Race/Legacy in Residency Matching

[ice_23]

SDN'ers,

I was wondering how big a role URM status/Legacy status plays in residency matching? I have been perusing the residency boards, and it seems as if it is a non factor, as compared to the pre-allo boards, where I see that it can play a huge part in the process. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

Ice

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[tofurious]

THere is no way to allocate a number of spots to URMs on the (program's) rank list, so I think most of the effort is focused on recruiting rather than ranking. The merit of using URM status again after college and medical school will just open another can of worms on this board.

I wonder if IMGs count as URMs ...

 

[ckent]

I've been told that URM status and legacy do factor into residency selection criteria, particularly in the small specialties (like derm or ophtho, where PD's will sometimes communicate with one another while making their rank list). That being said, if they don't see themselves wanting to work with you, no one will want to rank you.

 

[Goober]

I would be very surprised if legacy played any significant role in residency. It is pretty uncommon to have a parent that did the same specialty that their children are doing. Even if it did happen I doubt that the PD or anybody around the program would still know about the parent unless that person was very famous. I think it is fairly a minor issue.

As far as race. In my rads residency it was about 80% white and 20% asian. No URMs while I was there. There are obviously URMs in the competitive specialties but I don't think there are any type Affirmative Action programs for them.

 

[ckent]

By legacy, I meant people who have parents who are actually currently professors at institutions or who are graduates of certain residency programs. Programs like familiarity, and there is a lot of politics in medicine. Nothing wrong with kissing up to the kid of your boss. Also, I think that the few URM's in radiology business is self-selective. The URM's selected for medical school typically have good EC's that demonstrate an element of humanism that ADCOM's feel outweighs their numbers, thereby causing them to be admitted. This type of personality is not the typical type of personality you find interested in radiology these days (mathematically, art history, puzzle oriented person). There are actually programs out there directed specifically at recruiting URM's in specialties such as derm (URM research scholarships in derm, etc).

 

[ice_23]

ckent,

So is the weight given to race/legacy (if it exists) as large as that of medical school? I am referring to competitive specialties like orthopaedics, dermatology, optho, etc.

Thanks for all of your insights, btw.

-Ice

 

[ckent]

My understanding of how residency programs create their rank list is limited. My understanding is that it is for the most part a very subjective, committee process that doesn't use any sort of mathematical formula such as those that may be used by med school adcom's. They seem to differ from program to program too, so just I imagine it just happens to be who happens to be sitting in the committee meeting and what they think is their programs purpose and goals in obtaining new residents. Some programs want to promote more URM's in their specialty, while others are probably more concerned with USMLE scores or med school prestige. I think that it probably just depends on who is sitting in on the committee and who speaks up at these meetings. Sorry I couldn't be more helpful, maybe someone who knows more about this process can post something about it.

 

[Seaglass]

So is the weight given to race/legacy (if it exists) as large as that of medical school? I am referring to competitive specialties like orthopaedics, dermatology, optho, etc.

I would say that legacy is not going to get you nearly as far in those specialties since the overwhelming number and caliber of applicants in those fields make for stiff competition. Now, if you were as competitive as the rest URM or legacy might move you up the list, but it's not going to make up for deficiencies in your stats.

Casey

 

[ny skindoc]

"Connections" carry much weight at most residency programs.If a close relative is an active attending in say Urology for example,I can assure you this will be a powerful factor in your favor.I have seen it carry the day even in the most competitive programs at top places.You would have to be a very weak candidate not to be high on their list.Having a parent elsewhere in the institution would be far less significant but within the same dept it will mean alot.As far as URMs,it always looks good for a program to have them,and they will try extra hard to get qualified applicants to match.