IMG match data 2018 for psychiatry

[Small Cell Carcinoma]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Has anyone else noticed the extremely low match rate for psychiatry this past cycle amongst US-IMGs? Less than 1/3 (of applicants who received interviews matched into any program (104/344)? This seems very contrary to general opinion that suggest psychiatry is (or I guess was) a less challenging specialty as a whole to match into. Even specialties like Anesthesiology (67%), Emergency Medicine (49%), and orthopedic surgery (40%) had match rates significantly higher than this (match rates in parenthesis). I am an third year international medical student with high board scores who up until now was seriously considering going into psychiatry, but after this performance I think I may need to reconsider. Anyone know what could have caused such a poor outcome last cycle? http://www.nrmp.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Charting-Outcomes-in-the-Match-2018-IMGs.pdf

 

[splik]

There are a few reasons for this: 1) there has been a slight upswing in the number of US students applying to psychiatry; 2) there has been a mass proliferation of medical school places so there are many more students applying than before; 3) the current anti-immigration stance of the administration means it is uncertain whether IMGs who require a visa will even be able to start work on time and 4) (most importantly) there has been a mass proliferation of osteopathic students and these students are filling positions in many areas that would have traditionally gone to IMGs.

There is a common misconception that psychiatry is an easy match for IMGs; this has not been the case for many years and by the numbers IM, peds, FM, anesthesia, general surgery, neurology etc have been more welcoming. Part of this is because language/culture is more important in psychiatry, there is more discrimination against IMGs in psychiatry, and because of sensitivity to the fact historically IMGs (particularly from the Indian subcontinent) who could not match into other specialties would settle on psychiatry even if they had no aptitude for it. One problem with the numbers you cite is that IMGs who are applying to the much more competitive specialties like ortho, if they are getting interviews, they are much more likely to be exceptional candidates (e.g. worked as an ortho attending in their own country or other distinctions) meaning they is a selection bias in those match rates.

There are still many IMGs who match into psychiatry at very good programs above US medical students - and IMGs who have a good command of the american language, have solid board scores, have done 2 electives in psychiatry in the US as medical students, have permanent residency or US citizenship, and have shown a strong aptitude and commitment to psychiatry in other ways (be in advocacy, education, research, leadership, innovation etc) will have no problems matching. But is certainly very different and much more challenging than it was when I was applying for residency. As I have mentioned in another thread, I no longer recommend that IMGs who do not have a green card or US citizenship apply for residency training in the US.

 

[Stagg737]

Splik already touched on it, but I think it's largely due to the misconception that psych is a field you can just walk into. People still think this and either apply to programs that are reaches, apply with horrible stats, or just take the match process for granted.

If you've got a solid app and are willing to apply to a lot of programs (most IMG's I know who matched applied to over 100, I've heard as many as 200) I think it's a field still well within reach for IMGs. If you're a poor applicant and looking to get into residency anywhere, I'd recommend also applying to FM and weaker IM programs as well. I've seen too many stories both on this board and irl involving weak to mediocre IMGs applying to 100 programs and not matching to recommend psych alone to those applicants.

 

[Mad Jack]

Psychiatry is -much- more competitive than it used to be. There are way more applicants than positions, and programs are going less and less deep into their match lists each year. Program directors are getting flooded with applications in a quantity and quality they have not seen in the entirety of their careers, with some programs receiving 200+ applicants per position.

 

[MedMan80]

Splik already touched on it, but I think it's largely due to the misconception that psych is a field you can just walk into. People still think this and either apply to programs that are reaches, apply with horrible stats, or just take the match process for granted.

If you've got a solid app and are willing to apply to a lot of programs (most IMG's I know who matched applied to over 100, I've heard as many as 200) I think it's a field still well within reach for IMGs. If you're a poor applicant and looking to get into residency anywhere, I'd recommend also applying to FM and weaker IM programs as well. I've seen too many stories both on this board and irl involving weak to mediocre IMGs applying to 100 programs and not matching to recommend psych alone to those applicants.

Agreed, I've had acquaintances that applied fm, Im and psych for several years without getting psych interviews and eventually matching into IM..i think at this point if you're an IMG trying to find a spot, spamming FM and IM spots is probably your best bet.