The average number of applications submitted by applicants is up, too.
Here are the current averages for each specialty (considering all applicant types - MDs, DOs, and IMGs).
MD applicants in dermatology, otolaryngology, urology, and neurosurgery now submit a mean of around 80 applications or more - and the average MD applicant in orthopedics submits nearly 100 applications.
And here are the data for DO applicants.
In most specialties, DOs submit more applications than their MD peers. (The exceptions are a few highly competitive specialties, in which there are still programs that do not seriously consider DO applicants).
As a reminder, the figures above show only the average *within that specialty.*
But these days, many applicants apply to more than one specialty… so the total number of applications submitted by each applicant is even higher than the figures above would suggest.
Here are the 2020 ERAS cross-specialty applicant data, which show the extent of multiple-specialty application.
e.g., 148 applicants applied to both ortho and otolaryngology programs; 126 applied in both derm and PM&R; 169 applied in both psychiatry and general surgery; etc.
Here’s how the average number of applications submitted has grown over time - doubling in little over a decade.
Lots of questions about why I compared 2021 to 2019 (not 2020) in the first graphic.
Application numbers vary over the course of the season - but the start of the 2020 season was delayed. So to to make an apples-to-apples comparison, I went back a year.
Also - these aren’t my data. They’re from the AAMC, and they’re available to anyone who wants to splice them a different way.
For the past couple of days, my timeline has been full of headlines about how medical students are avoiding states with more restrictive abortion laws.
The headlines are tantalizing… but are they true?
I’m skeptical.
(🧵)
If you’ve somehow missed all of this, here’s a typical article (which happens to be the one I screenshotted above).
…and here’s the analysis by the @AAMCtoday, which used Electronic Residency Application Service data to find a decrease in U.S. MD graduates applying to residency programs in states with more restrictions on reproductive health.
Last week, a Nepali doctor filed a class action lawsuit against the National Board of Medical Examiners, alleging discrimination based upon national origin and requesting that invalidated USMLE scores be restored while examinees appeal.
The court will issue a ruling by February 21 - so the outcome of the suit remains uncertain.
Still, the NBME’s filing provides additional details on the scope of the scandal, how the cheaters were caught, and what’s likely to happen in the future.
First, the NBME confirmed the number of examinees involved.
According to their filing, 832 examinees have had at least one of their USMLE scores invalidated… so far.
This week, a Nepali doctor and Match applicant whose Step 1, Step 2 CK, and Step 3 scores were all invalidated has sued the NBME.
The NBME will respond by February 19, and the court will render a decision by February 21.
(🧵)
The suit alleges that the NBME did not follow its own policies by invalidating scores before the involved examinees had an opportunity to appeal.
The suit also alleges violations of the Civil Rights Act due to discrimination based on national origin and ethnicity, based on the USMLE’s initial statement that the scandal was “associated with Nepal.”
Big changes may be coming for internal medicine residency applicants in the 2024-2025 application cycle…
The @AAIMOnline is recommending:
-⬆️ preference signals from 7 to 15 (3 gold, 12 silver)
-capping interviews at 15
-no interviews before November 1
Increasing the number of signals will likely function as a soft application cap, as we’ve seen in other specialties.
Many IM programs will still evaluate/interview applicants who don’t signal - but many others will receive so many signaled applications that they’ll stop there.
This will shift the dominant application strategy from “Apply to as many programs as possible” to “How do I most effectively allocate my preference signals?”
Applicants who signal wisely will benefit… those who don’t will suffer.
If you want to become a pediatric subspecialist, you’ve gotta do a fellowship.
For most subspecialties, that fellowship lasts 3 years.
But most of that time isn’t spent learning clinical medicine. It’s spent doing research.
Ever wondered why these fellowships last so long?
🧵
The short answer is, “because the American Board of Pediatrics requires it.”
But why?
For instance, in many specialties, a resident can choose between a 2-year clinical or a 3-year academic fellowship. The ABIM accepts either… but the ABP only accepts the latter.
To find the answer, we’ve gotta go back to the early 1980s.
At that point, peds heme-onc was a 2-year fellowship. But PDs felt trainees needed more training time to attain clinical proficiency.
So they asked the ABP if they could increase ⬆️ their fellowship from 2 to 3 years.