other than USMLE

[drchoudhury]

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hey guys, got a question for you here:

beside high USMLE score, what are other things that residencies look at? good class performance? research? extracurricular activies? do these play a major role. Right now i just understand the importance of USMLE towards getting into a good residency, like an applicant with 250+ step 1 score has a better chance of getting into derm than an applicant with 210 step one score, for example. But how important are the "other things" and what can we do now to make our applications shine

thanks,
choudhury

 

[Blesbok]

If I had to guess, I would say it is probably something like this.

Boards
Letters of Rec
Clinical grades

Research
AOA (although this usually indicates better chances based on those above)

Extracurriculars

 

[pseudoknot]

If I had to guess, I would say it is probably something like this.

Boards
Letters of Rec
Clinical grades

Research
AOA (although this usually indicates better chances based on those above)

Extracurriculars

Clinical grades will generally be at #2 behind Step I, or even #1 in some specialties.

See this paper and its references:
Brandenburg S, Kruzick T, Lin CT, Robinson A, Adams LJ.
Residency selection criteria: what medical students perceive as important.
Med Educ Online 2005;10:17

 

[Terpskins99]

Clinical grades will generally be at #2 behind Step I, or even #1 in some specialties.

See this paper and its references:
Brandenburg S, Kruzick T, Lin CT, Robinson A, Adams LJ.
Residency selection criteria: what medical students perceive as important.
Med Educ Online 2005;10:17

According to that article:

Competitive residencies place these top three:
Grades in required clerkships
Total # Honors
Class Rank
After that is AOA-status and USMLE Step 1

Moderately/mildly competitive specialties:
Grade in required clerkships
Grade in senior electives of chosen field
Number of honors grades
Class rank

 

[igottaquestion]

Clinical grades will generally be at #2 behind Step I, or even #1 in some specialties.

See this paper and its references:
Brandenburg S, Kruzick T, Lin CT, Robinson A, Adams LJ.
Residency selection criteria: what medical students perceive as important.
Med Educ Online 2005;10:17

According to that article:

Competitive residencies place these top three:
Grades in required clerkships
Total # Honors
Class Rank
After that is AOA-status and USMLE Step 1

Moderately/mildly competitive specialties:
Grade in required clerkships
Grade in senior electives of chosen field
Number of honors grades
Class rank

Just to make it clear, the article is answering a different question than the op's: what criteria do *students* perceive as important for getting a residency. It's in fact critical of students in clinical years under-valuing Step 1, implying that it's more important than they think.

Also the article surveys students in only three schools. What if 1+ of these schools provides organized information to their students about what's important for residency?

 

[Law2Doc]

Just to make it clear, the article is answering a different question than the op's: what criteria do *students* perceive as important for getting a residency. It's in fact critical of students in clinical years under-valuing Step 1, implying that it's more important than they think.

Also the article surveys students in only three schools. What if 1+ of these schools provides organized information to their students about what's important for residency?

Yeah, I agree there's no way residencies look at it that way. USMLE Step 1 is higher. Things like number of honors is lower and probably obviated by class rank and AOA. I've certainly never heard of program directors counting out honors and there is no place on ERAS to screen for that anyhow.

 

[pseudoknot]

The article had some comments and references to other papers about what program directors consider important. The point was that there were discrepancies, like that students tended to think letters were more important than they really were.

But there are so many variables. If your Step I score was high enough to get an interview, a letter from someone known to the PD might get you ranked highly, even over someone with a higher Step I score. You wouldn't have gotten the interview if the Step I score was much lower, perhaps. Which is "more important?"

 

[Law2Doc]

The article had some comments and references to other papers about what program directors consider important. The point was that there were discrepancies, like that students tended to think letters were more important than they really were.

But there are so many variables. If your Step I score was high enough to get an interview, a letter from someone known to the PD might get you ranked highly, even over someone with a higher Step I score. You wouldn't have gotten the interview if the Step I score was much lower, perhaps. Which is "more important?"

Getting the interview is going to be more important, because there are multiple things you can do (in terms of interview, letters, connections) that can get you ranked high, but unless you get in that door, you are SOL. A letter that doesn't get you an interview wasn't that powerful a letter. So in this example, it's the board score that's more important.

 

[pseudoknot]

Getting the interview is going to be more important, because there are multiple things you can do (in terms of interview, letters, connections) that can get you ranked high, but unless you get in that door, you are SOL. A letter that doesn't get you an interview wasn't that powerful a letter. So in this example, it's the board score that's more important.

It was a rhetorical question. The relative importance of these factors will vary by program, by specialty, and often by individual applicant, so I think it's pointless to try to decide with absolute precision what is "most important." Clearly in most cases Step I will be the basis for the first cut though, and not all programs put applicants on an equal playing field once they get the interview.

 

[drchoudhury]

thanx for the input guys...

 

[NJMD]

Sorry to sound ignorant, but can someone explain what AOA status means? I thought that was for D.O. physicians, why should having that affect getting an MD residency?

Thanks

 

[PeepshowJohnny]

Sorry to sound ignorant, but can someone explain what AOA status means? I thought that was for D.O. physicians, why should having that affect getting an MD residency?

Thanks

The medical honor society Alpha Omega Alpha, where only top students (criteria vary by chapter) are invited in. It's importance and requirement are debatable, but it's not uncommon to see top programs fill with an abundance of AOA members.