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If there are programs who consistently have unmatched seats .. does that say something about the program?? Does this mean that no one wants to go there??
Unmatched Programs
- Thread starter Proud 2 B A Doc
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Well, it means either that the program has trouble filling their spots, or that they feel they simply get better people through the scramble. Many programs have open prelim slots, so that's not a big deal.
This doesn't necessarily mean that the program is bad, but it would be something that I would look at closely
This doesn't necessarily mean that the program is bad, but it would be something that I would look at closely
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if 10 of 12 spots go unfilled, that's a red flag. if 1 of 6 go unfilled, that concerns me far less. in the last few years plenty of reputable pathology programs went unfilled, usually having 1 or 2 open spots after the match. at some of those places it was because many interviewees got a bad vibe and ranked them low, and at others it was for more innocuous reasons. i simply think of it as another piece of information to consider.
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hmm, i got a question regarding this. there's a program i know of in NY and for IM it goes unfilled each year. in '06 there were 9 unfilled spots, in '07 there were 10 unfilled spots. something along those lines. there are about 32 cat positions and each year that many get left open. something sound odd about this program? im just asking because i've never seen this before in any other IM program. i guess people will figure it out, its NY Methodist. Im just wondering. I guess scramble chances are always there if i wanted but then again, why soo many unmatched? also, it seems the other 20 something seats get prematched... but still... any ideas from aprogdirector or anyone else why this is?
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This program is the king of shooting for scramblers. Basically, if they don't fill via prematches, they ALWAYS hold the rest out for the scramble. They feel like they'd rather have a bunch of I/FMGs who failed to match in more competitive specialties and will take any residency spot in the scramble over less well qualified residents who actually want to do IM. And it shows. Their residents are, overall, miserable and the teaching (from residents to med students) is crap.
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wow... well, i dont know if they intend to leave seats open. why would someone want to do that? why not take people they like? are you sure about how the program is? you know anyone there? it can't be that bad. i think the PD maybe is just stupid. but this is truely the most unmatched spots i've ever ever seen throughout the country. this one place has 4x-10x more unmatched spots than other places... crazy. so tell me more about how you know this info... so its not worth going for scramble there?
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which website if any do I go to to find out about the unmatched programs for previous years... is it on NRMP?!?
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I rotated through there as a student. Horrible experience. I suppose scrambling there would be better than going unmatched, but not by much.
I have no idea why the PD runs things this way but it's been that way as long as I can remember hearing about it (>7y ago).
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Yes, it is in the NRMP site.
http://www.nrmp.org/data/index.html
Check out the "Program Results By State, 2003-2007"..
It has the quota and number matched of each speciality from 2003-2007...
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as others have already noted, having 1/3 of your program go unfilled EVERY year is a red flag. again to reference it to path, for university of X filled only 4 of 6 spots in a given year, and otherwise was filling every other year, i'd consider that an aberration and not be concerned about it. like much of what we do in medicine, it's about patterns/trends and less about the outliers.
this program is famous for leaving year after year 8-10 spots unfilled. They get people during the scramble with 99 usmle scores that are trying to get into competitive specialties and cant instead of people that want to do IM for the rest of their lives.
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Pure speculation on my part but I would guess the reasoning behind this methodology is to get the brightest candidates available. I'm not saying I agree with it, just trying to see things from their POV.
I've also heard from this program that many interns are not "renewed" for the subsequent years. However, according to FREIDA, there doesn't appear to be a discrepancy between the number of PGY1s versus PGY2/PGY3. Maybe they purposely leave spots open for candidates to match/scramble into PGY2/PGY3 spots? Perhaps by doing so, they can afford to take those who are less committed to IM and just weeding out the least motivated after their intern year.
I've also heard from this program that many interns are not "renewed" for the subsequent years. However, according to FREIDA, there doesn't appear to be a discrepancy between the number of PGY1s versus PGY2/PGY3. Maybe they purposely leave spots open for candidates to match/scramble into PGY2/PGY3 spots? Perhaps by doing so, they can afford to take those who are less committed to IM and just weeding out the least motivated after their intern year.
NY methodist.
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