matching gpa, board scores, and residency

[medstudent88]

anyone know where i can get a list of average gpa and board scores for different residencies?
i'm a first year student, and i'm trying to figure out generally what kind of grades i need to get to stay competitive.
it was easy to find these lists when applying to med school, but i haven't seen any for those applying to residencies.
thanks

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[kimberlicox]

HI...

I don't know of any lists either. There are some general rules; ie, for the more competitive specialties like Ortho, ENT, Derm, Plastics, etc. your board scores should be at least 1 std deviation above the mean (>220-230).

Since many schools don't calculate a gpa (ie, they use H/HP/P/F scheme) your class rank is probably more important along with AOA, research, etc. being more or less required for some the top residencies.

The book First Aid for the Match has a table which is generally accurate although not detailed. In summary, it says that you must ace the exam for the above residencies, beat the mean for others like Gen Surg, EM, etc. and just pass for Psych, FP, etc.

These are not hard and fast rules (ie, some EM programs may require a substantially higher USMLE score, Rad has gotten much harder to get into, etc.), so take them with a grain of salt.

I wish I could help more. Some residents in each of the fields you're interested in could probably give you more detailed info.

Best of luck.