't get a position, you're unemployed for the year 🙂

Yeah excellent response!

 

[Neuro27]

OK, here's the drill. You will send out applications to all of the residency programs you are interested in training at. They will review the applications, and select the students they are interested in for interviews. You will then attend interviews with any programs that invited you to. At the end of all the interviews, you will make a list of all the places you interviewed at, and rank them in order or preference. Each of those programs will also make a list of all their interviewees and rank them in order of preference. All the lists get sent to a central computer, which matches students to programs. The match algorith prefers students over programs, so if your top choice program has 5 slots, and you rank them #1 and they rank you #5, you'll go there. If you're not in the top 5, you'd get moved to your second choice, and so on. Now if one of the people in the top 5 at your first choice matched elsewhere, that program would move down to slot #6, which means you might get bumped back in. Kinda like med school waitlists. The programs iterates over and over again until all slots are filled. If you fail to match ANYWHERE, you do not have a guaranteed position. What will happen is a few days before match results are released, they'll let you know that you didn't match. They'll also release a list of all the programs that didn't fill all their slots. Then it's a 'scramble' to contact unfilled programs and try to convince them to take you. If you STILL can't get a position, you're unemployed for the year 🙂

A+ post
would read again

 

[Hassler]

What percentage of applicants don't match? And what percentage of applicants are "unemployed for a year"?

 

[pallcare]

aside from home-school advantage, do residencies give favortism to in state residents?

 

[MacGyver]

What percentage of applicants don't match? And what percentage of applicants are "unemployed for a year"?

depends on specialty. If you want family practice or internal med, then you WILL match somewhere even if you graduated at teh bottom ofyour class.

However, if you want dermatology, there's a 50% chance you wont match.

The most competitive specialties have about a 50% "unmatched" rate.

 

[MacGyver]

aside from home-school advantage, do residencies give favortism to in state residents?

The short answer to this question is NO

The long answer is that perhaps there are a few program directors who might rank you higher if they are convinced you want to be in the area and will likely put them high on your rank list. HOwever, they probably wont tell you that in person.

 

[kirexhana]

Yeah I have another question.

Say each residency you pick is in a certian geographic location, but the computer doesn't put you with any of your choices. Then does the computer select a randomly located residency that you didn't even apply to, to ensure you get the specialty you want? Basically what happens if you don't get into any you applied to? How many residencies can you apply to?

they let you know sometime before match day that you haven't matched and you can choose to "scramble" into programs that haven't yet filled their quota. i don't know how much control you have over this. med students, am i getting this right?

 

[Zoom-Zoom]

depends on specialty. If you want family practice or internal med, then you WILL match somewhere even if you graduated at teh bottom ofyour class.

However, if you want dermatology, there's a 50% chance you wont match.

The most competitive specialties have about a 50% "unmatched" rate.

Not true... I can't speak for derm, but most programs, even very competitive ones, have a much higher match rate than 50%. Plus, the total match rates are brought down by the extreme amount of foreign graduates who apply and tend to get rejected. In neurosurgery, for example, the total was 66% but US seniors matched at 88%.

 

[OSUdoc08]

depends on specialty. If you want family practice or internal med, then you WILL match somewhere even if you graduated at teh bottom ofyour class.

However, if you want dermatology, there's a 50% chance you wont match.

The most competitive specialties have about a 50% "unmatched" rate.

That's the least correct statement on this thread.

 

[McPoyle]

Can you apply to residencies in more than one speciality...say you can't make up your mind between two specialities, can you apply to different kinds of residencies and just see where you match...

 

[Bluntman]

If you want to dig for more info guys, here's the link to the National Residency Matching Program, which is the official organization that handles all of this madness. There are data tables, stats, faqs, the whole bit.

 

[OSUdoc08]

Can you apply to residencies in more than one speciality...say you can't make up your mind between two specialities, can you apply to different kinds of residencies and just see where you match...

Yes.

 

[top]

Which specialities are the least competitive? Like, if you can't match anywhere else and need to scramble into a position, which specialities have the most open positions?

 

[Bluntman]

Which specialities are the least competitive? Like, if you can't match anywhere else and need to scramble into a position, which specialities have the most open positions?

Follow the link I posted and explore till your heart's content. It'll answer all your questions.

 

[OSUdoc08]

Which specialities are the least competitive? Like, if you can't match anywhere else and need to scramble into a position, which specialities have the most open positions?

Family Medicine

 

[RxnMan]

Can you apply to residencies in more than one speciality...say you can't make up your mind between two specialities, can you apply to different kinds of residencies and just see where you match...

Why you'd want to be passive agressive about something as important as your career is beyond me.

All of the med students I've talked to said that almost everyone matches, except for those who apply only for positions they're not going to get (based on grades, USMLE scores, etc.). Every school I've been to has counseling services that will take your CV and will help you target programs that you are competitive for. In short, it's not something that anyone should worry about until they're a med student, and even then, if they're smart, and use the help available, it's still not a problem.

 

[top]

Follow the link I posted and explore till your heart's content. It'll answer all your questions.

Family Medicine

Thanks...I guess we don't really need to be thinking about this stuff yet. We probably sound like high schoolers asking which college we should go to!

 

[8744]

Please visit my humble blog where the match is explained in detail. Maybe too much detail.