Applying for a Residency in the USA -a most interesting webs

[azskeptic]

http://www.geocities.com/ResearchTri.../matching.html

[Rwl22]

I'm surprised that only 56% matched successfully. I imagine that had to inlude fMG's from the real crappy schools(IUHS, Spartan etc.). But I still would have thought it would be higher. What happens to the FMG's that don't match? Do they just try to improve their USMLE scores and try again next year? What would cause a FMG to fail to match?

[studentMD]

cannot try to improve USMLE scores..
once you pass .. thats it.. cannot take the exam again...

[Beaker]

rwl, where do u come up with this stuff? lots of ppl would consider ur school "crappy" too, but i doubt that they would blame that school for the low match %. the reason is coz ur school is small just like the "crappy" ones u mentioned. all the smaller schools in the carib together dont produce as many grads as the "big 3" so how can any of them be blamed for the low match %? even if all the schools in the carib aside from the big 3 had 0% match, it still wouldnt bring the fmg match down to 56% without looking at the bigger schools. thats just a little math common sense.

while ur trying to figure that out, maybe u can also work on the 90% usmle 1st time pass rates that most schools claim when the overall fmg pass rate is 65%. maybe its the small "crappy" schools even though they cant possibly bring the avg down that low on their own with their relatively small influence

if each of the not-so-crappy schools really had a 90% pass rate, the overall rate wouldnt be so low. the same is true for the not-so-crappy schools match rates. the big 3 want to boast their large numbers without taking responsibility for their influence on the poor fmg %. cant have it both ways i think its time to come up with a new theory since urs just doesnt add up.

its more likely coz lots of programs will not give fmgs a chance regardless of which school they went to. they will almost always give the spots away to u.s. grads first and the fmgs will fight for the leftovers. just do good in school and on the boards and hope for the best. good luck.

btw the usmle cannot be retaken after u pass.

peace

[options]

Back in the day, I brought up this subject. It might be informative to view this thread.

http://www.valuemd.com/viewtopic.php?t=5621

[options]

posted twice. (secretly trying to catch up with microphage)

[Rwl22]

I just though out Spartan because it seems like everyone picks on Spartan. I'm sure it's a fine school. Anyway, like I said what happens to FMG's who don't match? Do they do residencies in other countries? If so, doesn't that hamper them from paracticing in the states? I guess if you're planning to go offshore you better plan on doing well. It seems like a real survival of the fitest.

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[options]

if you follow my link above, you will find that the match rate for FMGs was actually a little bit higher than USIMGs. Nobody seems to be keeping the statistics for post match, which would be EXTREMELY helpful.

[ResearchingGuy]

It's good to consider statistics but you must look a little further. The NRMP stats don't really take into account the number of IMGs who signed a contract outside the Match (I know there is a category for those who "dropped out", but even that doesn't show the full picture).

Even though that practice was supposed to be halted, it continues. It seems a lot of Program Directors would rather offer a spot to a foreign trained native than to a non-native and they try to lock them up on the spot when they come for an interview. That has been the "ace in the hole" for USIMG's and is the reason we have an overall better placement rate than FMG's. If the practice is finally abolished (doesn't seem likely), the match numbers will then give a better view of what is actually happening.

I know it doesn't seem fair (and it's probably not), but that's life. I had to move my family to the Caribbean when there are two medical schools within a ten minute car ride from my house that wouldn't even talk to me (no. I'm not bitter )

Best of Luck!