questions about scramble

[drseanlive]

so i looked over the list of programs that went unfilled....seems like some great programs didn't fill up...i.e. anesth. at hopkins....does this mean that if you want to get into fields like this you are set if you dont match? how easy is it to get a spot in the scramble? do you basically just send in your app and sign up if you are even close to their range? is there still competition involved??

lets say you are interested in something like anesthesia or urology...and you might not match...but you see spots that go unfilled, how much of a chance is there of you getting it?

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[Winged Scapula]

Sometimes programs don't fill because of internal reasons - they have promised the spot to someone outside of the match but didn't pull that position from the match, they didn't rank enough people to fill, someone made an error when submitting the ROL, or perhaps the program with the unfilled position gave the spot to another residency program in the same hospital who needed to up size.

Frankly, you never know why programs don't fill...some fail to do so year after year, and for others, its a fluke. But do not mistake this to mean that there is no competition - for relatively competitive residencies at a name hospital like Hopkins, you can bet that they have received hundreds, if not thousands of calls, faxes, emails, etc about that position.

As for an individual's chances...it really depends on a combination of luck (getting to the PD first), your application and who else is applying.

 

[drseanlive]

does it ever happen that people scramble into a significantly better residency than they would have otherwise matched into?

 

[Blade28]

Sure it can happen. Often this is when you Scramble into a program that you hadn't considered earlier (i.e. didn't apply to) and didn't realize how good it was.