IM vs Med-Peds Competitiveness

[1996]

Just want to find out if anyone knows whether med-peds, especially at the top programs, is more/less competitive than IM. Logically, it should be more competitive given less number of spot. However, given that probably many, if not most, top applicants interested in IM are probably applying for categorical IM programs, it seems like med-peds could be less competitive in a sense. Anyone has any info or thoughts?

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[ckent]

A med/peds resident told me that she believed that most med/peds residents have approximately the same numbers (grades, board scores, LOR's) as straight medicine residents. On a whole, med peds is more competetive then medicine residencies since most of the institutions that offer med/peds are academic centers which are more competetive then community programs. There are still some med/peds programs that are community programs, some of these have difficulty filling every year and are fairly easy to match into, but I think that it's kind of silly to go to a community program to do med peds since the combined residency is mostly meant for people who want to do academics/fellowships. I would just base your level of competetiveness for a program on how competetive you think that you are for their medicine or peds program individually. For most programs, their pediatrics program is less competetive then their medicine program too. There are fewer spots for med/peds (3-5 spots at most places) then medicine (20-40), but there are also fewer applicants, and I don't think that too many "top" or competetive students go for med/peds, so I think that it mostly all even outs so that roughly the same type of applicants get into med/peds as medicine.

 

[P Diddy]

for what it's worth, I know people who ranked med-peds programs ahead of medicine but ended up in medicine.

 

[magnolia014]

"On a whole, med peds is more competetive then medicine residencies since most of the institutions that offer med/peds are academic centers which are more competetive then community programs. There are still some med/peds programs that are community programs, some of these have difficulty filling every year and are fairly easy to match into, but I think that it's kind of silly to go to a community program to do med peds since the combined residency is mostly meant for people who want to do academics/fellowships."

I was always under the impression that med-peds programs are geared toward training generaly physicians to take care of both adult and pediatric populations. Therefore it would make sense to me that they are located mostly in community hospital settings and not so much in the huge academic centers. I hear one of the oldest med-peds residency is located in Baystate (part of Tufts) but still in a community hospital. Please correct me if my impression is wrong, but I heard most med-peds graduates practice general primary care or hospitalist care instead of subspecializing (20%).

 

[The Med-Peds Dude]

Actually, most who don't match in Med-Peds do categorical medicine over Peds and FP.