Chances of matching into Anesthesia residency

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N1ght0wls

N1ght0wls

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Currently 3rd year med student. Top 20 medical school. Very shtty clinical scores (All passess only). Step 1 of 220. Havent taken step 2 yet. Is anesthesia out of my reach?
 
ucladoc2b said:
No. You’ll be fine
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LOL. Thanks for the hope. Not sure if you were joking or not but happy to know that anesthesia will accept the bottom of the barrel med student from an amazing med school. Cause really. I am a shtty med student apparently.
 
N1ght0wls said:
LOL. Thanks for the hope. Not sure if you were joking or not but happy to know that anesthesia will accept the bottom of the barrel med student from an amazing med school. Cause really. I am a shtty med student apparently.
Click to expand...
Adequate scores and good social skills with plenty of try-hard-ness about you as a med student will make up for that with good letters of recommendation and strong evals.
 
Isn’t there a WAMC superthread specifically dedicated to this question?
 
You’ll get more interviews than you think, especially if not tied to particular region. My step 1 was similar to yours and I turned down lots of interviews.
 
Step 1 of 220.

The specialty is clearly not what it once was just 10 years ago. The opening of new HCA community programs combined with NURSE ANESTHESIOLOGISTS advancing their agenda are clearly lowering the standards of Anesthesiology. In fact, are there any standards at all in 2021 if all you want to do is "MATCH"? I always knew the day would come that the bottom 1/2 of programs would take just about any warm body to fill the spots. That day has arrived.
 
N1ght0wls said:
LOL. Thanks for the hope. Not sure if you were joking or not but happy to know that anesthesia will accept the bottom of the barrel med student from an amazing med school. Cause really. I am a shtty med student apparently.
Click to expand...

It is true. Look at your own school’s match lists from prior classes. Generally it is hard to find a mediocre anesthesia match out of any of the top schools.
 
BLADEMDA said:
Step 1 of 220.

The specialty is clearly not what it once was just 10 years ago. The opening of new HCA community programs combined with NURSE ANESTHESIOLOGISTS advancing their agenda are clearly lowering the standards of Anesthesiology. In fact, are there any standards at all in 2021 if all you want to do is "MATCH"? I always knew the day would come that the bottom 1/2 of programs would take just about any warm body to fill the spots. That day has arrived.
Click to expand...
I mean. Anesthesia is considerably more competitive now than it was 10 years ago so your point is quite flawed. Also, kudos to talking about a kid coming to us for help and advice as basically a walking corpse destined to take up a roster spot.

The truth is that a name brand will take you far. A 220 isn't an awful score, it's a little below average. A buddy of mine matched ortho with a 222, but he came from Vandy and rode that horse all the way to a low ranked ortho program. It happens. If he was an IMG or a DO with a 220, these days that would be a very uphill battle. Ten years ago? Not so much.
 

The most competitive residencies and their average Step 1 match score​

Some of the medical specialties that can be considered to have the highest level of competition based on the percentage of filled positions by US MD seniors include:

  1. Integrated plastic surgery - 249
  2. Medicine-pediatrics - 236
  3. Neurological surgery - 248
  4. Orthopedic surgery - 248
  5. Otolaryngology - 248
  6. Thoracic surgery - NA
  7. Vascular surgery - 239
As you can see, many of these average scores are well above the mean USMLE Step 1 score of 237.27(standard deviation: 8) for US allopathic seniors in 2020.

blog.amboss.com

Average 2022 USMLE® Step 1 Match Scores by Medical Specialty

Find out what the average USMLE Step 1 match scores by medical specialty were in 2022. The data is in handy charts so you can easily find your specialty.
blog.amboss.com blog.amboss.com
 
My posts were not meant to be insulting to the OP. I was pointing out that Anesthesiology is a relatively uncompetitive specialty if all one wants to do is "match" somewhere.
 
Last edited:
What can a 220 on the USMLE step 1 get you? Here’s a run down.

  • 220 is above the median score of applicants who matched in family medicine.
  • 220 is the median score of applicants who matched in PM&R and psychiatry.
  • 220 is within the third quartile (25% to 50%) of applicants who matched to child neurology, anesthesiology, emergency medicine, neurology, pathology, internal medicine, Ob/Gyn, and Pediatrics.


studentdoc.com

What USMLE Step 1 of 220 gets you - StudentDoc

What can a 220 on the USMLE step 1 get you? Here’s a run down. 220 is above the median…
studentdoc.com studentdoc.com
 
BLADEMDA said:

The most competitive residencies and their average Step 1 match score​

Some of the medical specialties that can be considered to have the highest level of competition based on the percentage of filled positions by US MD seniors include:

  1. Integrated plastic surgery - 249
  2. Medicine-pediatrics - 236
  3. Neurological surgery - 248
  4. Orthopedic surgery - 248
  5. Otolaryngology - 248
  6. Thoracic surgery - NA
  7. Vascular surgery - 239
As you can see, many of these average scores are well above the mean USMLE Step 1 score of 237.27(standard deviation: 8) for US allopathic seniors in 2020.

blog.amboss.com

Average 2022 USMLE® Step 1 Match Scores by Medical Specialty

Find out what the average USMLE Step 1 match scores by medical specialty were in 2022. The data is in handy charts so you can easily find your specialty.
blog.amboss.com blog.amboss.com
Click to expand...

Surprised med peds made the list
 
BLADEMDA said:

The most competitive residencies and their average Step 1 match score​

Some of the medical specialties that can be considered to have the highest level of competition based on the percentage of filled positions by US MD seniors include:

  1. Integrated plastic surgery - 249
  2. Medicine-pediatrics - 236
  3. Neurological surgery - 248
  4. Orthopedic surgery - 248
  5. Otolaryngology - 248
  6. Thoracic surgery - NA
  7. Vascular surgery - 239
As you can see, many of these average scores are well above the mean USMLE Step 1 score of 237.27(standard deviation: 8) for US allopathic seniors in 2020.

blog.amboss.com

Average 2022 USMLE® Step 1 Match Scores by Medical Specialty

Find out what the average USMLE Step 1 match scores by medical specialty were in 2022. The data is in handy charts so you can easily find your specialty.
blog.amboss.com blog.amboss.com
Click to expand...
Not infrequently I talk to residents from all of the specialties 1-7 in the perioperative areas or in the ICU when I'm rounding....and I will never, ever stop being surprised at how dumb number 4 is when it comes to anything other than a bone.
 
Would a osteopathic student with a 213 Step 1, Step 2 of 236, and all high passes in clinicals have a chance at Gas programs?

Cheers.
 
After further research, the 2018 charting outcomes shows that 130 out of 135 applicants, with 211-220 Step 1 scores, matched.

Not sure about more recent numbers.
 
hungrydoc710 said:
After further research, the 2018 charting outcomes shows that 130 out of 135 applicants, with 211-220 Step 1 scores, matched.

Not sure about more recent numbers.
Click to expand...

Problem is there were only 2 spots left in soap last year. I know that there are programs that 3 years ago were all DO/IMG and now are MD only. I'm of the opinion that this field is more competitive than before due to increased interest and poor job prospects in other specialties.
 
What about USMD with 230/250? The charting outcomes has me at a pretty good chance but not sure about the tier of programs I would be able to attain.
GassYous said:
Problem is there were only 2 spots left in soap last year. I know that there are programs that 3 years ago were all DO/IMG and now are MD only. I'm of the opinion that this field is more competitive than before due to increased interest and poor job prospects in other specialties.
Click to expand...
 
Consigliere said:
No. Especially if they refer to them as "Gas programs." You'll have a better shot at "Diabetes Management programs."
Click to expand...
Sorry, I was just copying and pasting. Didn't know there was a negative connotation around calling them "gas" programs. My bad.

That being said, anything I can do to help bolster my chances? Is taking a transitional year and then trying to match into PGY-2 spots a better route?
 
Pre-Medguy1995 said:
Sorry, I was just copying and pasting. Didn't know there was a negative connotation around calling them "gas" programs. My bad.

That being said, anything I can do to help bolster my chances? Is taking a transitional year and then trying to match into PGY-2 spots a better route?
Click to expand...
I think it's more common to match into a "pgy1" categorical spot even if you already completed an intern year. But I can tell you my program usually has bumped people up a class shortly after they start so they don't ACTUALLY have to repeat the whole intern year.
 
abolt18 said:
I think it's more common to match into a "pgy1" categorical spot even if you already completed an intern year. But I can tell you my program usually has bumped people up a class shortly after they start so they don't ACTUALLY have to repeat the whole intern year.
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That just seems stupid. Why not just given them a CA1 spot to begin with like other programs that match advanced? Just to screw with them? And then leave the intern class short a person?
 
chocomorsel said:
That just seems stupid. Why not just given them a CA1 spot to begin with like other programs that match advanced? Just to screw with them? And then leave the intern class short a person?
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It's not stupid. You'd need to see the whole picture. They might take an extra person or something. Also, lacking a person in one class doesn't increase the burden on the others in the class, not with the way our program works. It has happened numerous times since I've been here, it works seamlessly. It's not really any different from when we've adopted people wanting out of surgical programs. They often have to repeat a couple "intern" rotations and sometimes end up off-cycle. But it all works out fine in the end.
 
GassYous said:
Problem is there were only 2 spots left in soap last year. I know that there are programs that 3 years ago were all DO/IMG and now are MD only. I'm of the opinion that this field is more competitive than before due to increased interest and poor job prospects in other specialties.
Click to expand...
Interesting - I think it would be less comp bc of the CNRA's and hospital systems choosing to employ anesthesia docs to overlook CRNA's rather than be able to sit thier own cases... basically the nurses doing most of the medicine in the case and doc being brought in when complications arise.

That is the one part of this field that almost turs me off from this field and makes me lean towards IM then CC.
 
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