wilmer & MEEI competitiveness

[chef]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

i understand both are top notch programs.. but which one is harder to match into? or do each look for diff types of applicants that the comparo cant be made? i know wilmer prog is actually 3 programs combined and they have 8-9 spots/yr. what about meei?

anyone have the stats on # of applicants/# interviewed/# matched?

thanks!!!

 

[Andrew_Doan]

Originally posted by chef
i understand both are top notch programs.. but which one is harder to match into? or do each look for diff types of applicants that the comparo cant be made? i know wilmer prog is actually 3 programs combined and they have 8-9 spots/yr. what about meei?

anyone have the stats on # of applicants/# interviewed/# matched?

thanks!!!

I think MEEI has about 6 spots per year. In my opinion, I think Wilmer is much harder to match into.

All of the top 10 programs are extremely difficult to match into. But consider what Wilmer has to say:

"The resident selection process at The Wilmer Eye Institute of The Johns Hopkins Hospital is relatively straightforward. All applications are initially screened by members of the Residency Selection Committee, who look for students with the potential to become leaders in the field. While no absolute selection criteria exists, applicants given interviews usually have most of the following credentials:


1. Outstanding college and medical school academic records.
2. Board scores above the 90th percentile.
3. Evidence of academic potential as indicated by authorship (especially first-authored) of at least one scientific article (ideally, concerning an ophthalmologic subject) in a peer-reviewed journal.
4. Evidence of commitment to ophthalmology as indicated by involvement (research, electives, etc.) in the ophthalmology department at their medical school.
5. For foreign medical graduates, at least the 90th percentile on the ECFMG examinations."

BTW, in regards to numbers, I only have estimates for Wilmer and Iowa.

The year I graduated, Wilmer received around 500 applications, about 60 were selected for interview, and 8 were matched.

At Iowa, there were about 400-500 applications, about 50-60 were selected for interview, and 5 were matched.

 

[Blitzkrieg]

they look at college records in addition to medical school ones!? 😱

 

[Andrew_Doan]

Wilmer doesn't check college records, but you can learn a lot about college performance by people's honor's and awards received, e.g. Phi Beta Kappa and other honors awarded for scholastic achievement.

 

[JasonDO]

Originally posted by Ophtho_MudPhud
I think MEEI has about 6 spots per year. In my opinion, I think Wilmer is much harder to match into.

All of the top 10 programs are extremely difficult to match into. But consider what Wilmer has to say:

"The resident selection process at The Wilmer Eye Institute of The Johns Hopkins Hospital is relatively straightforward. All applications are initially screened by members of the Residency Selection Committee, who look for students with the potential to become leaders in the field. While no absolute selection criteria exists, applicants given interviews usually have most of the following credentials:


1. Outstanding college and medical school academic records.
2. Board scores above the 90th percentile.
3. Evidence of academic potential as indicated by authorship (especially first-authored) of at least one scientific article (ideally, concerning an ophthalmologic subject) in a peer-reviewed journal.
4. Evidence of commitment to ophthalmology as indicated by involvement (research, electives, etc.) in the ophthalmology department at their medical school.
5. For foreign medical graduates, at least the 90th percentile on the ECFMG examinations."

BTW, in regards to numbers, I only have estimates for Wilmer and Iowa.

The year I graduated, Wilmer received around 500 applications, about 60 were selected for interview, and 8 were matched.

At Iowa, there were about 400-500 applications, about 50-60 were selected for interview, and 5 were matched.

That is very impressive indeed. I hope I am not alone when I say that I feel severely deficient in regards to the selection criteria mentioned above. I mean it's no surprise that only 50 or so out of 500 applicants could live up to those standards...and of those 50 only 8 actually match...I've seen some of the academic pedigrees of the faculty of where I will continue on with my PGY2 year...I honestly feel a bit out of place...should I??

 

[Andrew_Doan]

Originally posted by JasonDO
That is very impressive indeed. I hope I am not alone when I say that I feel severely deficient in regards to the selection criteria mentioned above. I mean it's no surprise that only 50 or so out of 500 applicants could live up to those standards...and of those 50 only 8 actually match...I've seen some of the academic pedigrees of the faculty of where I will continue on with my PGY2 year...I honestly feel a bit out of place...should I??

Don't feel out of place. Remember that only about 10% of ALL ophthalmologists enter academic medicine. So if you look at a class of about 500 new residents per year, only 50 will eventually become involved with academics. Most never need an academic pedigree. Wilmer selects specifically those candidates that have the highest potential to become leading academics.

 

[chef]

andrew, thanks for reply. it's interesting that wilmer is much harder to match, even though they have the most grueling work hours/on call schedule.

can you then rank these schools in terms of competitiveness to match into, at least based on your experience?

wilmer
meei
stanford
bascom
ucla
usc
iowa

i'm assuming wilmer is the most difficult..

btw, are 6 meei optho spots all harvard system has per year? or are there other harvard affliated ophtho spots?

 

[Andrew_Doan]

Originally posted by chef
andrew, thanks for reply. it's interesting that wilmer is much harder to match, even though they have the most grueling work hours/on call schedule.

can you then rank these schools in terms of competitiveness to match into, at least based on your experience?

wilmer
meei
stanford
bascom
ucla
usc
iowa

i'm assuming wilmer is the most difficult..

btw, are 6 meei optho spots all harvard system has per year? or are there other harvard affliated ophtho spots?

Chef,
To rank these programs would be impossible because so many factors go into the selection process. For instance, a highly competitive person at Wilmer may not be what Stanford is looking for. So I think the ranking of the above depends some what on the applicant and his/her experiences.

I only say Wilmer is the most difficult because of it's reputation and many people think highly of the program.

One correction, MEEI has 7 spots now. You can read more about the program here:

http://www.meei.harvard.edu/edu/ophthres.html

I truly think that you can't go wrong with any of the programs listed above. After training at any one of the programs you listed, I think you could do most anything.

 

[YAG]

Andrew,

Any idea how far Wilmer usually goes down their rank list for the 8 spots? Do they usually get all their top choices or are some candidates turned off by the intense hours and environment (or by the Baltimore location)? In the past, do you know if they have had some of their candidates lined up ahead of time (internal candidates, etc) or do they really go 100% legit through the match process?

 

[Andrew_Doan]

Originally posted by YAG
Andrew,

Any idea how far Wilmer usually goes down their rank list for the 8 spots? Do they usually get all their top choices or are some candidates turned off by the intense hours and environment (or by the Baltimore location)? In the past, do you know if they have had some of their candidates lined up ahead of time (internal candidates, etc) or do they really go 100% legit through the match process?

It's 100% legit. Internal candidates have the advantage of knowing the faculty better; however, there's really no pre-arrangement. I've heard that Wilmer can go down as far as in the mid-20s or higher to fill all 8 spots. Of course, this can fluctuate year to year.

 

[warning]

A Wilmer resident quit a few months ago. I asked all the residents about it. No one would tell me why.

Just wanted to put that out there. I was interviewing at Wilmer and found out by accident. But people should know if there's something wrong with this place.

I mean, to be fair to wilmer, maybe the resident did something wrong and was kicked out? But then why would they hide it?

Has anyone else heard anything?

 

[golfman]

A Wilmer resident quit a few months ago. I asked all the residents about it. No one would tell me why.

Just wanted to put that out there. I was interviewing at Wilmer and found out by accident. But people should know if there's something wrong with this place.

I mean, to be fair to wilmer, maybe the resident did something wrong and was kicked out? But then why would they hide it?

Has anyone else heard anything?

Ugh. You have posted the same thing in 3 threads. I maintain my stance that you are trying to scare people away from Wilmer because you desperately want to go to Wilmer.

Fantastic program. Top 3 in the country.

 

[warning]

It's true. Look at their web site http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/wilmer/education/residency/residents/

7 residents in 1st and 3rd year. 6 residents in the 2nd year. What happened to the 7th resident???

I'm just saying, wilmer's gotta bad rap. And maybe this resident had issues. Just wondering if anyone's heard anything?

 

[golfman]

It's true. Look at their web site http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/wilmer/education/residency/residents/

7 residents in 1st and 3rd year. 6 residents in the 2nd year. What happened to the 7th resident???

I'm just saying, wilmer's gotta bad rap. And maybe this resident had issues. Just wondering if anyone's heard anything?

Who knows. Maybe they got pregnant. Maybe they decided medicine wasn't for them. I had two residents that I worked with during 3rd year quit (during 1st year of residency) because they had other passions besides medicine. That didn't mean the residency program was bad, they just wanted something else with their lives. People quit all of the time, doesn't mean the school they quit from was bad.

 

[Apple99]

There are only 5 resident spots this year which will be great for more focused learning but more call