How to determine the "ranking" of a residency prog

[Ruban]

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Clearly, there are many other factors other than ranking to consider when applying to a residency program, but there surely is a difference between a #1 ranked residency and a #200 ranked residency. Is there any "objective" ranking source that is the equivalent of the US News ranking system for colleges available for residency programs?

Thanks!

 

[DoctorSax]

Clearly, there are many other factors other than ranking to consider when applying to a residency program, but there surely is a difference between a #1 ranked residency and a #200 ranked residency. Is there any "objective" ranking source that is the equivalent of the US News ranking system for colleges available for residency programs?

Thanks!

I applied for IM this year, so I can't really speak for other specialites. At least for IM, there is no good objective source of information. It's one of the most frustrating things about the whole process. Some use NIH funding as a measure of prestige, but then that's dependent upon how much research is done. Even US News has a "best hospitals" thing, but that has its faults as well.

What my PD told me was that (at least for IM), once you're in the top 40 programs in the country, there's not vast gulfs between them--in fact, most programs will have more than you can take in in three years. So he said to look at locations, interview, and get a feel for the residents--like are those folks the type of people you want to work and train with. Prestige does you well for fellowship placement, so if you're subspecialty bound, make sure to apply where your fellowship is strong.

As for picking where to apply, it's a crap shoot. All you have is subjective information--SDN, scutwork.com, recommendations from previous applicants, your PD, etc. Amalgamate those subjective recommendations into a working list, and then just see who wants to interview you.

Sorry for the vague response, but I have found no good objective comparison for something that I am only now realizing is a completely subjective experience.

Best of luck!

DS

 

[TysonCook]

I also posted an excel spreadsheet w/some objective criteria scoring on it.
Look here for a thread on ranking programs:
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=255332

 

[u_r_my_serenity]

What my PD told me was that (at least for IM), once you're in the top 40 programs in the country, there's not vast gulfs between them--in fact, most programs will have more than you can take in in three years.

What are the top 40 medicine programs? I have heard people say "top 40" before but I have never seen a list.

 

[yaah]

There is no objective ranking because what criteria do you use? Do you use "What percent of people become chairperson of an academic department?" "What percentage of graduates have large grants?" "What percentage get their first choice in jobs?" (Which is also subjective, btw) "How happy are the residents?"

You just can't objectively measure this stuff. The things that are important, like whether graduates pass the boards, are not that informative since most good programs will have a high rate of passing. And as to what people do after residency, a lot of that highly depends on what the person wants - if they go into private practice in a small community, does that mean the residency is less good because they go straight into assistant professorship? No, because it is their choice.

It is important to get a sense of how residents and graduates of the program feel about it - but you have to make your own ranking based on this and what characteristics you are looking for. Do you want great teaching and mentorship but don't care as much about research opportunities? Do you want to live in a big city with a diverse patient population and don't care as much about mentorship? Do you want to do research and don't really care about your clinical exposure? Do you just want a humane call schedule? Do you want to do a fellowship afterwards and if so does that particular institution have a good one?

There are too many questions. You have to evaluate programs yourself. If you get caught up in the rankings game you are going to be disappointed.