Residency Adcom

[Baws]

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Quick question: generally, which people are part of the residency admissions committee?

Say for example you are applying to a Urology at School X...who decides whether you are accepted into that program? (Residents? Chair (obvi I think)? Research Faculty?)

Thanks!

 

[22031 Alum]

The program director is generally in charge of resident selection, but all the people you named can play a part in the decision.

 

[Donald Juan]

The process can vary from place to place. Some places I've seen have some sort of voting or scoring system that the faculty fill out forms and they use that to make a rank list, and some where they just sit in a room and make the list outright and fight over where students stand. Sometimes chief residents may have a vote or be in the selection, and some places they don't. Either way, most faculty will highly regard a student if the residents have been raving over them, with the opposite true if the residents all hated someone.

 

[Pinkertinkle]

Usually the program director, the chair, and a selected committee of faculty, which can include faculty from affiliated institutions such as VA or county hospitals.

 

[alpinism]

For EM many places have a rank party where the residents and program leadership (PD/aPD/Coordinator) get together, drink, and vote on the final rank list.

 

[Law2Doc]

from what I've seen a program's Chairman rarely gets involved in this. it's hugely time consuming and he hopefully has other more pressing matters to deal with.

Usually it's the PD, assistant PD, a handful of more junior faculty (who need to serve on committees to move up the ranks), maybe the program coordinator, and the chief resident(s) and/or other resident representatives. I've not seen "research faculty" have much of a role in this process, unless perhaps if it's a research specific residency.

 

[DrBodacious]

Residents convened on interview day and submitted a rank list to faculty. Faculty had a round table meeting and considered the resident list and comments. Sometimes the faculty asked questions about specific applicants - example: if they seemed like a good fit for the residents. Mainly,the faculty considered their own interview impressions and the application data. So, the faculty jointly made a rank list. However, the chairman took the "final" rank list and submitted it, so if he wanted to change it, he could.

 

[PL198]

from what I've seen a program's Chairman rarely gets involved in this. it's hugely time consuming and he hopefully has other more pressing matters to deal with.

Usually it's the PD, assistant PD, a handful of more junior faculty (who need to serve on committees to move up the ranks), maybe the program coordinator, and the chief resident(s) and/or other resident representatives. I've not seen "research faculty" have much of a role in this process, unless perhaps if it's a research specific residency.

what is more important than the people you pick for your program?

 

[Law2Doc]

Our chair interviews every candidate and attends all rank meetings

Then you are talking about a smaller program. In specialties where they interview 100 people or more, no single person is going to interview every applicant. Some places hold meetings after every interview day and then will have a multiple day ranking marathon before submitting the rank list. I've seen quite a few places where chairmen address the group of interviewees as a group each interview day, and then maybe review and rubber stamp the rank list after the committee puts one together.

 

[Law2Doc]

what is more important than the people you pick for your program?

Running the department? The chairmans job is mostly about working with the dean, the other departments, hospital committees, administrative and billing people, vendors, researchers, faculty. Residents are important, but infrequently the biggest item on the agenda. During interview season resident selection is practically a full time job. So many chairmen delegate this. That's why you have a PD, and maybe an assistant PD, and a coordinator. And give chief residents a big role. There's generally no time for a chairman to be hands on and do it him/herself. He can weigh in on an applicant or two, but to actually meet with them all and attend the lengthy meetings to rank them is really not something a lot of chairmen engage in. Of course at a tiny program where you interview twenty people to fill two spots, then sure.

 

[bc65]

Residents are often a significant part of the process. When I was a fellow, the chairman gave me veto power over whether to accept a candidate they were considering. I had known that candidate from my previous residency. I approved, and they accepted him. The following year I was again asked to decide on another applicant who had been a junior resident of mine.

You should assume that everyone you meet has influence over the decision, and most likely, almost everyone has veto power.

 

[Law2Doc]

Residents are often a significant part of the process. When I was a fellow, the chairman gave me veto power over whether to accept a candidate they were considering. I had known that candidate from my previous residency. I approved, and they accepted him. The following year I was again asked to decide on another applicant who had been a junior resident of mine.

You should assume that everyone you meet has influence over the decision, and most likely, almost everyone has veto power.

Yeah, every year I was a resident there was at least one applicant who didn't get ranked at all on the advice of the residents, and quite a few that got ranked higher than their stats/pedigree might suggest because the residents wanted them.

 

[doc05]

That's the way it was at just about every surgery program I interviewed at.

At least in my field, the chairs are very involved

I agree. In most surgical programs, the chair is very involved.

The OP inquired about Urology - for a field that small, everyone (chair, faculty, residents) is involved.

 

[Law2Doc]

...- for a field that small, everyone (chair, faculty, residents) is involved.

As with everything in life, size matters. If we are talking about a program where they are selecting 1-3 people a year as residents, sure the chairman will have time to play a role. If it's a place with 15 first years/prelims and they interview over 100 people spanning over many months to get them, and maybe still sometimes deal with the scramble/soap, and at the same time looking at recruiting who knows how many fellows or new faculty, most likely you'll see a lot of delegation and a more diminished Chairmans role. The time involved for recruiting/ranking at some of these places is pretty monumental so I wouldn't read anything into a chairs involvement or not in your interview day. Either way it's kind of moot because if the chairman wants you you'll get ranked well even if he's not on the committee, and if he doesn't want you, the converse -- he's still the boss even if he's not sitting in the room.