Why do some programs consistently match people from very specific schools?

[deleted1139416]

I get that many programs will match their own med students. I also understand that programs will often match people who did med school in the area. But I have noticed some programs consistently matching people from a specific DO school in another state or a specific Carib school. Why does this happen?

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[DrStephenStrange]

Either they know they can trust that students from said school will do well (known quantity). Or they have someone in admin who maybe went to that same school or is buddies with maybe the dean from said school.

 

[mrbreakfast]

Some part of it is having had often multiple good residents from a lower-name place, so the administration trusts that program.

Much of what you see as "program preference" is actually random variation as well, or due to regional factors that are less obvious, such as applicants from a program checking past match lists and applying to places where people matched. I to this day get emails from M3s-M4s from my medical school expressing interest in the program at which I did my residency. Also, over the past 6 years my program has taken enough residents from two mid-range medical schools to fill an entire class. I can tell you that this is mostly coincidental.

 

[cj_cregg]

Yep, my residency had pretty consistent matches from our local school (often students who rotated with us in the past) as well as a handful of seemingly random schools in the region. Applicants/residents from those schools are generally good so we are usually happy to interview them, and I think there's also probably a culture match between the schools and our residency. Also, medical students from those schools tend to reach out to alumni for advice, and then the residents say nice things about our program, so we get more applicants from those schools than we might by random chance.

 

[Goro]

I get that many programs will match their own med students. I also understand that programs will often match people who did med school in the area. But I have noticed some programs consistently matching people from a specific DO school in another state or a specific Carib school. Why does this happen?

Very simple...they're known products.

Medical schools are as much feeder programs for some residency programs as are UG schools for some med schools.

 

[Ho0v-man]

Known product. Happens at every stage of the game. That fancy pants big name residency sure looks good on your CV. But it might not help you too much at getting a private practice job from a group that usually recruits from the local community program.

 

[deleted1139416]

I’m noticing this idea of known product but doesn’t every med school produce decent students? I feel as though if someone were a nightmare resident, it’s more an issue of their personality as opposed to what school they went to.

Unless maybe it’s because certain med schools are relatively transparent in how they grade their med students and what they put on the MSPE? Such that if someone truly were a nightmare then X medical school will be very likely to put issues of concern in the MSPE?

 

[GoSpursGo]

I will also point out specifically in regards to DO and Carib schools, that many of these schools have issues with clinical sites. It may well be that some of those students have to rotate at this seemingly random far off program, and if they perform well then it’s essentially the same as keeping your own.

 

[cj_cregg]

I’m noticing this idea of known product but doesn’t every med school produce decent students? I feel as though if someone were a nightmare resident, it’s more an issue of their personality as opposed to what school they went to.

Unless maybe it’s because certain med schools are relatively transparent in how they grade their med students and what they put on the MSPE? Such that if someone truly were a nightmare then X medical school will be very likely to put issues of concern in the MSPE?

I have seen one or two schools very consistently produce extremely knowledgeable and skilled graduates that really hit the ground running intern year at our program. But yes, every school produces decent students.

But, I think it's more about attitude, culture, the type of student the schools tend to recruit, etc.

 

[LeaveNoTrace]

I have seen one or two schools very consistently produce extremely knowledgeable and skilled graduates that really hit the ground running intern year at our program.

Are these the "big-name" schools that you might be thinking of?

 

[cj_cregg]

Are these the "big-name" schools that you might be thinking of?

Not at all. Neither cracks top 50, one of them in particular most SDNers would probably never consider applying to. Every grad I have seen from there comes out with an excellent knowledge base, and more importantly stellar clinical acumen, attitude, and work ethic.

 

[LunaOri]

My alma mater always matches a lot of students into top programs in a particular specialty. When I asked why they were so successful, I was told that program directors say the potential interns are clinically well-trained and “ready to hit the ground running”.

 

[Dral]

We end up getting a lot of people from a certain school the next state over. I think some of it in our case is that the knowledge gets passed down from class to class (that people who graduate from there end up with us), the people going for our specialty rotate here/target our program, we like them, and they consequently end up here.

 

[operaman]

Agreeing with the others - known quantity. Sadly not all schools are created equal and often the clinical education is unrelated to the USNWR ranking. Probably the worst residents I’ve ever seen came from top Med schools, and they came with good letters and amazing CVs - both ultimately fired early on.

Typically it’s a proven track record PLUS known faculty at that same program. So many letters are generic, but when there’s a strong connection between a couple programs you can get those honest off the record chats to be sure you’re getting someone solid. You don’t want to bs someone you’ll have to look in the eye every year at meetings, especially if they’re already a good friend. So if you have a program with solid clinical training and you know faculty there who will be straight with you, it’s much easier to rank those applicants knowing you’re unlikely to get a dud.

 

[aldol16]

When you get into the weeds of how selection actually happens, you'll find that networking and relationships play a huge role, especially as the size of the specialty gets smaller. This is how jobs work across America and it's no different for resident selection with the exception that there's this guise of meritocracy. If you look into it, you'll see that there's a fair degree of cronyism and trading that occurs.

So once a relationship is established between a program and a so-called "feeder" school, you start seeing a stream of applicants from certain schools matching at certain programs.