Is AA a factor in the residency selection

[searun]

---

Members don't see this ad.

process? Or is AA only a factor in the medical school admission process? Is there an advantage in being an URM in the competition to secure a desireable residency in competitive specialties?

Searun

 

[DoctaJay]

It would be better to ask this question in the general residency forum. Nothing be premeds here who are too far from the process of residency to
know.

 

[deleted50478]

process? Or is AA only a factor in the medical school admission process? Is there an advantage in being an URM in the competition to secure a desireable residency in competitive specialties?

Searun

Yes. It's a factor at every stage.

 

[Shah_Patel_PT]

process? Or is AA only a factor in the medical school admission process? Is there an advantage in being an URM in the competition to secure a desireable residency in competitive specialties?

Searun

Yes it is a factor...that's why they ask the Q on the application.

 

[toxic-megacolon]

Its a MUCH bigger factor for getting into medical schools than it is residency.

 

[NinerNiner999]

Assuming you have completed the 12 steps, you should be fine. Just remember, The key part of AA is "Anonymous."

 

[LADoc00]

It plays no factor in residency selection I have witnessed. Foriegn language skills like Spanish *might* for primary care type residencies. That is it.

 

[deleted50478]

It plays no factor in residency selection I have witnessed. Foriegn language skills like Spanish *might* for primary care type residencies. That is it.

I suspect that race is less a factor than in med school admissions but is still a factor.

Not true about Spanish. They asked me about speaking Spanish at several of my anesthesiology interviews. It probably doesn't matter for path and rads, but I'm sure it gets you a bonus in every other specialty at many locations.

 

[cdql]

I'd have to agree with nolagas. The ortho program here at my school seems predominated by a certain sex and a certain race.

Could it be that they were the best candidates for the job or that they were the only ones to have applied? Yes

But something smells fishy about a group that is so homogenous...

 

[deleted50478]

I'd have to agree with nolagas. The ortho program here at my school seems predominated by a certain sex and a certain race.

Could it be that they were the best candidates for the job or that they were the only ones to have applied? Yes

But something smells fishy about a group that is so homogenous...

It's true. There are suspicious concentrations of people in some programs. The neuro department at my med school had a surprisingly high concentration of Puerto Ricans. They were all good don't get me wrong, but their all being at one place wasn't random. I've seen the same thing with Pakistani ENTs and transplant surgeons from Argentina. Sounds like people are setting up very small good ole boy networks and giving people similar to them an edge. That isn't the same as AA though.

 

[AmoryBlaine]

I get the sense that AA is much less important for residency. I mean, if you want to do Neurosurg, you gotta be a stellar applicant, race isn't going to get you there.

I equally don't buy the argument that AA lets in people who are somehow "underqualified" because I haven't seen that play out at all. If I see an African American/Hispanic/whatever doc in a prestigious residency spot, I assume they earned it like the rest of their colleagues.

 

[deleted50478]

I get the sense that AA is much less important for residency. I mean, if you want to do Neurosurg, you gotta be a stellar applicant, race isn't going to get you there.

I equally don't buy the argument that AA lets in people who are somehow "underqualified" because I haven't seen that play out at all. If I see an African American/Hispanic/whatever doc in a prestigious residency spot, I assume they earned it like the rest of their colleagues.

There is no data available comparing neurosurgery residents' qualifications broken down by race so you really don't know whether they are underqualified or not. I also think AA is less important in residency given that URMs are more likely to enter primary care/non-competitive residencies. If AA were a stronger factor in resident selection, that probably wouldn't be the case. That doesn't prove that AA isn't a factor at all, just that it probably isn't the over-riding, number one, most important part of an application like it is for medical school.

 

[Whodathunkit]

I'd have to agree with nolagas. The ortho program here at my school seems predominated by a certain sex and a certain race.

Could it be that they were the best candidates for the job or that they were the only ones to have applied? Yes

But something smells fishy about a group that is so homogenous...

I know. How did all those WHITE MALES get such prestigious spots at one program.

 

[Sebastian.]

I know. How did all those WHITE MALES get such prestigious spots at one program.

BTW, she's talking about asian females. (She told me in a PM)😉