Confusion about Residency matching....

[kmnfive]

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So alright, as an undergraduate i get a broad understanding of
how to get through a medical education ( correct me if im wrong --- but please no tar and feathering)


1. the foremost important thing is to love it. because you if you do it for other selfish reasons such as money and social acceptance youre not going to be happy.

2. you have to do well in school. no matter how big of a heart you have to help other people or whatever reason you have (hopefully altruistic) the adcomms of any med school will not pity a 2.0 and a 22 on the mcat.

3. you have to have stamina in order to jump "through the hoops"

4. plan ahead, know what to do next in terms of taking classes, applying to schools, getting your LOR's... travel plans if you get interviews.. etc.. etc..


but ... heres my question...

you go through all this....... get good grades, a good mcat score, killer LOR's and good EC's............... get into med school....... spend 4 more years in school........then you have to rely on "matching" your residency program?

from what i understand not all med graduates go through this process but MOST do.

you rank a program, it ranks you, then you get "matched" with a program that closely ranked you to your rank with them...... and this is where you serve your residency.. i mean im sure if you have good grades and good LOR's from your clinical attendants getting a 1st or second choice residency program is of no problem nor worry.

but still, it makes me nervous.



am i getting this right? i mean dont get me wrong, i plan to go through it the whole way but im kinda scared...

frightened to be honest...

is it not customary to just "apply" for residency programs after you finish school (as to all job industries out there when you submit resumes and apply for jobs that are open) ? must you be matched? its like .... as if they "assign" you your life after med school.

tell me if i have mistaken.

--sigh..

 

[kmnfive]

nobody has an opinion?

 

[Lux Aeterna]

You aren't matched away for life or anything. You do your residency for a set amount of years and then move on to fellowship or private practice or whatever else you wanna do, pursue an extra degree, etc. It's just like another school or something. You spent 4 years at undergrad, 4 yrs med, then 3+ yrs at residency, depending on what you wanna do.

I don't know, maybe I'm not understanding your worry properly.

 

[Jim Picotte]

If you're a 4th year M.D. U.S. medical student you're required to go through the match and usually there are several places where you'd be happy with and most people match their top 3 choices. Currently, if you're a D.O. student, IMG, or graduated from an M.D. school and have been out a year or more(say taking a year off) you can actually not go through the match and sign on with a program if they offer you a spot. The problem is that most good programs don't offer prematch slots...only the programs worried about filling all their slots through the match. Additionally, the NRMP is trying to eliminate prematches all together so it may not be available by the time you get done with medical school. This information is only for the NRMP matching program and not for the San Francisco Match (ENT, Ophthalmology, Neurology, Neurosurgery, or Plastic Surgery), Urology match, or Osteopathic Match as I'm unfamiliar with these.

There's always the chance that if you're going for a competitive specialty and your scores, clinical performance are just average you may not match into your desired specialty.

It may seem crazy, but it's actually not a bad system. They went to the match because in the past, hospitals were having medical students sign contracts in their 2nd or 3rd year and could say we'll offer you a spot but you have only 48 hours to decide and then the offer is rescinded. You couldn't check out other places and there was alot of pressure to sign early. I think it's a good system but certainly not perfect.

 

[kmnfive]

so if you take a year off after you do residency, you cant do the match? what kind of sense does that make?

does that ruin your chance in the "job searching" task?

 

[Winged Scapula]

Originally posted by kmnfive
so if you take a year off after you do residency, you cant do the match? what kind of sense does that make?

does that ruin your chance in the "job searching" task?

No, you CAN participate in the NRMP. However, instead of being a US allopathic student (since you have already graduated) you are considered an Independent candidate. Independents are allowed, at this time, to ALSO make pre-match agreements; they may (and usually do) participate in the match as well.

 

[kmnfive]

You do your residency for a set amount of years and then move on

but i thought where you do your residency heavily influences your location of where you are to practice? as in reasons where you are offered a full time spot at whatever hospital youve completed your residency... or in the general area.. etc..

am i wrong?

 

[AJM]

Originally posted by kmnfive


but i thought where you do your residency heavily influences your location of where you are to practice? as in reasons where you are offered a full time spot at whatever hospital youve completed your residency... or in the general area.. etc..

am i wrong?

Well it's kind of a question of the chicken or the egg. Many people decide where they want to end up practicing/living, and then apply to and match at residency programs in that area. Doing a residency in a certain location does not mean that you can only get a job in that area.

The statistics that say that most people end up practicing within 100 miles of their residency program can be very misleading, as they don't take into account the reasons why people stay in the area.