Where can I find a complete explanation of the match system?

[deleted74029]

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I just have a few questions and I still don't have an all encompassing idea of the process.


Do most people match pretty close to where their med schools are?
Is it difficult to match somewhere not very close to your school if you wanted to?

 

[8744]

I just have a few questions and I still don't have an all encompassing idea of the process.


Do most people match pretty close to where their med schools are?
Is it difficult to match somewhere not very close to your school if you wanted to?

All you need to know:

http://pandabearmd.com/blog/category/the-match/

In fact, one of the reasons I am shutting down my blog is that it is so comprehensive, so all-encompassing, that many of the other bloggers out there begged me to quit...to give them a chance you understand.

Something about sucking all of the oxygen out of the medical blogosphere.

 

[ineedsleep]

The match is an algorithm and this describes the actual algorithm and how it works: http://www.nrmp.org/res_match/about_res/algorithms.html

And that pretty much is technical, but answers none of your questions. There are a lot of factors that play into where you match. If you go into a less competitive specialties with lots of programs you have a much better chance of matching in the location that you want(just by pure numbers). Also sometimes programs seem to rank you lower if they don't think you really want to move there, so demonstrating ties to the local would be helpful, but wasn't necessary in my case.

Most people in my med school (I'd say greater than half) stayed in state. Mainly 'cause they wanted to. You can also do away rotations your fourth year to programs you are considering. So if you really wanted to, it is possible to match really far away from your med school (I did so without even trying 😀).

That being said, read Panda's blog. He's gotta lot of good info. And he should leave it up (hint hint if he's reading).

PS Panda I love the blog and my favorite ones are "Tomorrow Will Suck" and "Clinical Evaluations"

 

[bsax007]

I would highly recommend "The Ultimate Guide to Choosing a Medical Specialty" by Brian Freeman. It's a great guide and has the most thorough explanation of the match that I've seen.

Amazon Link.

 

[nevercold]

I would recommend not buying a book and keeping your money.

You had two questions. I have two answers:

1. "Do most people match pretty close to where their med schools are?"

People match all over. Some states have more residency programs than others. You can always expect a good number (10-40%) of students to match at the place where they went to medical school. You can always expect others to match all across the United States, sometimes returning to the areas they did undergrad or where family lives.

2. "Is it difficult to match somewhere not very close to your school if you wanted to?"

If you do the bare minimum and barely pass the boards, then yes. If you work hard you should definitely be able to match far away.

 

[Law2Doc]

I would recommend not buying a book and keeping your money.

You had two questions. I have two answers:

1. "Do most people match pretty close to where their med schools are?"

People match all over. Some states have more residency programs than others. You can always expect a good number (10-40%) of students to match at the place where they went to medical school. You can always expect others to match all across the United States, sometimes returning to the areas they did undergrad or where family lives.

2. "Is it difficult to match somewhere not very close to your school if you wanted to?"

If you do the bare minimum and barely pass the boards, then yes. If you work hard you should definitely be able to match far away.

Agree with #1. But actually in terms of #2, I would say that if you do the bare minimum, you actually will probably match someplace in a crummy part of the country that nobody else wants to go to. Which is probably far away from your med school.