Step Score needed for Anesthesia?

[RussianJoo]

I am very interested in anesthesia and after doing some research have found only old (2004 and older) threads that comment on the step score needed to get an anesthesia residency. Could current applicants or residents please comment on a ballpark score needed for a community hospital program in anesthesia? Also I am from NJ and am very interested in doing my residency in my home state if anyone could comment on the difficulty on getting an anesthesia residency in NJ? I will be an IMG and know that IMG's need higher scores than AMG to get the same residency spots. Also since I want to go into private practice there's no need to comment on top tier programs or probably even university based programs since it really wont matter when it comes to job hunting. Am I for the most part correct that unless you plan on going into academia you don't need to do a university based anesthesia program?

thank you in advance for your comments and please only comment if you are applying for anesthesia or are currently a resident.

[stateofequilibrium]

Here's 2006's info http://www.nrmp.org/matchoutcomes.pdf

For Anesthesiology all non-US seniors the mean step score was 213. The distribution looks like you'll stand a good chance if you have at least a research project/publication and in the 220+ range.

[RussianJoo]

cool thanks a lot of the info.

[Kongakut]

Here's 2007's info from NRMP. It looks like the median score went up a little to 215 for independents matching in anesthesia.

[stateofequilibrium]

looks like all the scores went up. Getting competitive.

[AMZ]

It looks like you have a 50/50 chance as an IMG. Of course, the chances are better for a school that teaches for the USMLE.

...BUT...

The most interesting part is that the average for IMGs who did not match was 206. That, along with the 90% match rate for AMGs means that you need to be one statistical mean above the average AMG to be SURE of matching somewhere.

In other words, have a 230 and you will match.

[Kongakut]

p.s since you mentioned NJ, you can check out this file for stats for NJ's matches in anesthesiology. The cool thing about this file is that it differentiates between US IMGs and all other IMGs. Unfortunately, only 2 US IMGs (1 PGY1 and 1 PGY2)matched out of 27 anesthesia spots in NJ and most spots were for PGY2.

Also, according to the ERAS numbers, there were an average 100 PGY1 interviews per spot for 4970 anesthesia spots in 131 programs and 14% of the matched were IMG's. So, 696 matches were IMGs.

If you compare the state file with this program specific file, you can see that out of the 27 spots for NJ in anesthesiology, only 25 matched. So, looking at the program data, the UMDNJ - New Jersey - Newark program was the only one that didn't match all spots in 2007. I am not making any assumptions on whether that means that Newark is a good program or not, but I found it interesting... call me a data geek...

[RussianJoo]

cool thanks for the comprehensive break down. When it comes to competitive residencies or imgs applying for competitive residencies i don't think there's such a thing as good or bad programs. I would be extremely happy if I matched into the newark program.

[GeorgeMD2B]

Originally Posted by RussianJoo

I am very interested in anesthesia and after doing some research have found only old (2004 and older) threads that comment on the step score needed to get an anesthesia residency. Could current applicants or residents please comment on a ballpark score needed for a community hospital program in anesthesia? Also I am from NJ and am very interested in doing my residency in my home state if anyone could comment on the difficulty on getting an anesthesia residency in NJ? I will be an IMG and know that IMG's need higher scores than AMG to get the same residency spots. Also since I want to go into private practice there's no need to comment on top tier programs or probably even university based programs since it really wont matter when it comes to job hunting. Am I for the most part correct that unless you plan on going into academia you don't need to do a university based anesthesia program?

thank you in advance for your comments and please only comment if you are applying for anesthesia or are currently a resident.

Anesthesia is becoming highly competitive, you will need a 220 or better to have a good chance. Compare this with US grads who only need to score the national average to get into most fields.

[wanabdoc]

Originally Posted by Kongakut

p.s since you mentioned NJ, you can check out this file for stats for NJ's matches in anesthesiology. The cool thing about this file is that it differentiates between US IMGs and all other IMGs. Unfortunately, only 2 US IMGs (1 PGY1 and 1 PGY2)matched out of 27 anesthesia spots in NJ and most spots were for PGY2.

Also, according to the ERAS numbers, there were an average 100 PGY1 interviews per spot for 4970 anesthesia spots in 131 programs and 14% of the matched were IMG's. So, 696 matches were IMGs.

If you compare the state file with this program specific file, you can see that out of the 27 spots for NJ in anesthesiology, only 25 matched. So, looking at the program data, the UMDNJ - New Jersey - Newark program was the only one that didn't match all spots in 2007. I am not making any assumptions on whether that means that Newark is a good program or not, but I found it interesting... call me a data geek...

Thanks for posting this