Medical school

Med Students: How to Rank Your Residency Programs

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Every fourth-year medical student must submit a ranked list of their residency programs around late February of every year. However, there’s so much mythology and strategies regarding the rank list that every med student has their own idea about how to craft their rank list. However, if you don’t rank your residency programs honestly, you could wind up spending four years exactly where you don’t want to be. Here’s some advice to keep in mind when making your rank list.

Rank Where You Want to Go

Don’t try to play games based on which program you think would want you the most. Your biggest criteria for the Match should be where you want to go for your residency program. Put your top choice first, your second choice next, and so on. By trying to “outsmart” the algorithm, you’re setting yourself up for years of study in someplace you didn’t want to be. Here are some criteria to keep in mind when ranking your programs:

Outlook on Medicine. Does the program’s ideology and focus appeal to you?
Scheduling, Workload, and Call. How grueling is the workload? Is it well-distributed over four years or does all the stress happen in PGY2? What’s the call schedule like?
Location and Surrounding Area. Don’t forget that it isn’t all intellectual: wherever you go, you’re going to be there for several years. Make sure you can see yourself living in the area before you rank the school.
Loved Ones’ Input. You need to talk this over with your spouse or significant other to make sure you end up in a place that meets both needs.

Filed Under: Health Professions Tagged With: Medical school, Medicine, Residency

The Do’s and Don’ts of Starting Your Residency

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Congratulations! You’ve received your M.D. It’s been four years of stressful studying, hard lessons, and difficult patients. Yet you still made it to the other side and you’re about to start your residency. In some cases, you may be moving to a brand new city or state. The period after graduation and your residency start date is a stressful time. Here are some pointers for your first month as a new doctor.

Do take some time off. This is your last extended vacation before some intense work weeks and call schedules– take advantage of this precious vacation time.
Don’t get used to having so much time off.
Do find a place to live and start getting settled ahead of time. You want as much time as possible to unpack and explore your new area.
Do purchase textbooks, required reading, and medical journal or podcast subscriptions with any graduation money you receive.
Do take time to practice your commute before your first day. Do it on a work day so you won’t be overwhelmed by rush hour traffic.
Do send an email out to your fellow residents– if you’re moving alone, you might want to try and meet up with some of them before your official orientation starts.
Don’t put off doing your paperwork. Start it early and send it in as soon as possible.
Do follow up with your med school and make sure they sent in the necessary paperwork on their end.
Do throw away or burn your old medical school white coat.
Don’t force your friends and family to refer to you as Doctor. It gets old. Fast.

Filed Under: Medical Career Education Tagged With: Health, Medical school, Residency

Advice for Med Students: How Match Day Works

Are you a fourth year medical student approaching the most important day of your career? Match Day’s a pretty scary process, but it may help you to learn how it works. Here’s an overview of a typical med student Match Day (if there is such a thing).

Interviews

By the time Match Day rolls around, you’ll have already interviewed at your top residency programs. You’ll have traveled around the country, learning about the differences between programs and trying to sell yourself to said programs as best as possible.

Rankings

Once you’ve completed all your interviews, it’s time to submit your rank list. Your rank list is your official list of which residency program you’d like to go to in order. Your rank list is due in late February. Do not miss this deadline.

Matching

The NMRP uses a complicated algorithm to determine which residency program you’ll land, depending on your rankings and the rankings of your residency programs.

The Scramble

A few days before Match Day in mid-March, you’ll get either an email saying something like “Congratulations! You’ve Matched!” or a phone call that says something like “Contact us immediately.” The latter phone call is a good indication that you’ve got to undergo the Scramble. The Scramble means that you didn’t match to any particular program, so you’ll be forced to undergo a few days of speed-interviewing by email and by phone. By the end, you’ll have found a match with a school who didn’t fill all of their residency spots.

Match Day

At 1 PM EST, every medical student in the country will open up an envelope with their residency program information.

Filed Under: Medical Career Planning Tagged With: Eastern Time Zone, Medical school, Residency