Info about Residency Programs

[ruwan]

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When I applied to med school, and had questions about the school, program, admissions stats etc, I could always turn to the MSAR. Is there any equivalent for Residency programs?

Also, US News puts out a ranking of med schools. I certainly realize that this ranking may not mean a whole lot in the greater scheme of things, but at least US News has an official way of calculating the scores. (If that method is valid, I don't know.) Is there any similar list/compilation/ranking program for the various residency programs in the US?

Finally, how did you residents find out about the residency programs you are now attending (assuming that they are neither affiliated with your med school, undergrad school, or near your home town)?

 

[docB]

www.ama-assn.org/go/freida

 

[Pikevillemedstudent]

When I applied to med school, and had questions about the school, program, admissions stats etc, I could always turn to the MSAR. Is there any equivalent for Residency programs?

Also, US News puts out a ranking of med schools. I certainly realize that this ranking may not mean a whole lot in the greater scheme of things, but at least US News has an official way of calculating the scores. (If that method is valid, I don't know.) Is there any similar list/compilation/ranking program for the various residency programs in the US?

Finally, how did you residents find out about the residency programs you are now attending (assuming that they are neither affiliated with your med school, undergrad school, or near your home town)?

US News also ranks hospitals but it is generally NOT a good representation of the residency programs, so there really isn't a good ranking system.

The FREIDA website is probably the best source, esp. the program website links. Try this one as well. It's a little more subjective.

http://www.scutwork.com/cgi-bin/links/page.cgi?d=1

 

[blue2000]

The way to find out about residency programs, other than the very helpful links mentioned in previous posts, is to talk to people in the field. The program director for the residency at your school is the first place to start, as they are used to giving this advice. Other physicians in the field may help. Also, residents in your field who matched at your program...ask them about the schools they came from and other programs they liked on the interview trail. Some med schools also have alumni directories where you can look up people who have graduated in the last few years to ask them about their experiences.

 

[yaah]

US News puts out a ranking of med schools. I certainly realize that this ranking may not mean a whole lot in the greater scheme of things,

You've got that right.

The way to find out about residency programs, other than the very helpful links mentioned in previous posts, is to talk to people in the field. The program director for the residency at your school is the first place to start, as they are used to giving this advice. Other physicians in the field may help. Also, residents in your field who matched at your program...ask them about the schools they came from and other programs they liked on the interview trail. Some med schools also have alumni directories where you can look up people who have graduated in the last few years to ask them about their experiences.

👍 Good advice. There really aren't rankings for residency programs - it all depends on your career goals, learning style, area of the country you want to live, and philosophy of training (lots of autonomy vs hierarchical, etc). People in the field will almost always have strong opinions on this - I asked a bunch of people in my field before applying what programs they would suggest (or not suggest) and took that into account.

 

[lovemydrhubby]

http://www.amsa.org/resource/cardev/resresults.cfm

This isn't as comprehensive as FREIDA and doesn't have as much info as scutwork...
It's mostly based on impressions from interviews.

 

[Winged Scapula]

Bear in mind that while FREIDA is a good source of information, some of it is questionable. The programs provide the information themselves and often it is not updated or accurate. For example, even before the 80 hr workweek, many programs were listing average hours worked per week as 70-80. I know that's true for some programs, but at the time, probably not many. So take the data on hours worked, call schedule, etc. with a grain of salt.