most competitive residencies

[Art Vandelay]

According to the "competitiveness chart", Peds is more competitive than Anesthesiology, OBGYN, Path and Neuro? I don't think this is really the case!

[wolfvgang22]

Originally Posted by Art Vandelay

According to the "competitiveness chart", Peds is more competitive than Anesthesiology, OBGYN, Path and Neuro? I don't think this is really the case!

The data was based on 2004 Match data on unfilled spots.

I grant you that the chart may be a little misleading in that you can go straight into peds, but not neuro.
Plus, it might be different if you combined the data from a number of years rather than just look at 2004.

The bottom of the chart tells you how the author arrived at the "competitiveness score".

[parth1983]

THE CHART IS WRONG, IN 2004, DERMATOLOGY PROGRAMS HAD 100 PERCENT FILLED BY US SENIORS. GO TO THE NRMP CHART, AND LOOK AT THE TABLE. THE COMPETETIVENESS CHART SHOWS DERMATOLOGY TO HAVE PERCENT US SENIORS TO BE LIKE 80 OR SOMETHING, THAT'S NOT THE CASE PEOPLE.........

DERMATOLOGY AMONG OTHER SPECIALTIES WERE 100 PERCENT FILLED BY US SENIORS, YES 100 PERCENT. JUST GO TO THE NRMP SITE AND LOOK AT THE DAMN CHART PDF FILE.

[B:-)]

I agree with Jim that percentage of IMGs in the specialties may not be an exact relfection of their competitiveness. The percentage gives you a rough picture about the situation. However, there's more that influences IMGs' decision than how much money they can possibly make. Not everybody comes to the USA with the priority to become rich. Any doctor in the USA is doing far better than average American and better than how an IMG would if he stayed at home, in most cases. So IMGs may not feel such an urge to become ENT specialists or dermatologists and they may instead choose what they'll really enjoy doing. (I'm not trying to blame all of those in competitive specialties that they applied only because of their desire to make money). As IMGs come from different culture, they may have different priorities and ideas about how to live life and how to incorporate medicine in it. I'd love to see results of some survey, pointing out what specialties would IMGs choose, if they had no trouble getting in.

[parth1983]

jim wrote:
never saw a competitiveness score before. by the way, if you understand the way the match system works form the programs end, you will see that yes, soemtimes score doesnt matter. as for the assertion of a perfect score? never been done, if your friends have told you that, they are liars. supposedly the highest score ever was a 282, which was about a 91% on the actual exam. the scores given to you only compare you to the exam, NEVER to others, in other words, a percentile score is never given out. ( the 2 digit score means nothing at all. it is still in use, but being phased out, from the days of a computer program that went by a 2 digit spot to put in scores) and when programs open up their ERAS page, they have options. they have filters. they can click on certain filters, and automatically never even see apps from people who have just been filtered. the most commonly used filters are #1, people who have ever failed a step. in other words, fail one time, and score a 275, and they never even see your app. you get beat out by soemone who scored a 185, but never failed. the #2 most common filter? LCME status. in other words, if you didnt go to a US or canadian school. why do I say that the whole FMG thing cant be used to figure out how competitive porograms are? because there are FP and IM and peds programs that will use that filter. are they more competitive? nope, just dont want FMGs. there is also one that filters out non-US citizens, so they dont have to deal with visa issues. as well as they can set a minimum score, 200, 220, 245, or so on. multiple filters can be used(my program filters non US citizens, people who have failed, and a 200 score). I would call my program IM, mid level competitiveness. though the average score of people who matched with us on step 1 last year was 246(glad I wasnt in that app year!!!)








ok, so my question is, which residencies are available where they don't use so many filtes. obviously, the competetive ones have many programs which filter out IMG's and they just won't take them, period. obviously it's better to be a US medical grad,............but which residencies are IMG friendly? other than pediatrics, internal medicine, and family practice? i know the most competetive residencies have over 85 percent filled with US students. but which residencies/fields are good for IMG's?

[AUCMD2006]

better question to ask is which program at which hospital is IMG friendly.....it is often overlooked but a surgery program at one program may be friendly while another not so ask by progarm not specialty.....

[studentMD]

and also depends on timing..

lots of these things are circular.. the "in" thing today thats competitive now.. may not be so competitive 4 yrs down the road when it comes time to apply for residency after finishing med school..

example anesthesiology.. was ridiculously easy and now becoming much more competitive relative to the way it used to be.... same with rads..

so it definitely cycles and its difficult to predict what will or will not be "in style"

[jim]

it is difficult to say that a certain specialty is IMG friendly or not. in my program, there is only1 other FMG in medicine, and none in any other residency except FP, which is about 75% FMG. I know people who are at hospitals that US grads are the rarity. yes, If you want derm or plastics, it will be tough. but there are programs out there that will take FMGs. of course, the competition is enormous. I had heard of an FMG who got derm a couple years back, and his scores were in the high 260s. if you truely want a specialty that is considered hard to get into, the only thing you can do is score amazing scores, and spend the bucks and apply to every single program in the country.

[Art Vandelay]

Originally Posted by parth1983

THE CHART IS WRONG, IN 2004, DERMATOLOGY PROGRAMS HAD 100 PERCENT FILLED BY US SENIORS. GO TO THE NRMP CHART, AND LOOK AT THE TABLE. THE COMPETETIVENESS CHART SHOWS DERMATOLOGY TO HAVE PERCENT US SENIORS TO BE LIKE 80 OR SOMETHING, THAT'S NOT THE CASE PEOPLE.........

DERMATOLOGY AMONG OTHER SPECIALTIES WERE 100 PERCENT FILLED BY US SENIORS, YES 100 PERCENT. JUST GO TO THE NRMP SITE AND LOOK AT THE darn CHART PDF FILE.

The 100% USMG match rate for derm is actually for PGY-1 positions. Most of the derm programs start at PGY-2 and you can see that there are some IMGs who matched (in fact, more than EM percentage-wise).

[parth1983]

right but you lose a year..........if you don't get in pgy-1......u start 4 years starting at year 2, making a total of 5. you still lose a year overall.