What do you do if you dont get a residency?

[poshdoctor]

I promise I'm not a troll.

Every time I ask this question, I get a big "I dunno" for everyone.

But seriously, what do you do when you don't get matched in a residency???

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[Drrrrrr. Celty]

You either scramble or choose to apply next year.

 

[FIREitUP]

i'm sure you can find a research position and reapply for the match in the following year.

 

[YouNeverKnow22]

chug cyanide

 

[torshi]

Correct me if I'm wrong..

But, you usually apply to a lot so there is most likely a chance to get in one, it's just the matter of getting into your "first choice" because it will be more rewarding rather getting accepted into something last on your list.

kinda like applying to schools all over again

 

[poshdoctor]

Correct me if I'm wrong..

But, you usually apply to a lot so there is most likely a chance to get in one, it's just the matter of getting into your "first choice" because it will be more rewarding rather getting accepted into something last on your list.

kinda like applying to schools all over again

yeah that's what i thought

 

[Perrotfish]

I promise I'm not a troll.

Every time I ask this question, I get a big "I dunno" for everyone.

But seriously, what do you do when you don't get matched in a residency???

If you go to school in the US the odds of getting some kind of residency are just about 100%. Last year was the first time in the history of the match that a US grad ended up without a residency, and it was still only a couple of people out of everyone graduating from medical school. There is a chance you won't get a residency in the initial match, in which case you get to to participate in the scramble, but at the end of the day you will have some kind of a residency. It might be Famly Practice in the absolute middle of nowhere, but it will be something. You'll also have the option of trying to scramble into a prelim or transitional year to boost your stats before trying again the next year.

If you go to school outside the US, for example in the Caribbean, there is a very real chance tha you won't match anywhere at all. In that case you are now in possession of an absolutely useless degree. You can try various forms of shadowing and rotations to boost your app before trying again, or you can give up and start working off he debt. I honestly don't know the details of this, and my advice is to make sure that you never need to worry about them. Another career is probably a better option than the Caribbean.

 

[Venc]

If you go to school in the US the odds of getting some kind of residency are just about 100%. Last year was the first time in the history of the match that a US grad ended up without a residency, and it was still only a couple of people out of everyone graduating from medical school. There is a chance you won't get a residency in the initial match, in which case you get to to participate in the scramble, but at the end of the day you will have some kind of a residency. It might be Famly Practice in the absolute middle of nowhere, but it will be something. You'll also have the option of trying to scramble into a prelim or transitional year to boost your stats before trying again the next year.

If you go to school outside the US, for example in the Caribbean, there is a very real chance tha you won't match anywhere at all. In that case you are now in possession of an absolutely useless degree. You can try various forms of shadowing and rotations to boost your app before trying again, or you can give up and start working off he debt. I honestly don't know the details of this, and my advice is to make sure that you never need to worry about them. Another career is probably a better option than the Caribbean.

The Caribbean is that bad???

 

[apumic]

The Caribbean is that bad???

Yes. lol... is this even a question worth asking?

If you fail to go US MD/DO and want to practice in the US, Carib is like going for the lottery. I was talking w/ a physician recently who was out guest lecturing to a bunch of IMGs at a residency program outside the US. There was an RN (w/ her BSN) who hadn't practiced in about 20 yrs in the room. She was comprehending the material better than the residents. This physician had been invited to guest lecture as one of the top American experts & speakers in critical care and pulmonary medicine. He said that within hours of arriving, he could tell he wasn't going to be discussing critical care medicine. Instead, he ended up teaching them the basics of proper patient assessment (as in M3 material). As I mentioned, the level he ended up teaching this stuff at for them to comprehend it was that of a 20 years' retired RN! That should give you some idea of what a Carib education means....

 

[gettheleadout]

The Caribbean is that bad???

There is a saying that one should only consider the Caribbean when every MD and DO school in the country has rejected you. Twice. This saying is only half-exaggerating.

 

[Venc]

Yes. lol... is this even a question worth asking?

If you fail to go US MD/DO and want to practice in the US, Carib is like going for the lottery. I was talking w/ a physician recently who was out guest lecturing to a bunch of IMGs at a residency program outside the US. There was an RN (w/ her BSN) who hadn't practiced in about 20 yrs in the room. She was comprehending the material better than the residents. This physician had been invited to guest lecture as one of the top American experts & speakers in critical care and pulmonary medicine. He said that within hours of arriving, he could tell he wasn't going to be discussing critical care medicine. Instead, he ended up teaching them the basics of proper patient assessment (as in M3 material). As I mentioned, the level he ended up teaching this stuff at for them to comprehend it was that of a 20 years' retired RN! That should give you some idea of what a Carib education means....

There is a saying that one should only consider the Caribbean when every MD and DO school in the country has rejected you. Twice. This saying is only half-exaggerating.

WOW I guess I shouldn't even consider them as a backup

Thanks

 

[BigRedBeta]

Define "not getting a residency"

There's a big difference between trying for Derm, not getting it and settling for an IM or peds residency versus trying for family medicine spots and failing to secure anything.

If you graduate from a US med school the odds of not doing any residency despite a good faith effort through the Match (ie no suicide rank lists) and the Scramble are practically zero. Any US student who wants an intern year spot will get one, even if it's just a prelim (1 year) gen surg or internal med spot, will get one. It may not be in a desirable location but they'll find a family med, community peds, backwater IM or malignant prelim surgery spot that will pay them a wage.

If you're particularly picky and set on something fierce, then you do as others have suggested: take a research year and then reapply.

 

[CaptainSSO]

If you graduate from a US med school the odds of not doing any residency despite a good faith effort through the Match (ie no suicide rank lists) and the Scramble are practically zero. Any US student who wants an intern year spot will get one, even if it's just a prelim (1 year) gen surg or internal med spot, will get one. It may not be in a desirable location but they'll find a family med, community peds, backwater IM or malignant prelim surgery spot that will pay them a wage.

What do you mean by malignant surgery spot? I've heard the term "malignant" mentioned a few times specifically with regards to surgical residencies, so I'm just curious what this means exactly.

 

[gettheleadout]

What do you mean by malignant surgery spot? I've heard the term "malignant" mentioned a few times specifically with regards to surgical residencies, so I'm just curious what this means exactly.

I'm guessing a particular program that is known to have problems (administrative/organizational/etc...) or for scut.

 

[Perrotfish]

The Caribbean is that bad???

Since the number of US medical school spots has recently increased and the number of residency slots has stayed appoximately the same there just aren't that many slots left over for Caribbean grads. Meanwhile the industry of Caribbean medical education has expanded rather than contracting so there is more competition for the few residency training spots that are left. It used to be there were a moderate number of slots left over from the match for a moderate number of Caribbean graduates, so back then the islands might have been a good option for a good student who wrecked his application beyond repair (DUI, failed ever class for two years before getting his act together, etc). Now, however, there are only a handful of slots for a horde of Caribbean applicants and even a very good student from the islands is likely to end up without a residency slot. If going to the Caribbean means that you need to score a 250 on step one just to get into a malignant, backwater Family Medicine program then, in my opinion, it's better to just find another career and cut your losses.

Some other posters have also mentioned the low quality of the education in the islands, but I don't know much about that.

 

[BigRedBeta]

What do you mean by malignant surgery spot? I've heard the term "malignant" mentioned a few times specifically with regards to surgical residencies, so I'm just curious what this means exactly.

Malignant...A general term much like pornography in which "I know when I see it" tends to involve a combination of factors that lead to a ****ty job situation. A malignant program would generally involve things like an extremely taxing call schedule, attendings who are abusive and fail to provide any education, a crummy hospital in which residents have to do everything for themselves, fellow residents who are unreliable, lack of even tiny perquisites like free parking or food while on call, and unhealthy program attitudes towards advancement of residents (ie there's a risk that even if you have a categorical spot, you might be dismissed in year 3 or 4 because "there's no spots").

Surgery tends to be picked out because of the typical personality type of most surgeons (demonstrated quite nicely on ER with the surgeons "Rocket" Romano and Peter Benton), and the fact that surgery residencies tend to be more physically taxing than your standard internal medicine or pediatrics residencies. This sets up for them to be more malignant anyways. Additionally, perhaps because it's human nature, but even good programs tend to view their prelim spots as a place where they can dump work to shelter their categorical residents. It's not uncommon, even in internal medicine, for prelim residents to get last choice for things like vacation, to have call schedules that are harder and so on.

 

[sustentacular]

Yes. lol... is this even a question worth asking?

If you fail to go US MD/DO and want to practice in the US, Carib is like going for the lottery.

This. The only Dr. I know who went to a carribean school is Chief of his department.

 

[HD Eva]

This. The only Dr. I know who went to a carribean school is Chief of his department.

Then he was the winner