HOW MANY INTERVIEWS DO YOU NEED TO GET A RESIDENCY "MATCH" ?
Some say you need at least 10 interviews to 'guarantee' yourself a residency match position - some say you need 20. Puzzling eh ?
While intuition may say that the more interviews you have, the better the chances of matching, it is also true that there have been many cases of people not matching despite many interviews, while people matching to a good program with just one interview.
The truth is there IS NO magical, finite or critical number of interviews to "guarantee" you match !
What's more important is where you stand in the rank order lists of each of those residency programs you interview at. So even if you have 15 interviews and you are consistently placed unfavourably on the Rank Order List (ROLs) in all those places, chances are low. Secondly, some programs may interview more than 100 people, but only place 50-60 candidates on their rank-order lists.
In the context of the Rank order lists that the residency program and you submit, your chance of matching depends on :
1. Number of the people above you on that list
2. The ranking of that residency program on the ROL's of candidates above you on that list
3. The rank of that residency program on your list
4. Number of positions in that program [if you rank 10th on the program list and the program has 10 positions ...now that's a guarantee :-) unlike ranking 20th on the same list]
5. The Desirability of the program amongst candidates in general and especially amongsts AMGs- The more it is , the lesser the chances
6. The variety or "range of spread" of people on the list above you - what I mean is, if almost the SAME candidates interviewed at all those places and land up on the same lists, chances are a little better - coz the same guys cannot have all the programs ..LOL. But if the IMGs on the list above you are vastly different , it is more likely that the positions will be taken up.
If these factors are not in your favour for the first program on your Rank Order List (ROL), then the computer matching program moves on to the next program. The matching algorithm works continuously around all ROLs till it secures a best "match" for you.
Moral of the story: Do your best on every interview you go to. Treat every interview as the only place that you have an interview at, coz just having many interviews is unfortunately NOT a guarantee of a match.
Read Residency Interviews Tips-N-Tricks at : MDinterviews.blogspot.com
Labels: Residency Interview Tips
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posted by Digitaldoc, MD at 9:53 PM
Comments on "HOW MANY INTERVIEWS DO YOU NEED TO GET A RESIDENCY "MATCH" ?"
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Digitaldoc, MD said ... (September 11, 2007 9:55 PM) :
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Anonymous said ... (January 12, 2008 7:03 AM) :
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Digitaldoc, MD said ... (January 14, 2008 5:54 PM) :
Post Your Comment !Anonymous said ... (October 15, 2006 2:23 AM) :
Thank you digidoc.
I wanted to know something , should an IMG apply in ANY U.S program suppose i want to apply for some prgram which US candidates might want also , and i have very good scores (98,99) with a little bit of clinical experience ( 6 months externship).. can i compete with US grads or will i still be not interviewed.. Is it a waste of money to apply then?
Digitaldoc, MD said ... (October 15, 2006 2:32 AM) :
In such places, it is best to personally call them and ask about their "IMG history" ;-) and then decide based on whether they are really IMG friendly or not.
Anonymous said ... (December 01, 2006 1:18 PM) :
hello digidoc
i wanted to ask you a question, what are the chance of being matched if some doctor from the hospital(say faculty) gives a personal recommendation to the p.d.....and suppose the interview goes well, and it is a good img friendly hospital.....should that person take the risk of going in the match, even if he has only 3-4 more interviews and he doesn't know how will they rank him, at the expense of not accepting a pre-match offer from a below par hospital like st. barnabas.....is it worth the risk
Digitaldoc, MD said ... (December 01, 2006 6:52 PM) :
As per the NRMP website - a lot people match within their first 5 choices on the Rank Order List. The match is always a gamble unfortunately and if you HAVE TO get a position this year, a prematch somewhere maybe better than no position at all. Look into the usual scores and credentials that the hospital's residents have. Personal recommendations do help - but in the end, we can never give guarantees. It has to be a personal risk-taking decision.
Anonymous said ... (February 17, 2007 6:47 PM) :
Hi Digidoc,
I want to know if one can match in an avg community IM program with 10 positions when ranked in top 50 of the program and I rank it as 1.
Thanks,I really appreciate the good work ur doing.
Digitaldoc, MD said ... (February 19, 2007 12:58 AM) :
Yea you can, if the candidates placed above you on the list were good candidates with other good interviews and show preference to other programs :-)
Hello Dr. Digitaloc, I have got like 12 to 14 programs on my Rank order list with few univesity programs. I should still rank the program where I want to go rather than ranking programs where my chances are good?? Please explain as its very confusing
Yes, always rank the programs in the order of your preference rather than by where you think chances are good. Thats coz' the match program algorithm makes several runs or passes , to make confirmed matches truly represent the participants choices.
SO if someone else ranked a program high (the one you thought u had a better chance but would like to rank lower), but then the program ranked you higher than that person, then, if no other programs worked for you - you would still be matched at that program in preference to the other person.