How competitive is IM this year?

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sfateh

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Just wondering how tough it will be to get into your top 5 choices in IM? Will it depend on how competitive IM is this year??

Thanks in advance! Good luck on match day! Hope eveyone gets what they want!!! (I know im worried)

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Hello:

With passing (including "just passing") scores on the board exams (step 1 and step 2), and good letters of recommendation; together with a confident, articulate performance on interview, IM has always been attainable with most people matching in one of their top 5 choices provided that they apply to mid-tier programs as well.

Good luck.

I have no idea whether the applicant pool has increased for the 2004 match cycle.
 
My IM PD told me a few months ago that the number of applicants to IM has been decreasing every year, particularly the number of US grads. I haven't heard anything specific about this year's numbers, but with the new 80 hr work week, I suspect that this year will continue the trend with even fewer applicants in IM since people will be more willing to consider the surgical subspecialties if that's what they really want to do with the more humane training hours. ~85% of US med students get into one of their top three choices in residency programs, I suspect that the percentage for IM matching into the top 5 is pretty close to 95-100% for US grads. When I say top 5 though, I am referring to the top 5 programs who invited you for an interview. If you are talking about top 5 programs in the nation that you happen to like, that's still going to depend on your strengths as an applicant, your letters, and your numbers. The top 5 IM programs (Harvard, Hopkins, etc) mainly interview AOA applicants or applicants with things on their CV that make them "unique".
 
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I agree with Kalel. IM is a buyers market. Almost everyone gets their first or second choice. IM is THE largest specialty, with typically 40-50% of all categorical positions being filled by IMGs. Having said that, virtually all of the good programs (top 25 or so) will fill with almost exclusively US grads.

A better question might be- How many people in your class are going into IM. For me, in my class of about 210, we have only 25 (roughly 10%), give or take a few, that are going into IM. I have heard that UTSW has about 60-70 students applying to IM. It varies from school to school and medical schools with strong IM programs typically have more students applying to IM (ie UTSW).

When I interviewed with the IM chair at Baylor in Houston, he half-jokingly told me that if it wasn't for cards and GI, there wouldn't be anyone applying to IM.

Good luck. Crypt
 
actually, it looks like internal medicine was more competitive this year than previous years.

last year, there were 7293 spots, and 505 unfilled.
this year, there were 7391 spots, and 398 unfilled.

from those numbers it would seem that more folks are going into im and things may be slightly more competitive. not sure though if programs just took more img's or if more prelim spots filled.

from my interviews, i think its pretty clear that spots at top-notch academic programs are extremely competitive.
 
Looking at the match stats for this year, compared to last, it looks like most specialties had decreased numbers of unfilled spots this year.

The two specialties I saw that had more unfilled spots this year were anesthesia and rads. Surprising since it seems that most med students are looking more into the "lifestyle" specialties.
 
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