Competetive Match

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marcus_aurelius

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So how competetive was the match for PMR this year? I'm strongly considering it and wondered what scores i'd need to match into a decent academic program. How competetive is it to get an interventional spine fellowship afterwards? How many programs are there? I heard that there were only 4-5 pain programs in the country...is this true?


Congratulations to all of you who matched and best of luck to those who didnt...have faith, it'll work out eventually🙂
 
No one really knows about board scores...but I would guess 215+ would be a safe bet for the better programs. Obviously it depends on the location/reputation etc. The field as a whole is becoming more and more competitive every year as people realize that a good lifestyle and great pay is what people want. I think in the next few years we'll be talking about PM&R in the same breath as Ophtho, Derm, etc (although it is certainly already headed there).

I think there are about 10 PM&R based pain fellowships (including 👍 UCLA where I'm headed!), but there are about 90 Anesthesiology based Pain fellowships that you can also apply to.

Best of luck!
 
I would say if pain is the ONLY thing you are interested in, then anesthesia may be the field for you - there are many more anesthesia spots and anesthesia-pain spots in the country. PLUS, you will end up hating residency if you dont' like any other aspect of PM&R.