Match

[Hogfan10]

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Hi, sorry if this might be the wrong section or a question already asked, but I am new here!

I am currently a freshman in my undergrad at Arkansas but I am working on the Pre-Med route at the moment. My question is about Match in the last years of Med School. Do you get to choose your speciality or how are you matched up with your speciality? I had some great experiences in highschool with radiologists and I got the chance to shadow them and absolutely fell in love with the speciality. I just would hate to get into medical school and not be able to follow that speciality I want. I'm also not sure how competitive Radiology is but what happens to those who don't get what they want?

Thank you!!

 

[sirenomelia]

4th year med students apply for residencies in the field they want and interested programs interview them. Then in the spring, the students rank the programs they like in order, and the programs rank applicants similarly. A computer algorithm then "matches" students and programs together. Radiology is relatively competitive. Students who fail to match in a residency enter the "scramble" which is a mad flurry to find a residency that did not match. Students who scramble often have to accept spots in less competitive residencies. Most/ All programs in radiology usually do fill.

 

[Sheldor]

4th year med students apply for residencies in the field they want and interested programs interview them. Then in the spring, the students rank the programs they like in order, and the programs rank applicants similarly. A computer algorithm then "matches" students and programs together. Radiology is relatively competitive. Students who fail to match in a residency enter the "scramble" which is a mad flurry to find a residency that did not match. Students who scramble often have to accept spots in less competitive residencies. Most/ All programs in radiology usually do fill.

Slight correction in that last cycle was the last cycle to have the scramble. Starting this cycle it is called SOAP I believe, and my understanding is that it consists of a series of matches during the week lesson up to match day.

 

[thesauce]

You can try for whatever specialty that you want, but your grades, step 1 score, LORs, and interviewing skills will determine if you actually get it. Radiology is a relatively competitive specialty. Highly competitive at academic programs.

 

[Catalystik]

By the time you apply for residencies, you should have a fairly realistic idea of how competitive you are for a certain specialty. If you are less than stellar, you can apply to 50+ programs if you can afford it, hoping someone will take you, but if your board scores are low, you lack relevant research, and your clerkship grades are mediocre, it's best to be realistic and include some safety programs as well for a less-competitive specialty. Yes, it's fine to apply in more than one specialty, but it often means getting twice as many LORs.

 

[Law2Doc]

... Yes, it's fine to apply in more than one specialty, but it often means getting twice as many LORs.

you also have a finite amount of time and money to go interview, and can only do so many away/audition residencies, sometimes making it unrealistic to go full force at two different specialties.

 

[mvenus929]

And since you're only a pre-med... don't have your heart on one specialty to the detriment of the others. Just because you really liked radiology in high school doesn't mean you won't fall in love with Medicine or Psych in med school.

 

[Hogfan10]

Thanks for all the posts guys!! And do you think I might want to reconsider being a doctor if I just wanted to be a radiologist? They are not like most doctors as they don't see patients near as much and I'm not sure I would like having a career where I saw patients constantly.

 

[theseeker4]

Thanks for all the posts guys!! And do you think I might want to reconsider being a doctor if I just wanted to be a radiologist? They are not like most doctors as they don't see patients near as much and I'm not sure I would like having a career where I saw patients constantly.

DEFINITELY reconsider if you are not interested in seeing patients. You have absolutely NO guarantee of going into your specialty of choice, especially one so competitive, so if you can absolutely see yourself only doing one specialty, and wouldn't want to be a doctor if you can't be that specialty, don't set yourself up for a career of being miserable if you don't match/don't have the scores to enable you to match in your specialty of choice. Get some patient contact now (shadowing and volunteering), and if you decide you can't stand constant patient contact, decide on another career.

 

[StoicJosher]

All good advice.

Plus there is no guarantee that you will want to do the same thing after your 3rd year rotations. Lots of people change their minds after they do their clinicals.

 

[thesauce]

Thanks for all the posts guys!! And do you think I might want to reconsider being a doctor if I just wanted to be a radiologist? They are not like most doctors as they don't see patients near as much and I'm not sure I would like having a career where I saw patients constantly.

There are other, less competitive specialties where you don't have to see many patients. Pathology for instance. Research if that's your thing. In some surgery situations, there can be minimal patient contact.

 

[Hogfan10]

Alright, thank you all so much for your advice! Greatly appreciated!