Tiers in residency programs

[tomorrowDoc]

Hi,

I'm a current M3 and recently developed an interest in neurology. I was wondering if anyone want to weigh in about the different tiers in the residency programs. I know this is usually highly subjective. But for a lack of a proper standard, if we look at Doximity's ranking based on research or based on reputation, how would you suggest to divide all the programs up?

Essentially, how many programs constitute the "top tier" vs. "mid tier" vs. all the others. Not necessarily looking for specific names of the programs, but rather something like "the first 20 programs on doximity are considered top tier" or "the first 15 are top and the next 40 are mid" or something like that.

Thanks!

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[GopherBrain]

Love that I log into the forum for the first time in years, and this is the most recent post. Some things never change.

 

[tomorrowDoc]

Love that I log into the forum for the first time in years, and this is the most recent post. Some things never change.

I was hoping to get a general sense of what programs are great when people keep on saying "top 5, top 10, top tier." People say we need to apply broadly and such, but how do you decide unless there is some way to assess the various programs? By the way, i did read your post in the Neurology FAQ and the 2 threads you mentioned talking about the programs. They are very helpful and thanks for putting them together. The two threads about the program rankings did help a lot with my question. But the latest posting specifically regarding the programs came from 3 years ago so I was wondering if there were any updates.

Anyway, let me rephrase my question in a way that hopefully might generate some productive discussions: if you were applying in the next year or so, and you have an interest in neuromuscular and movement disorders, with research interests in the applications of regenerative medicine, either clinical trial or wet-lab basic science (i.e. stem cell therapy for ALS, i know it's controversial and in probably pre-nascent stages right now), where would you to apply?

Thanks!

 

[premedstudent56]

I agree with tomorrowDoc here. I'm looking to apply to neuro this year and have been told by my dean that I need to apply broadly to a large number of programs and include low-tier places because I do not have AOA, since he believes that better programs would be hesitant to take a student without it. It would be very helpful to have a good outline of how to apply broadly. I haven't been able to find a very comprehensive google spreadsheet like the ones that exist for other specialties. Applications are expensive and I'd prefer not to blow thousands of dollars applying and interviewing if I could be strategic and only apply to a reasonable amount.

 

[typhoonegator]

When I was a medical student we had a meeting with the neurology clerkship director who went over all of this for people interested in applying for neurology. I would trust their input over a few faculty members, a few residents, and a bunch of medical students on the internet.

I mean, top-tier for what? Are we exclusively talking about prestige? Training? Post-residency placement? Lifestyle? And do you want all of this based on historical data? 10 year data? As of last year? Programs can change pretty quickly.

Y'all need some advisors. I don't think the internet is going to provide the list you seek, and if they did, I don't know why you would trust it. Regardless, any discussion about this generally devolves into an argument about whether Case-Western belongs above Kentucky or whatever. But if someone has the comprehensive knowledge to map all the programs into tiers based on some high-kappa metric, by all means go ahead.