Because most residency applicants now apply to programs which
participate in the NRMP via an electronic residency application
service (ERAS), many prospective applicants are unaware that they
must still do their own research on specific programs. If you are
currently attending a US medical school, make an appointment to
meet with your clinical or residency advisor first to get help in
identifying programs that match your career goals and strengths.
If you are applying as an Independent Applicant, obtain access to
the Graduate Medical Education Directory (also known as the Green
Book) or the online FRIEDA database. Both
of these are available through the American Medical Association
and contain specific information about individual programs,
listed by specialty and by location.
Many specialties organizations also maintain web based
residency program listings and contact information. However,
individual residency programs are free to set their own deadlines
for accepting applications and for what they must receive before
considering an application. Therefore, after you compile a list
of programs you are interested in, contact the programs directly
by either email or phone to obtain this program-specific
information so you will know what they expect you to submit and
when. Following is a list of web resources to use in researching
programs:
Once you gather the necessary application materials and
information from specific programs, it is wise to arrange program
information by the application deadlines so that you won't miss
out on applying because a particular program had an earlier than
usual deadline or required a unique piece to complete your
application packet. Before making choices about where to apply,
you will need to spend time doing some serious research. This
process may seem laborious (and it is), but it will be your
competitive advantage. In our experience, the amount of work and
effort you do early in this process will have a lot to do with
your success in getting interviews and, ultimately, to being
ranked highly and getting matched to a position. This research
can be time consuming and even frustrating. But remember that if
information about what programs to apply to were easily obtained,
then everyone would have it, and you could not gain any special
advantage through your own efforts. The research you do becomes
your edge, putting you in the right place at the right time to
get the job.
Start your research with the NRMP Match results books
(www.aamc.org/nrmp). These books list programs that
did not fill and which are therefore prime candidates for you to
target. First, assemble a list of programs in the specialty of
your choice that did not fill in one or more of the 3 previous
years. List each program�s name, phone number, email address, and
location, along with the program's Match results. Keep in mind
that the better a program, the more likely it will fill its
positions through the Match. Programs that offer competitive
training, high fellowship acceptance rates, high specialty board
exam passing rates, a strong and receptive leadership, and a
balance between education and service tend to fill their
positions year after year.
Some states have more graduate medical education positions
than there are graduates from the medical schools in that state
to fill them. This means that residencies in that state are used
to recruiting residents from outside the state. Reviewing the
same references listed above would identify the states and
communities with large numbers of GME positions. These locations
should be reviewed closely for the patterns of past Match fill
rates. There are often opportunities there.
Another good way to identify likely programs is to ask
friends, colleagues, and relatives to tell you of programs that
they know of that will accept IMGs. Some of these programs may
even offer contracts to IMGs before the Match. Don't be afraid to
ask. You might be amazed at the information you can uncover just
by asking. Be methodical. Make a list of all the people you know
in medicine, both inside and outside the United States. Then,
beside each name, indicate not only what they can do to help you,
but also your sense of how likely they are to provide that help.
With this list in front of you, start making contacts. By phone
is best; by e-mail or letter if you must. Explain that you are in
the process of seeking a residency position in the United States.
Ask if they have any advice and whether they know anyone who
might help you. If they seem uninterested, be gracious and move
on to the next person on your list. Don't be pushy, but this is
not a time to be shy, either.
Explore programs affiliated with community hospitals as well
as those affiliated with universities. While it is true that
obtaining fellowship training after residency may be more of a
challenge if you train in a community program, it is better to
secure training someplace and then work to strengthen your
fellowship competitiveness later than to apply only to university
programs and end up without a match at all. Many community based
programs offer excellent training, particularly if you aren�t
interested in sub-specializing, although they don't usually offer
research opportunities. Depending on what you career goals are, a
community based program may be just what the doctor ordered!
Smaller less well-known programs may also be more welcoming
than large programs with national reputations. The latter receive
huge volumes of applications and to cope with the volume, they
impose high score standards or even refuse to consider IMG
applicants at all. Smaller programs in a sense are hungrier and,
with fewer applicants to consider, they are often willing to look
at applications as a whole and view more experienced and mature
IMG applicants as a real bargain.
If you speak certain languages, this might also be an asset
that certain programs are looking for. Search for programs that
are likely serve patient populations that speak the language you
speak. Not having to find translators every time a patient shows
up streamlines the clinical work flow, so finding residents who
can speak Spanish, for example, is a priority for many
programs.