MedEdits | Medical School Admissions Consulting
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
They're here! HOW TO BE AN ALL-STAR RESIDENCY MATCH APPLICANT: FROM THE FIRST YEAR OF MEDICAL SCHOOL TO MATCH DAY. A MEDEDITS GUIDE.
New residency books have arrived. CLICK HERE
Labels:
Getting Into Residency
Monday, January 27, 2014
Tuesday, January 14, 2014
ROADBLOCKS TO MEDICAL RESIDENCY
MedEdits founder, Dr. Jessica Freedman, was interviewed by David Alpern on the nationally syndicated radio program, For Your Ears Only (formerly Newsweek on Air) about challenges facing international medical graduates.
Visit www.MedEdits.com to schedule your session. |
Monday, January 13, 2014
Listen to Dr. Freedman on National Radio: Roadblock to Medicine
Listen to Dr. Freedman at 9:40 mark on this audio link
http://tunein.com/radio/For-Your-Ears-Only-p620/
Roadblock to Medicine
For Your Ears Only
(Formerly Newsweek on Air)
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MEDEDITS: THE MEDICAL SCHOOL PERSONAL STATEMENT
How should you start your medical school personal statement? You hear conflicting advice. Some tell you not to open with a story. Others tell you to always begin with a story. Regardless of the advice you receive, be sure to do three things:
1) Be true to yourself. Everyone will have an opinion regarding what you should and should not write. Follow your own instincts. Your personal statement should be a reflection of you, and only you.
2) Start your personal statement with something catchy. Whether you choose to write about a pivotal experience in your life that inspired your interest in medicine, or a personal experience that is very meaningful, be sure to capture your reader’s interest at the outset.
3) Start writing now! Composing a great medical school personal statement takes time.
4) Make sure your personal statement is about you! Your medical school personal statement is not the place to write about your views or about other people.
Your application materials must be authentic, but sometimes a little inspiration helps. Read The MedEdits Guide to Medical School Admissions. There you will find examples of ‘successful’ personal statements and application entries.
Friday, January 10, 2014
Interview Strategies and More
The Latest MedEdits Medical Admissions News.
http://myemail.constantcontact.com/INTERVIEW-SEASON-STRATEGIES-AND-MORE.html?soid=1102913833847&aid=2uiac2yFB24
Thursday, January 9, 2014
THE RESIDENCY INTERVIEW: WHO SCREENS MY ERAS APPLICATION?
Typically only one to three people per program are responsible for screening residency applications, and how they do it is important to understand. Since some programs may have up to 500 (or even 1,000) applications for only 100 interview slots, for example, it becomes the responsibility of those reviewing applications to decide who will be invited.I can tell you from experience that making these decisions is a daunting task. To decrease the work load, many program directors apply filters to applications to decrease the number of applications that must be reviewed to a reasonable quantity. What kinds of “filters” are used? There are many. Some filters may be applied so program directors only review applications who have a certain United States Medical Licensing Exam (USMLE) step 1 score as a threshold, others may use a filter that only views applicants who have graduated within five years, while others may use no filters and manually review every application submitted. Some programs then assign “points” for everything: research, USMLE scores, and letters of recommendation; you are invited for an interview only when your “score” meets a minimum number. More often, however, a great deal of subjectivity goes into the decision to invite an applicant for an interview, whatever the grading system. Often, the screener’s personal interests and outlook play a part in the review of your application–especially if you are a “borderline” applicant. For example, if reviewer A always had to struggle with standardized tests yet managed to succeed while reviewer B always had board scores in the top 5th percentile, reviewer A is much more likely than reviewer B to screen in an application with lower-than-average board scores.
This blog entry is an excerpt from The Residency Interview (CHAPTER 1: THE INTERVIEW PROCESS). Click her to read more.
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ERAS,
get into residency
Wednesday, January 8, 2014
Personal Competencies and Medical School Admissions
Why are medical schools placing so much emphasis on evaluating applicants' "personal competencies?" Why do some medical schools now have patients participate in the medical school interview process (in particular, at medical schools that employ the multiple mini interview)?
An excellent article in the New York Times was written by Madeline Drexler, a patient with a "classic" heart murmur who was asked to volunteer as a "patient" in a Harvard Medical School class where students learn about physical exam findings. Through this experience, she was treated cooly by some Harvard medical students as "a heart murmur" while, by other students, she was treated as a human being. As evidenced by this article, the medical school admissions process, even at "elite" schools such as Harvard, is imperfect; some applicants (and medical students) with perfect academic credentials may not possess the communication and interpersonal skills that are required to practice medicine.
This article is a must read for all physicians in training. No matter where you are in your medical education, it is important to remember the importance of empathy, understanding, and compassion when caring for patients. Perhaps Ms. Drexler might be an excellent addition to Harvard's medical school admissions committee.
Click Here to read the article.
Visit: MedEdits
An excellent article in the New York Times was written by Madeline Drexler, a patient with a "classic" heart murmur who was asked to volunteer as a "patient" in a Harvard Medical School class where students learn about physical exam findings. Through this experience, she was treated cooly by some Harvard medical students as "a heart murmur" while, by other students, she was treated as a human being. As evidenced by this article, the medical school admissions process, even at "elite" schools such as Harvard, is imperfect; some applicants (and medical students) with perfect academic credentials may not possess the communication and interpersonal skills that are required to practice medicine.
This article is a must read for all physicians in training. No matter where you are in your medical education, it is important to remember the importance of empathy, understanding, and compassion when caring for patients. Perhaps Ms. Drexler might be an excellent addition to Harvard's medical school admissions committee.
Click Here to read the article.
Visit: MedEdits
A BRIEF MIDDAY NAP MAKES TIRED RESIDENTS MORE ALERT
A short midday nap improved the cognitive functioning and alertness of first year internal medicine (IM) residents, a recent study showed. The study was conducted in 18 IM residents; the control group had 11 residents. At midday, both groups rested in reclining chairs designed for napping. Investigators allowed nap group residents to sleep for up to 20 minutes (they slept a mean of 8.4 minutes) but chatted with the control group residents to prevent them from falling asleep. Residents in both groups took tests to evaluate their cognitive functioning both before and after the 20-minute rest period and also were connected to an ambulatory sleep monitor to determine attention failures.
After their naps, the residents who fell asleep showed improved cognitive functioning and experienced fewer attention failures. Controls, on the other hand, had the same cognitive functioning and number of attention failures in the morning (before the rest period) and in the afternoon (after the rest period).
Consider mentioning this finding to your program director!
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Labels:
Residency,
Residency Admissions
RESIDENCY APPLICATIONS AND PLAGIARISM
I am not surprised by the results of a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine that discovered evidence of plagiarism in 5.2% of residency applications. This finding was more common in non-US citizen applicants. Each year at MedEdits, we have applicants who ask if we will write essays on their behalf. We do not offer this service but there are many companies that do. I have blogged previously about Turnitin software which is designed to detect plagiarism in applications and I am curious to see if the study results motivate other programs to utilize this resource.
Click Here to access the article.
MEDICAL SCHOOL AND RESIDENCY INTERVIEWS: “TELL ME ABOUT YOURSELF.”
I am not sure if any surveys have been conducted to determine how many medical admissions officers start medical school and residency interviews with this request but, based on my experience, I can tell you that a very large percentage of interviews begin this way. Most applicants are terrified of this prompt. They don’t know what they should say, how far back they should “go,” and what topics they should cover. I advise applicants to capitalize on the opportunity that “tell me about yourself” presents. When you respond, you can provide information about topics that are most significant to you and then allow the interviewer to “cherry pick” and ask you about those topics that most interest him or her. Here are a few general guidelines on how to reply to “tell me about yourself”:
1) Before walking in to any interview, have a general idea of how you will respond to “tell me about yourself.” As you prepare for your interviews, think about who you are and your path to the interview seat. One approach is to create an outline of your most meaningful experiences – both personal, academic, and extracurricular. Then “talk through” the outline.
2) Speak about those experiences and qualities that distinguish you most. These details will obviously differ for every applicant. Don’t feel that you must limit your reply to medically and scientifically related pursuits and interests; you should talk about your background and meaningful and significant extracurricular accomplishments as well.
3) Stay on topic and give a comprehensive overview of your candidacy and life. Some people make the mistake of responding to “tell me about yourself” by talking about why they want to be a doctor or rambling randomly about a variety of topics.
4) Don’t talk about any one experience in tremendous detail. You should think of your response in an “outline” format. You don’t want to elaborate about any one topic; give your interviewer room to ask about those topics she would like to hear more about.
In reality, “tell me about yourself” is what you want your interviewer to say first. It allows you to talk about those topics that are most important to your candidacy, and your answer sets the stage for what you most want to discuss. If you practice your response and know your general approach before walking into your interview, not only will you look forward to “tell me about yourself” instead of dreading it, but you will confidently deliver your reply, establishing a good tone for your entire interview.
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An Applicant's Interview Attire Tips
An outstanding applicant of mine who will be attending a top medical school in New York City this fall offered the following tips based on her observations during interviews:
1) Interviews are like first dates. Do people ever go on first dates without any foundation? Always wear foundation.
2) Don't wear chunky, or multiple chunky rings.
3) Velvet jacket. Seriously?
4) Baggy suits. Bagginess went out of style in 1999. Nobody wears a 5 button suit anymore. Consult GQ style guide 2013 for pointers.
5) Texting while walking during interviews. Lame.
Many interviewers are not style mavens so most won't notice if you are wearing something that dates back to the 90s, however, it is important to look and act like a professional; be sure to turn off the mobile device, take off the black nail polish, and any over-the-top fashion accessories.
What tips do you have?
1) Interviews are like first dates. Do people ever go on first dates without any foundation? Always wear foundation.
2) Don't wear chunky, or multiple chunky rings.
3) Velvet jacket. Seriously?
4) Baggy suits. Bagginess went out of style in 1999. Nobody wears a 5 button suit anymore. Consult GQ style guide 2013 for pointers.
5) Texting while walking during interviews. Lame.
Many interviewers are not style mavens so most won't notice if you are wearing something that dates back to the 90s, however, it is important to look and act like a professional; be sure to turn off the mobile device, take off the black nail polish, and any over-the-top fashion accessories.
What tips do you have?
Tuesday, January 7, 2014
MEDICAL SCHOOL ADMISSIONS & SOCIAL MEDIA
Your online image will follow you forever. Whatever is “googleable” about you now can always be found. The findings of a recent study by The University of Miami in the Postgraduate Medical Journal about social networking and medical admissions indicate that information on social networks could impact your success during any medical admissions process. About 9% of admissions officers surveyed in this study say they routinely review social networking sites when evaluating applicants. Reputation management should start early; be careful about what you post and with whom you associate. “What people put online is really a part of their history. … You have to be extremely careful about what you put out there,” said Dr. Carl Schulman, the study’s lead author. While this study did not focus on internet content in general, it might be fair to assume that some admissions officers also “google” applicants and do not focus solely on social networking sites.
The question really becomes: How can you use social media and the internet so it helps you? Put out great content about yourself on the internet. Consider writing a blog about your interests or curiosities. Start interesting dialogues. Say something smart! That way, if anyone chooses to “google” you at any point in your career, they will be pleasantly impressed.
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Applying to Medical School in 2014?
If you are applying to medical school in 2014, now is the time to start getting organized. The first step is to meet with your premedical advisor (if you have one).
Some undergraduate and postbaccalaureate premed advisors are excellent and experienced while others don’t really understand the medical school admissions process and are overwhelmed with the number of students they must help. Nonetheless, if you have a premed advisor who will be responsible for writing your committee letter or sending our your letter packet, you must keep her “in the loop” and involved in your application process, whatever her skill set and insight.
Premed advisors may also advocate for students both on the premedical committee and during the admissions process. Therefore, even if you don’t think highly of your premed advisor, you must still be respectful and considerate towards her and be sure she is aware of your plans. Meet with your premed advisor periodically during your undergraduate career because your success will be partly dependent on her efforts.
This is an excerpt from The MedEdits Guide to Medical School Admissions.
Monday, January 6, 2014
MEDEDITS: LISTEN LIVE ON AIR, DR. JESSICA FREEDMAN
LISTEN LIVE ON AIR: DR. JESSICA FREEDMAN
http://www.mededits.com/resources/listen-live-on-air-dr-jessica-freedman/
Labels:
Medical School,
Residency
How Not to Choose a Specialty
“I love the hours.”
“I want to be just like Dr. Smith. He has a sweet practice.”
“I want to make a ton of money.”
These are some bad reasons why medical students choose a specialty. Most medical students decide what specialty to pursue when they are in their mid to late 20s. While we all think we are pretty wise and informed by that time, often we are fairly immature in our thinking and don’t fully consider the “big picture” when deciding what we are going to do for the remainder of our lives and careers. Medical students can also be in a proverbial ‘bubble” during medical school, busy studying and spending long hours in the hospital, with little time outside of the “medical world.” This, too, can lead to a warped perspective that doesn’t involve the “real world” or consideration of what life might be like after training.
In deciding on a specialty, do not base your decision on “bad reasons,” which include more than those above:
1) You want to make a lot of money. Maybe you also want to join a field with “status.”
Most medical students have loans and therefore have a practical reason for a high-paying specialty choice. However, as you have likely heard before, money alone won’t make you happy. You will be practicing your specialty for the rest of your life and even if you decide to become a plastic surgeon because of the big bucks often associated with the practice, if you don’t enjoy the types of procedures and patients it entails, you might be miserable despite your big bank account. I had one student who was eager to have a big home, take fancy vacations, and generally live a life of luxury. After doing his research and seeing all of the glossy ads in local magazines for cosmetic surgeons, he realized this would be a great choice to reach his goals. He shadowed a community doctor who had a thriving cosmetics practice and performed many cosmetic surgeries, botox, and other “beauty enhancements.” After shadowing this doctor for a week, the student decided he would not enjoy caring for this patient population. However, he reasoned that he could ‘deal’ with it if he was making a lot of money since he could spend his leisure time as he wished. However, after considering that most of his waking hours would be spent in the operating room or the office, he realized that perhaps he should consider another specialty.
By the same token, many medical school students are, by nature, very competitive and want to join a specialty that has a “wow factor.” They are concerned - will people be impressed when they hear what I do? Will I be saving lives? Status alone won’t carry you through a long career. You must, at a very basic level, enjoy the work you do. Also, as you mature, your values may change. In your late 20s, spending long hours in the hospital may seem glamorous and appealing, but as you get older and have family and other responsibilities you may not want to work as intensely as some specialties demand.. Keep in mind that stereotypical heroic specialties such as neurosurgery, emergency medicine, trauma surgery, and oncology often require a tremendous amount of emotional stamina, leaving little for your personal life.
2) You love the hours and want a specialty that is “easy.”
Many students choose a specialty thought to have ‘easy hours.’ The fields that come to mind are the E-ROAD specialties - emergency medicine (EM), radiology, ophthalmology, anesthesiology, and dermatology. The hours related to these specialties often aren’t that “easy, however.” Anesthesiologists, for example, routinely wake up at about 5 AM because operating rooms open early. Even though full-time emergency physicians put in about 35 - 40 hours per week, they work odd hours - evenings, nights, and weekends. Emergency physicians often spend their “off time” recuperating or “bouncing back” from late shifts. Odd hours can take a toll in the long term, something that’s difficult to understand when you are young. One student, who was always a night owl, considered a career in EM, figuring that she could “handle” the circadian rhythm disturbances. But, after doing her EM rotation, she saw how wiped out some of the attending physicians were and decided this would not be the best long term choice for her overall health and well being.
3) You were impressed by someone in a particular specialty, and you want to be just like that person.
You are on your surgery rotation and you meet a person who represents the type of physician you want to be in the future. She is swift in the OR and deals with unexpected complications with aplomb. Yet she is also kind, compassionate, and deeply invested in her patients and their outcomes. She is also a real team player who treats everyone on her team with warmth and support. You want to be like her when you grow up so you decide to meet with her to discuss the idea of becoming a surgeon. At that meeting, she tells you that working in academic medicine has many demands. She must publish, participate in hospital committees, teach, do research, and attend grand rounds even when not presenting. You tell her that all you hope to do is practice community medicine so she suggests you gain exposure to the field of surgery “in the community.” During your winter break, you shadow a community surgeon. The work doesn’t seem nearly as exciting as the work in an academic setting. The surgeon has busy, but lonely, days filled with OR time, outpatient visits, and administrative work. Confused, you consider what other specialties might interest you.
During medical school, most of the people you meet and your clinical rotations will take place in academic hospital settings. Yet the majority of medical school graduates will not practice in these arenas; most will practice in community settings. The reality is that specialties are practiced very differently in different settings, and many students select a specialty based on their understanding of how it is practiced only in an academic medical setting. It is important, when you meet ‘the doctor you hope to become,’therefore, to be sure to really talk to her, find out exactly what her career entails, and “test out” your specialty in those settings in which you are most likely to practice.
4) You don’t really want to practice the specialty you are choosing or you plan to practice for only a short time.
I sometimes hear students say, “Well, I don’t really want to practice that specialty. My goal is to get out of clinical medicine or just practice one part of the specialty.” For example, some students think if they pursue EM, they can graduate and just work day or urgent care shifts. Or, someone may pursue a residency in several disciplines with the intent of gaining clinical experience and then “going into industry.” Others may choose a specialty that would make them a good candidate to become talk show hosts. While some people are successful when pursuing careers that are tangentially or barely related to medicine, most are not. If you know as a premedical or medical student that you really don’t want to practice medicine, perhaps you should give your medical school seat to someone else and consider what other careers might be more fulfilling.
So how should you decide on a field to pursue? Whatever your reasons for choosing a specialty, you need to fundamentally enjoy its subject matter, the disease processes, the type of practice, and the patients for whom you will be caring. Ideally, you also want a career that will have longevity.
In making a decision, it is essential that you view your life in the future. Fast forward 20 years. Where do you want to be? How do you hope to be practicing? Find role models who are older than you. Ask them what they like or don’t like about their specialties. Would they make a different choice now that they have a more mature perspective? Many people who practice primary care have great lifestyles and can also practice for a long time because the practice is not the most physically or emotionally rigorous. In general, outpatient medical practice and specialties, which some medical students consider “boring” since they lack the “excitement” of others, allow doctors to work for a long time.
To achieve the same goal, many doctors try to leave the “intense part of their specialty for something less vigorous; for example, orthopedic surgeons may practice solely outpatient sports medicine, and ob/gyns sometimes leave the OR to practice only outpatient gynecology. Emergency physicians may transition from main emergency department work to outpatient urgent care. In deciding on a specialty, do your research, explore how your desired specialty is practiced in many settings and, most of all, be honest with yourself.
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Residency Admissions,
Residency Match
Medical School in Three Years
Many major news organizations, including The New York Times, have been writing about three year medical school programs at institutions such as New York University, Texas Tech and Mercer. Such programs are ideally suited for very focused and directed students - those who have a crystal clear idea of what specialty they would like to pursue before starting medical school.
In many ways, such programs are similar to accelerated medical programs that allow students to get both their undergraduate and medical degrees in a shorter time than they would by pursuing the two degrees separately. But three year medical school programs have a downside. Students who take accelerated paths to residency must be exceptionally mature and clear about what they want. For many medical students, medical school offers time to explore career options; for these individuals, being forced to choose a specialty in the second year of medical school wouldbe detrimental since they would have less time to consider deeply the specialty that might be the best fit for them.
While a three year pathway would save students time and money and “speed up” the transit of physicians through the pipeline, it might also produce physicians who are not happy with their career choices.
See my earlier article that relates to this topic and was published on KevinMD, 4 Bad Reasons Why Students Choose a Specialty.
Caribbean Medical Schools
This article about Caribbean Medical Schools, which was originally published on The Student Doctor Network, continues to be a top-ranked post on the site.
Whenever I start working with a student who is applying to medical school “in the Caribbean,” I ask them to think about several factors. Some students who attend Caribbean medical schools earn excellent residency positions in the United States; however, prospective students should be aware that the path to becoming a physician as a Caribbean medical student poses unique challenges. In 2012, 49.1% of US Citizens educated at international medical schools earned a residency match. Thus, it is extremely important to attend a well-reputed Caribbean medical school with high match rates if you choose this route to medical practice. Graduating and earning a residency match as a Caribbean medical student requires extra focus, planning, and initiative.
It is essential to realize that all Caribbean medical schools are not created equal. While several well-known Caribbean medical schools have graduated many physicians who now practice, I am always amazed by the number of “new” schools that are established. All international medical graduates must receive accreditation from the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG®); however, currently the only requirements for ECFMG certification are passing the USMLE Step 1, Step 2 CK, Step 2 CS exams and having at least four credit years from a medical school listed in the International Medical Education Directory (IMED).
Don’t assume, if you are accepted to “a Caribbean medical school,” that this guarantees a residency match. Caribbean medical schools are for-profit entities and, based on my experience, some schools accept students whose backgrounds and academic records predict a likelihood of failing the USMLE Steps 1 and 2 (CK) which all students must pass before they start residency training. Caribbean medical schools will not reveal how many students enroll as first year students yet fail out and never “make it off the island” for third year rotations.
Gauging the quality of the medical education you will receive at a particular Caribbean medical school isn’t easy, but you can get an idea of how successful graduates are in obtaining residency training positions in the United States by considering several factors.
What are the school’s average USMLE Step 1 scores?
The results of the USMLE Step 1, which is taken after the preclinical years, become an extremely important factor for residency match success. Why? The USMLE Step 1 score is the only objective piece of data that program directors can use to compare medical students and residency applicants. The USMLE Step 1, which was initially designed as a qualitative test to evaluate competency, has evolved into a quantitative test, so the higher your score, the better. When I was a medical student, it was not the norm for US medical students to prepare for the USMLE by taking “prep courses.” I find that because of the technology now available, however, most students enroll in courses, often online, and are achieving high scores. A great USMLE Step 1 score will not, however, guarantee a match in the more competitive specialties. It is important to consider the other “ingredients” that lead to success.
Where do students complete third and fourth year clerkships?
It isn’t enough if a Caribbean medical school promises “rotations in US hospitals.” Prospective students should know where, specifically, students rotate, the number of students on each rotation, and the process for designing the clinical schedule. Completing a rotation in internal medicine at a hospital with an ACGME approved residency program, for example, would be considered more challenging and would most likely yield a better foundation of knowledge and skills in internal medicine than a program without this affiliation. “Academic rotations” are looked upon most favorably by residency admissions committees, and letters of reference from academic faculty also carry more weight than those from community physicians.
Some Caribbean students also complain to me that rotations are becoming too crowded; they feel they are competing for patients and procedures and are receiving little teaching. Thus, it is important to know how many students rotate at each clinical site and how many other schools also rotate through those sites since many hospitals have students rotating from several medical schools at one time.
A recent article in The New York Times outlines how New York State medical schools currently are addressing these issues by trying to limit the rotations that Caribbean medical students complete at New York hospitals. New York medical school officials are concerned that the large numbers of Caribbean students at these hospitals dilute US medical students’ education and cause rotations to be crowded. It is unclear how this “turf war” will play out; Caribbean medical schools pay hospitals large sums of money for their students to rotate. St. George’s Medical School, for example, recently signed a 10-year, $100 million contract with the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC) and sends about 1,000 students to these hospitals each year. Under New York State’s proposal, Caribbean medical students would be permitted to do only fourth elective rotations at New York hospitals, which poses special challenges that the article did not address. (Read Dr. Freedman’s published letter to the editor in response to the New York Times article.)
Does the Caribbean school encourage away electives?
Doing “away electives” at hospitals where students hope to do residency is often a key to success. Students complete away electives not only as “audition electives” but also to receive letters of reference from faculty at these programs. All international students, whether they are US citizens or not, sometimes find it difficult to obtain away electives at their “ideal” hospitals; being aware of this fact is essential for planning.
US medical students use the Visiting Students Application Service (VSAS) to obtain many away electives. Because this service is run by the Association of American Medical Colleges, Caribbean students cannot use it and therefore must apply individually to each hospital at which they want to rotate. And even if their residents are international medical graduates, many hospitals have policies that prohibit them from allowing these students to rotate. Some hospitals, including some HHC hospitals that recently contracted with St. George’s, will allow St. George’s students to rotate but won’t allow other Caribbean medical students to do rotations. Individual departments within a hospital also may have specific policies regarding international rotators. For example, one department within a hospital might allow international students to rotate while another might not. Therefore, it may require a tremendous amount of persistence for Caribbean medical students to obtain away rotations, and students should start seeking out information regarding which hospitals accept international medical students as rotators when they choose their desired specialty.
Where do the Caribbean school’s students match?
The be all and end all indicator of success is a medical school’s match list, many of which are published on schools’ websites. But, interpret these lists carefully. First of all, you want to know what percentage of graduating fourth year students obtain categorical matches. Why is this significant? Preliminary positions are only one year and do not guarantee a specialty match or board eligibility. Categorical positions, on the other hand, are specialty matches and do guarantee board eligibility. Many published school lists do not distinguish between preliminary versus categorical matches. One major Caribbean medical school recently disclosed at a faculty meeting that 15% of its graduating students did not obtain categorical positions last year. This information, is not easy to obtain, however, and for obvious reasons schools rarely disclose this raw data to prospective students and their parents.
How do US citizen IMGs perform nationally?
It is also essential to review the national data to see how US citizen IMGs fare in the match. In the past, the National Residency Matching Program (NRMP) released data that divided applicants into only two categories: US seniors and independent applicants, which limited interpretation of this data (See Charting outcomes in the match). Recently, however, the NRMP has started to further categorize this data, clarifying how each group performs. There is now a category for “US Citizen IMGs” and, even though this includes all US citizen international graduates, a large number of this group are Caribbean students.
The number of active US citizen IMGs in the 2010 Match was 3,695, which is 1,260 more than five years ago; 1,749 were matched to PGY-1 positions, down 0.5 percentage points from last year. (Resource: http://www.nrmp.org/data/resultsanddata2010.pdf) This data may be misleading, however, since it is not clear how many of these 3,695 students received “prematch” offers and therefore did not go through the match. Only international medical students and international medical graduates can accept “prematch” offers; US medical students cannot receive prematch offers.
Reviewing this data further, most US citizen IMGs match in internal medicine and family medicine; it is extremely difficult to match in competitive specialties. In 2010, for example, only one US citizen IMG matched in plastic surgery, otolaryngology, and dermatology. (Resource: http://www.nrmp.org/data/resultsanddata2010.pdf)
Looking Ahead
The ECFMG announced that, effective in 2023, all applicants and physicians “will need to graduate from a medical school that has been appropriately accredited” to receive ECFMG certification. This means that the medical school will need to be accredited through the Liaison Committee on Medical Education or other organizations such as the World Federation for Medical Education (WFME). Physicians must be ECFMG certified to take the USMLE Step 3 and to obtain an unrestricted license to practice medicine in the United States. Therefore, holding Caribbean and all international medical schools to higher standards will force schools to create curriculums that lead to better medical educations and graduates’ success.
Sunday, January 5, 2014
MedEdits Review Internet
MEDEDITS REVIEW Internet
Below is only a sampling of the unsolicited praise we have received from MedEdits clients and parents.
“Thank you so much! I can never thank you enough for how much you helped me. You'll definitely hear from me again when it comes time to apply for residency!!”–Medical School Client-----
“Thank you so much for helping my son last year with his Six Year Med Program. He is very happy to get his first choice. He already finished his first year. My husband and I just like to say thank you so much for the work you are doing to help young people. God bless you and keep you HAPPY AND HEALTHY so you can keep working. THANKS AGAIN.”–Parent of BS/MD Client-----
“I just wanted to tell you that I GOT IN!! :) I was the first on the waitlist and have officially received my offer of admission. I just wanted to say again how grateful I am for your help. The whole team on MedEdits has been wonderful and I look forward to working with you again in the near future.”–Medical School Client-----
“I got into [medical school name deleted] off the waitlist! I am really excited- after the interview it became my first choice. I want to thank you for everything you have helped me with in this very long application process. After all of your essay edits I have learned how to present myself as a candidate, which is a great skill to have. You also gave me advice that I think directly led to my interview there, and have been incredibly helpful with waitlist strategy. Thank you for everything.”–Medical School Client
For more MedEdits reviews, click here.-----
For more MedEdits reviews, click here.-----
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