Ever wondered about how the residency match works? Whether you're a premed student figuring out which
medical schools to apply to or a soon-to-be MD or DO graduate waiting for Match Day,
knowing the statistics about match rates could be helpful. What factors influence
match rates? How to choose your residency to secure a match? How important is your medical
school for residency matching? These are some of the questions we'll answer in this video.
Plus, we will reveal which medical schools in Canada and the US have the best match rates.
Hi! My name is Chris and I am one of the admissions associates here at BeMo.
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to specific sections of the video that you are interested in. Here's what we plan to cover today:
Factors that Influence Match Rates * How Important is Your School for
Residency Matching?* * Which Schools Have
the Best Match Rates in the US * Top 15 Schools with Best Match Rates in Canada
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Factors That Influence Match Rates There are some other crucial factors
that could impact how students are matched to a residency.
Specialty Choice Competitive Specialty Preferences
An important factor to consider in residency matching is how the match rates of different
specialties influence the overall match rates for a medical school.
Applicants from elite medical schools are more likely to apply for the most competitive
residencies such as surgery, dermatology, and so on. These residencies generally have the
fewest spots and high admission standards; statistically speaking, this means students
applying only to competitive residencies are least likely to get their first-choice residency match
and may sometimes not get a match at all simply due to their choice of residencies.
Some medical students are focused on these competitive residencies and do not want to
compromise with any safe options, which could lead them to not get any matches,
even if they have excellent USMLE scores and belong to top-ranked medical schools.
This could also work in reverse applicants opting for least competitive residencies
like family medicine and internal medicine are more likely to get matched
and hence schools could have excellent match rates due to their students largely applying
only to these safe residency choices. This also explains why some DO schools
have better match rates than allopathic schools. The osteopathic medical curriculum is focused on
primary care specialties like internal and family medicine and primary care residency programs,
especially those with a pre-existing osteopathic affiliation, could give their students preference.
The flip side of this consideration is that many of the most competitive specialties
give preference to students from high ranking medical schools. This could be due to several
other reasons than the perceived prestige of the school. For instance, most of the
top medical schools have excellent research facilities and often have the resources and
connections to help their students gain early, significant experience in a specific specialty.
They may have a wider list of affiliate hospitals for students to complete their rotations in,
and they may offer specialized medical training in the highly competitive specialties. Due to
a combination of these factors, applicants from these schools may have a more impressive resume
for competitive residencies. Residency-specific placements
Every medical school has a different focus and set up when it comes to the medical training they
offer. Though the basic medical school curriculum is the same, some programs may offer more training
opportunities in a specific specialty, in the form of additional elective courses,
a more focused curriculum, clinical rotation options, research exposure, hospital affiliations,
and so on. As a result, some medical schools have a reputation for training students in a
specific specialty. Students from such schools are more likely to choose and get matched to the
same type of specialties and this influences the residency match rates for those programs.
This could be simply because those schools attract students interested in that specific specialty,
and those students seek out residency spots in the same specialty. And residency directors are
more likely to accept students with extensive previous experience in that field and with a
perceived commitment to their specialty. For instance, students who graduate from the best
medical schools for surgery such as Johns Hopkins or Harvard University have a higher chance of
getting into competitive surgery residencies. Moreover, many medical schools affiliate with
hospitals belonging to a specific specialty and students, while completing their rotations
in those institutions, use the chance to form useful connections and gain meaningful experience
that gives them an edge when they later apply for a residency position in the same program.
Both perceived commitment to specialty and audition elective/rotation within department
are key factors for residency directors determining who to accept.
That is why, for example, certain primary-care oriented medical schools like New York Medical
College, Howard University College of Medicine, and the top osteopathic schools
have a great residency match rate, equal to the elite medical schools.
It s important to remember that overall and school specific match data changes
from year to year. While we can discuss overall trends and probabilities, it s hard to predict
exact numbers because there are a number of factors that could change the results.
Every batch of medical students has a different composition, and every med student has a different
priority, and these intangible changes add up to cause minor fluctuations in match rates.
Demographic Influence Location
Location is a key concern when it comes to residency matching.
Residency is a long-term commitment to a specific hospital and location,
and applicants may prioritize applying to residency programs only in specific locations,
especially if they have family commitments. On the other hand, some residency programs
may prioritize applicants from local medical schools, as part of their official policy
or simply because these students are more likely to have completed rotations in their department.
Therefore, medical schools in that region will naturally show higher match rates.
Language Some residency programs
have a strong preference for applicants who meet specific language requirements. For instance,
residency programs based out of Quebec service mostly French-speaking communities and hence
prefer applicants who are fluent in French and have received their medical training in French.
This gives applicants from French language medical schools an edge, and their residency match rates
could be boosted as a result. How Important is Your School
in the Residency Matching Process? Recent NRMP data shows that in the US,
the overall match rate is 78.5% for all applicants including international medical graduates.
This means that quite a few applicants don t get a residency match at all. This is simply
because the residency matching process in the US is very competitive and there simply
aren t enough residency positions to match the number of applicants.
Nevertheless, it s a scary prospect for any medical student to not get a residency match
after all the time, money, and hard work invested in medical school.
So, what does influence residency matching? How do residency directors make their decisions?
A recent NRMP report explored the key factors that programs consider when matching residents
and how important each factor is. According to this report, Graduate of highly?regarded
medical (MD/DO) school was a selection factor for 46% of programs and the median importance
they gave this factor was 3.6 (out of 5). But, it was only 25th on the list, which means 24 other
factors are, on average, considered more important this this one! Traditionally, your experiences,
scores, and other application components have a much higher influence on your match chances than
the reputation of your school. Limited Time Offer Ultimately, belonging to a medical school with an
excellent match rate is not a guarantee you ll be matched to the residency program of your choice.
Your USMLE scores, resume, letters of recommendation, interview, etc. will be
the final determinant of your success. Success and excellence are not a direct result of which school
you go to, but of your own efforts and skills! Which Schools Have the Best Match Rates in the US?
In the US, applicants use the ERAS portal to apply for residency positions and the National
Resident Matching Program (NRMP) matches applicants to medical schools across the US.
NRMP does not release information about residency match rates based on medical schools,
but there are some specific trends in matching that are interesting to note.
Generally speaking, elite schools such as Ivy League medical schools and UC schools have the
best match rates. These are the match rates of some of the top medical schools in the US:
* Harvard Medical School: As per data released from the Harvard Medical School Office of Student
Affairs, Harvard has a match rate of 95%, with 46% matched to Harvard affiliated programs.
Of the unmatched students, 2 graduates pursued Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and
the remaining pursued non-clinical positions. * Weill Cornell Medical College: As per data
released by the school, 99% of Cornell applicants matched to a residency and 91% of these matched
to residency positions in the top 50 institutions. * Yale School of Medicine: As per the Yale School
of Medicine Office of Student Affairs, most of Yale s medical graduates matched to a residency
program. 94% matched to 1 of their top 5 choices and 91% matched to 1 of their top 3 choices.
* Stanford Medicine: A few years ago, Stanford Medicine boasted a complete 100%
match rate for all 85 of their medical graduates. Stanford has not released the latest specific
residency match rates, but they continue to have excellent overall match rates and their graduates
get into the most competitive residencies. * University of Pennsylvania Perelman
School of Medicine: According to the latest data released by the school,
they have an overall residency match rate of 98%.
It s not just top-ranking medical schools that boast excellent match rates.
Some smaller universities that focus on less competitive residencies like primary care,
also have excellent match rates: * Creighton University School of Medicine:
According to the latest data released by this school, 100% of their graduating class
matched to a residency, with 91% getting their first-choice residency. 53% of their students
matched to primary care residency positions. * University of North Carolina Chapel Hill School
of Medicine: Their latest data confirms that 96% of their graduating class matched to a residency.
* Kansas City University College of Medicine: Their latest residency match data shows that 99%
of graduating students matched to a residency. * Howard University College of Medicine:
According to their latest reports, they have a residency match rate of 89%.
There are also some interesting match statistics to consider when it comes to DO vs MD matching
rates. According to the latest NRMP data, the overall residency match rate is 92.8% for
US MD seniors, and 89.1% for US DO seniors. Overall, allopathic medical graduates have
a slight advantage over their osteopathic peers when it comes to residency matching. However, the
best osteopathic medical schools could have higher match rates when compared to some lower-ranked or
even top-ranked allopathic schools. For example: * University of North Texas Health Science Center
College of Osteopathic Medicine: According to the data released on the official website,
in the last few years, 99% to 100% of their graduating DO students
have found residency placements. * Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine:
Their latest data reveals that 99.1% of their graduating class found a placement
in a graduate medical program. * Lincoln Memorial University
College of Osteopathic Medicine: Their latest data shows that 94.1% of their
graduating class was matched to a residency. Top 15 Schools With Best Match Rates in Canada
In Canada, medical school seniors and graduates use the Canadian Resident Matching
Service or CaRMs to apply for residency positions. According to the latest CaRMs data,
the overall match rate of Canadian medical graduates to residency spots in Canada was 96.6%,
with 81.7% of these applicants getting matched to their first-choice residency. The match
rate for international medical graduates was 29.1% and for US medical graduates was 59.5%.
As per CaRMs data, these are the medical schools in Canada with the highest residency match rates
for Canadian medical graduates: 1. School: Northern Ontario School of Medicine
Number of Students Entering Match: 59 Match Rate: 100%
2. School: University of Ottawa Faculty of Medicine
Number of Students Entering Match: 161 Match Rate: 99.7%
3. School: Memorial University of Newfoundland Faculty of Medicine
Number of Students Entering Match: 81 Match Rate: >95 %
4. School: University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine
Number of Students Entering Match: 263 Match Rate: >95%
5. School: University of British Columbia Faculty of Medicine
Number of Students Entering Match: 293 Match Rate: >95%
6. School: Queen's University School of Medicine Number of Students Entering Match: 100
Match Rate: >95%
7. School: Universit Laval Faculty of Medicine
Number of Students Entering Match: 235 Match Rate: >95%
8. School: Schulich School of Medicine at Western University
Number of Students Entering Match: 172 Match Rate: >95%
9. School: University of Alberta Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry
Number of Students Entering Match: 168 Match Rate: 90-95%
10. School: Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine at McMaster University
Number of Students Entering Match: 203 Match Rate: 90-95%
ited Spots Available 11. School: Universit de Sherbrooke Medical School
Number of Students Entering Match: 197 Match Rate: 90-95%
12. School: Universit de Montr al Faculty of Medicine
Number of Students Entering Match: 326 Match Rate: 90-95%
13. School: Dalhousie University Faculty of Medicine
Number of Students Entering Match: 114 Match Rate: 90-95%
14. School: McGill University Medical School
Number of Students Entering Match: 193 Match Rate: 90-95%
15. School: Cumming School of Medicine at University of Calgary
Number of Students Entering Match: 165 Match Rate: 90-95%
As can be seen from the list above, Canadian medical schools have excellent match rates
for Canadian medical students. The main reason for this is that Canadian residency programs generally
prefer placing Canadian medical graduates i.e., applicants from Canadian medical schools.
It s much more difficult for US and international applicants to get a placement via CaRMS.
Check out our blog to learn even more about the residency match and how it works. I have included
a link in the description of this video so you can find the blog easily. If you would like us
to help you match for residency, click on the link above or below this video to schedule your free
initial consultation. Hopefully you enjoyed this video and received answers you were looking for.
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