I had an interesting discussion with another student today about the effects of class rank on residency selection. He was of the opinion that the students at the bottom half of the class would be forced into doing a residency in some sort of primary care field even if they didnt want to. At first I argued that board scores were much more important, which I do believe, but then I got to thinking about this a little more. Since there are so few spots in specialties other than primary care (FM, peds, etc), and since placement into those spots is so competitive, do you think that people who just get by in school will be forced into them? I was under the impression that board scores and third year grades trump everything, but as he argued, few people in the bottom half of the class will do well on the boards. After looking at the allo match stats, I am of the opinion now that he may be right. Unfortunately I cant find any meaningful stats on DO residencies that would support or negate this. So what do you think? Do students who just get by in there classes, and score maybe a little below the average on boards have any chance at anything other than primary care medicine?