unfilled residency positions . . . what does this mean?

[Arctic Char]

---

Members do not see this ad.

hey gang - i've been having a few discussions lately about programs that are on that famous "unfilled" list the day of the scramble. When you look at some of the programs that go unfilled, it is quite shocking to see some of the university/specialty slots available . . . competitive fields at highly ranked universities still go "unfilled". in any given field there are top tier programs that are unfilled. it seems that this could be because they were extra picky and didn't want to fill if they didn't feel good matches were made, or is it because of reserved positions for people who contract outside the match? it seems that in the latter case the program shouldn't come up as having an unfilled position since they report what they have available before entering the match.

anyway, does anyone know what this means and can explain it to me? is it simply that not enough candidates ranked these programs?

thanks

p.s. i tried the search function for this question but the results were not convenient at all

 

[FPLover]

It's all a numbers game. It is explained very well at the NRMP website: http://www.nrmp.org/res_match/about_res/algorithms.html It depends on how many applicants list a given program and how many applicants a program ranks

hey gang - i've been having a few discussion
s lately about programs that are on that famous "unfilled" list the day of the scramble. When you look at some of the programs that go unfilled, it is quite shocking to see some of the university/specialty slots available . . . competitive fields at highly ranked universities still go "unfilled". in any given field there are top tier programs that are unfilled. it seems that this could be because they were extra picky and didn't want to fill if they didn't feel good matches were made, or is it because of reserved positions for people who contract outside the match? it seems that in the latter case the program shouldn't come up as having an unfilled position since they report what they have available before entering the match.

anyway, does anyone know what this means and can explain it to me? is it simply that not enough candidates ranked these programs?

thanks

p.s. i tried the search function for this question but the results were not convenient at all

 

[Blade28]

Which field are you talking about?

 

[Pir8DeacDoc]

There are often some surprising openings. I think if it's a high-powered program in a competitive speciality, it's probably from keeping a short list on the program side of things. For example, in the last few years UCLA didn't fill an integrated plastics spot and UTSW didn't fill a urology spot. That's the program not being willing to have a long rank list. Although, there is always speculation that the programs intentionally have a short list so they can take someone from "in house" outside of the match. No one but the people at each program really know the reasons why their program doesn't fill.

 

[yaah]

I don't think it necessarily means anything if it happens in an isolated year - sometimes programs just don't interview enough people, or they invite the wrong people for an interview, or something is happening in the program that scares people off. If it keeps happening for a few years in a row, that indicates they have a continual problem of recruitment and have not done enough to correct it.

As far as being "extra picky," I don't know about that. I would wager most programs would rather take the majority of the people they invite to interview than face the scramble.

 

[UT ER Doc]

How does one find out how many people in a given specialty-Em- di not match? How many went unmatched at their med. school?