residencies for borderline passers?

[nev]

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I was wondering if there are residenies available for people who pass the USMLE/COMLEX with just a narrow margin...
Thanks
Nev

 

[skypilot]

I was wondering if there are residenies available for people who pass the USMLE/COMLEX with just a narrow margin...
Thanks
Nev

Of course there are. They are the less competitive residencies in the less desirable locations. 🙂

You know what the less competitive residencies are and I am sure you can dream up some of the less desirable locations. 😉

 

[nev]

thanx for the reply....what kind of residency opportunities can be available for such candidates?
Thanks
Nev

 

[skypilot]

The less competitive specialties currently (however this may change by time you graduate)

OB/GYN
Psych
Neuro
PM&R
Path
Family Practice
Internal Medicine
Pediatrics

The less competitive locations: Decrepit inner city hospitals, isolated rural outposts etc. 🙂

 

[island doc]

I was wondering if there are residenies available for people who pass the USMLE/COMLEX with just a narrow margin...
Thanks
Nev

Residencies are like spouses, there is one out there for everyone. 😍

 

[nev]

Yes...just like spouses 😉

 

[LADoc00]

Residencies are like spouses, there is one out there for everyone. 😍

Then why am I single?

 

[Sugar72]

Then why am I single?

check out your response on the bring spouses to interview thread - that should answer your question.

this thread only shows "residencies for boderline.." i thought it was going to be about residencies for boderline personality medical students - I must admit i was kind of disappointed.

 

[skypilot]

Then why am I single?

You rejected your perfect match? 😉

 

[dr_almondjoy_do]

There should be a match system for people that are single.

We should be able to take an 8hr exam, then choose geographic locations to live. Out of those places, we could then meet people and rank them in the order we like them. That way we can find out who ranks us "very highly", "highly", "not so highly". Then we have a match day when we all find out who we ranked with (like on Feb 14th). And those that didn't get their first choice could "scramble" all day faxing photos and resumes. It should be just like the match system with contracts and all! lol...

It would be so good.....

 

[Poety]

There should be a match system for people that are single.

We should be able to take an 8hr exam, then choose geographic locations to live. Out of those places, we could then meet people and rank them in the order we like them. That way we can find out who ranks us "very highly", "highly", "not so highly". Then we have a match day when we all find out who we ranked with (like on Feb 14th). And those that didn't get their first choice could "scramble" all day faxing photos and resumes. It should be just like the match system with contracts and all! lol...

It would be so good.....

lol

 

[cyanocobalamin]

The less competitive specialties currently (however this may change by time you graduate)

OB/GYN
Psych
Neuro
PM&R
Path
Family Practice
Internal Medicine
Pediatrics

The less competitive locations: Decrepit inner city hospitals, isolated rural outposts etc. 🙂

Path and PM&R are competitive now with US seniors matching at 88% and 80% respectively last year. A program I rotated through for PM&R had ~400 applications for a handful of spots.

Washington University residency statistics by specialty

 

[skypilot]

Path and PM&R are competitive now with US seniors matching at 88% and 80% respectively last year. A program I rotated through for PM&R had ~400 applications for a handful of spots.

Washington University residency statistics by specialty

Plus the competitiveness changes every year. I remember when nobody wanted residencies in Radiology or Anesthesia about 15 years ago!

88% for path and 80% for PM&R doesn't sound too too bad though.

 

[cyanocobalamin]

Plus the competitiveness changes every year. I remember when nobody wanted residencies in Radiology or Anesthesia about 15 years ago!

88% for path and 80% for PM&R doesn't sound too too bad though.

Yes, not that bad, but I would hardly call those rates of matching an "easy" match. Anesthesia by the same survey matched at 90% for US seniors last year, ENT at 77%, rads at 78%, EM at 79%, ophtho at 86% which are all in the same neighborhood, but not generally considered easy matches currently.

 

[OUsooner]

hate to be the idiot here 😕 but are these numbers the percent of applicants who match each year (80 seems LOW). i am applying to PM&R this year and it seems that its getting VERY competetive at the top programs (pretty competetive even at midtier places) and still is somewhat easy at lower rung programs, as opposed to say ENT where it seems that every program is competetive (maybe ENT isn't the greatest example).

 

[beriberi]

I believe these numbers are for current graduating US seniors. (number is percent of spots filled by US seniors, not what percent of people applying got a spot.) So, a very competitive derm program might have a number of its residents who did research after medschool and then matched (also true in some of the very competitive surg fields) which brings down the percentage of US seniors that match into those fields (since people who finished med school and are doing research are not US seniors).

It is hard to use (and easy to misuse) match numbers to talk about how competitive something is. It is like saying BU is the most competitive medschool in the country because they have the lowest accept rate (where the truth is that most people see them as an easy, safe school , inflating their application numbers).

Look at average applicant statistics--what kind of person matches in derm vs pmr vs ent. That will tell you where you are most likely to find easy matches.

 

[cyanocobalamin]

I believe these numbers are for current graduating US seniors. (number is percent of spots filled by US seniors, not what percent of people applying got a spot.) So, a very competitive derm program might have a number of its residents who did research after medschool and then matched (also true in some of the very competitive surg fields) which brings down the percentage of US seniors that match into those fields (since people who finished med school and are doing research are not US seniors).

These numbers are not the percent filled with US seniors, but rather

"% U.S. Seniors matched among U.S. seniors who ranked only Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation programs; over 67% of U.S. seniors ranking PM&R programs ranked ONLY this specialty. From the National Residency Matching Program data"

for the case of PM&R numbers.

I am not saying that PM&R is anywhere nearly as competitive as ENT or urology e.g. but rather, it has become competitive (from being wide open) and does not have high 90s match rates for US seniors anymore, and should no longer be considered in the same league of competitiveness as family medicine or internal medicine as characterized by the OP. The same should be said for path.

 

[skypilot]

An important factor is the total number of spots available. If their are over a thousand residency spots available across the country the competitiveness may not vary so much from year to year and probably have a good shot at matching if you are very flexible on location. This is true in Internal Med, Peds, OB Gyn, FP, EM, General Surgery and Gas. If their are only a few hundred slots like in Derm your success is less predictable.

 

[cyanocobalamin]

An important factor is the total number of spots available. If their are over a thousand residency spots available across the country the competitiveness may not vary so much from year to year and probably have a good shot at matching if you are very flexible on location. This is true in Internal Med, Peds, OB Gyn, FP, EM, General Surgery and Gas. If their are only a few hundred slots like in Derm your success is less predictable.

This is true to some extent, but general surgery has over a thousand spots, and it too has become more competitive again with very few scramble slots last year whereas neurology with ~500 slots is not that competitive (yet).

For a specialty to be competitive, there are considerations of money, lifestyle, and prestige. Some like derm have lifestyle, others like neurosurgery have money and prestige, etc. etc.

 

[skypilot]

Another good measure of competitiveness is the rate of fill for U.S. Allopathic seniors. By this measure the most competitive residencies are Derm, Optho, and Rad Onc which had 100% U.S. Senior fill rates. PM&R is still not competitive if you are a U.S. allopathic senior and don't care about location. Neither is FP, IM, Gas, Peds, Neuro, ObGyn, Path, or Psych. Even Diagnostic Rads is not too bad if you are willing to go anywhere.

Residency % U.S. Allopathic seniors
Anesthesiology 70.4
Dermatology 96.4
Emergency Medicine 80.0
Family Practice 40.5
General Surgery 80.4
Internal Medicine 55.8
Medicine-Dermatology 100.0
Neurological Surgery 84.2
Neurology 46.5
Obstetrics-Gynecology 67.5
Ophthalmology 100.0
Orthopaedic Surgery 91.8
Otolaryngology 86.4
Pathology 62.0
Pediatrics 74.0
Plastic Surgery 90.1
Preventive Medicine 25.0
Physical Medicine & Rehab 48.7
Psychiatry 63.6
Radiation Oncology 100.0
Radiology-Diagnostic 79.9
Urology 84.2

Data is from this table:
http://www.scutwork.com/other/match2005/comparison_stats05.pdf

 

[cyanocobalamin]

Another good measure of competitiveness is the rate of fill for U.S. Allopathic seniors. By this measure the most competitive residencies are Derm, Optho, and Rad Onc which had 100% U.S. Senior fill rates. PM&R is still not competitive if you are a U.S. allopathic senior and don't care about location. Neither is FP, IM, Gas, Peds, Neuro, ObGyn, Path, or Psych. Even Diagnostic Rads is not too bad if you are willing to go anywhere.

Residency % U.S. Allopathic seniors
Anesthesiology 70.4
Dermatology 96.4
Emergency Medicine 80.0
Family Practice 40.5
General Surgery 80.4
Internal Medicine 55.8
Medicine-Dermatology 100.0
Neurological Surgery 84.2
Neurology 46.5
Obstetrics-Gynecology 67.5
Ophthalmology 100.0
Orthopaedic Surgery 91.8
Otolaryngology 86.4
Pathology 62.0
Pediatrics 74.0
Plastic Surgery 90.1
Preventive Medicine 25.0
Physical Medicine & Rehab 48.7
Psychiatry 63.6
Radiation Oncology 100.0
Radiology-Diagnostic 79.9
Urology 84.2

Data is from this table:
http://www.scutwork.com/other/match2005/comparison_stats05.pdf

This info is misleading because PM&R has a large number of DOs and the field while maybe not favoring DOs treats comparable DOs on equal footing as MDs for residency application.

The number of IMGs in PM&R has fallen drastically in the last few years and is nowhere near the levels of FP or IM.

But as stated, everything is relative.

 

[InternalWhizzzz]

This info is misleading because PM&R has a large number of DOs and the field while maybe not favoring DOs treats comparable DOs on equal footing as MDs for residency application.

The number of IMGs in PM&R has fallen drastically in the last few years and is nowhere near the levels of FP or IM.

But as stated, everything is relative.

y has IMGs in PM&R fallen?

 

[VentdependenT]

There is a FP residency in the Flint Michigan Sir Duke's Mini-Mall by main street where you'd have a 50% shot of getting in.

You have to wear pants on interview day though.