Matching into PM&R

[aayz345]

I'm currently an M1 at a CA MD school. I would like to know what I should do to have a good chance at matching into a CA PM&R residency at a competitive program (Stanford, UCLA, UCI, UC Davis). I've shadowed PM&R docs and am interested in the field however I'm keeping an open mind and will consider other specialties as well.

From what I've read online, it seems like PD's at top programs usually look for applicants that show devotion and interest in the specialty rather than just pick the person w/ the highest STEP1. Down the line, should I focus on doing things that display interest like doing research in the field and joining the AAP? Also, with STEP1 becoming P/F, will PD's use STEP2 as their objective measurement?

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[j4pac]

If you’re interested in doing residency in CA, being an MD from CA is a really good start. Not sure memberships matter. I guess attending conferences could potentially help for networking, but there are much more important factors out there.

 

[RangerBob]

I agree-being a CA MD puts you ahead of many others.

Research definitely helps at the big schools. It’s not critical for an interview (Mayo and multiple CA programs interviewed me without research, though who knows where they ranked me), but it’s certainly going to help at more competitive programs.

Doing away rotations will help a lot. In my opinion Stanford is the most well-rounded, but it was a number of years ago. I’m not sure if things have changed for the better/worse for it or the other programs. UCLA and UCD had the happiest residents. Inpatient rehab is (or at least was) a weakness of all the CA programs aside from Stanford. But inpatient isn’t the hardest thing either, and these days us inpatient folks are a dying breed. Most med students are interested in outpatient, which the CA programs are all quite good at-especially UCLA and UCD.

USMLE scores unfortunately do matter. They seem to matter less in PM&R, but part of that is because on average our board scores are so low. Most of the top programs have cutoff scores and many really do factor board scores into who they interview/rank.

Some of the CA programs are rather small. If I recall, UCD takes 3 residents per year. So how well you personally mesh with the other current residents is going to matter a lot. Realistically, I don’t think anyone should expect to match into a program like UCD (both small and competitive) unless they’ve done a rotation there and/or know some of the attendings there quite well. Or are just a flat-out rehab superstar applicant. When your program is that small and competitive, you often know who you’re ranking at the top before you interview anyone.

 

[aayz345]

I agree-being a CA MD puts you ahead of many others.

Research definitely helps at the big schools. It’s not critical for an interview (Mayo and multiple CA programs interviewed me without research, though who knows where they ranked me), but it’s certainly going to help at more competitive programs.

Doing away rotations will help a lot. In my opinion Stanford is the most well-rounded, but it was a number of years ago. I’m not sure if things have changed for the better/worse for it or the other programs. UCLA and UCD had the happiest residents. Inpatient rehab is (or at least was) a weakness of all the CA programs aside from Stanford. But inpatient isn’t the hardest thing either, and these days us inpatient folks are a dying breed. Most med students are interested in outpatient, which the CA programs are all quite good at-especially UCLA and UCD.

USMLE scores unfortunately do matter. They seem to matter less in PM&R, but part of that is because on average our board scores are so low. Most of the top programs have cutoff scores and many really do factor board scores into who they interview/rank.

Some of the CA programs are rather small. If I recall, UCD takes 3 residents per year. So how well you personally mesh with the other current residents is going to matter a lot. Realistically, I don’t think anyone should expect to match into a program like UCD (both small and competitive) unless they’ve done a rotation there and/or know some of the attendings there quite well. Or are just a flat-out rehab superstar applicant. When your program is that small and competitive, you often know who you’re ranking at the top before you interview anyone.

Thank you for the thorough write-up! Will definitely consider doing away rotations at my dream spot and will keep in mind what you said regarding boards. Just curious but about how many research items would you say is the average for someone applying to the top PM&R programs? My school requires us to complete a capstone project which usually cumulates in a few research items

 

[RangerBob]

Thank you for the thorough write-up! Will definitely consider doing away rotations at my dream spot and will keep in mind what you said regarding boards. Just curious but about how many research items would you say is the average for someone applying to the top PM&R programs? My school requires us to complete a capstone project which usually cumulates in a few research items

I’m not sure what the average is, but it should be listed in the latest “charting outcomes in the match,” in the PM&R section.

I think I only had one or two research items total.