Is it true? IM residency admissions count grades more than boards score?

[yaoming]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Is it true? What are the most important things to get into good internal med programs?

 

[Samir Desai]

In 2000, several faculty members at the University of Colorado School of Medicine published a study in Academic Medicine looking at the factors that were most useful to IM residency program directors in deciding which applicants to interview and how to rank their applicants.

In this study, surveys were sent to over 400 program directors (both community and university-based programs). The response rate was quite good (81.5%).

Program directors were asked to rate the usefulness of Dean's letters, personal statements, USMLE scores, transcripts, and chairman's letters for making decisions about interview invitations. In rating usefulness, directors could select highly, moderately, mildly, or not useful. Components of the application that were rate highly or moderately useful for interview decisions included the following:

USMLE scores (94%)
Dean's letters (87%)
Transcripts (85%)
Chairman's letter (79%)
Personal statement (61%)

For ranking decisions, program directors rated the following as highly or moderately useful:

Interviews (96%)
USMLE scores (93%)
Transcripts (83%)
Dean's letters (82%),
Chairman's letter (77%)
Personal statements (57%)

To answer your question, both USMLE scores and clerkship grades (transcripts) are important factors in the selection of residents. As for which one is weighted more, that will vary from program to program. The above study did not address that particular question.

Samir Desai, MD
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Baylor College of Medicine

 

[yaoming]

wow, that was an amazing response that I was looking for. statistics and everything. my concern, being a first year i guess is, would the transcript you are referring to include preclinical grades, and how much of it matters?

thank you.

 

[GO_MEDPEDS]

The response I've generally been given is that the Basic Science/Preclinical Grades are not highly stressed-- in fact it is usually listed close to last in terms of importance for the match. However, as AOA membership is based partly on these grades as well as the USMLE and clinical grades, that is not entirely true. Also, students' performances during their clinical rotations will often (but not always) reflect the scores they received for their basic sciences. The major use for your basic science grades is for you to get a feeling of where you stand in the different subjects when it comes time to study for the boards, as well as things you may need to brush up on when pertinent for your clinicals (i.e. anatomy). The only other thing that grades may be important for are scholarships, and yet I have seen several scholarships given to those whose dedication was much higher than their test scores.

When asked by MS I and IIs about their grades (as they are often stressing way too much), the fact of the matter is P=MD and many courses are not designed to reflect your knowledge of that particular subject. Always do your best, of course, but don't worry if you are not that straight Honors student (I know many students who have mainly Passes who I would much rather become physicians).

 

[yaoming]

Thank you both for the very informative responses.
In Dr. Desai's response, it appears as though extracurricular activities and research are not important at all. Are they? How important would they be?