where is this magic number coming from?

[buntatog]

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Hello everyone, I've been going over some threads and came across "magic numbers" to match in anesthesia, I've read that you need at least 10 on your ROL and I've seen 8 or 12 as well. Can someone shed some light on this? Thanks.

 

[ryanjmy]

 

[rsgillmd]

Hello everyone, I've been going over some threads and came across "magic numbers" to match in anesthesia, I've read that you need at least 10 on your ROL and I've seen 8 or 12 as well. Can someone shed some light on this? Thanks.

These numbers have been around for a while. I was told 10, so I was little nervous at 8, but obviously it worked out for me.

I think it comes from the fact that if you look at the number of people that are interviewed at a program and the number of spots the program offers, it is usually a factor of about 10. Example: 7 spots, 70 people interview.

You can find the number of people interviewed on FREIDA, if the program has supplied that information.

 

[Pilot Doc]

http://www.nrmp.org/data/chartingoutcomes2007.pdf

There is a table showing matched/unmatched status for US senior by number of ranks. With 8 ranks, the ratio was 73:2. Of the 529 people with 10 or more ranks, 2 didn't match.

Of course, this data is substantially confounded by the fact that people who get a lot of interviews are both 1) good candidates and 2) good judges of their qualifications. My guess is very few of these people went beyond 5 on their match list.

 

[buntatog]

thanks for all the insight. you guys have been really helpful!