Not sure how residencies work

[Verum]

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Hello Guys,

I have a somewhat insignificant knowledge of things that need to be done after medical school. I read for months (lurking) and i figured out what needed to be done until medical school so i'm currently in that process (gpa, mcat, ecs, lors etc ) but thinking ahead here, How do residencies work? I understand that the USMLE is basically the MCAT of medical school, but what else plays a factor in residency matching Kinda like how EC's and LORs did for med school. What happens if you don't get into the residency you want, can you wait a year, equated to getting a bad mcat score, and apply again?

If someone could point me in the right direction that would be great.

Thanks.

 

[Valadi]

You get 1 shot at the USMLE (if you pass) so you can't retake for a better grade. If you don't match into your residency you go into a postmatch match process. If you fail to match there, you're sol because applying as a non MS4 student makes it much harder to get a residency across the board.

There's a ton of publications out there on what is most important to residency directors, which you can google or pubmed easily. Briefly, the most important would be USMLE scores, 3rd year clerkship grades, LORs, publications. ECs and volunteer work matter, but not nearly as much as those other things.

Also, you're not a medical student yet. So stop worrying. Nothing you do now can make your residency match process better (except publications). I think in the back of some MCAT books they describe this process.

 

[greg1184]

Pretty much what has been said. You don't get a bunch of acceptences and pick. You rank a list of institutions you interviewed, and these institutions rank you. It is put in a computer and you are matched.

As was previously mentioned, the USMLE exam is a one and done "licensing" and a so called "pass or fail" exam used by programs as a competitive entity just like an entrance or admissions exam.