How many preliminary medicine programs to apply to

Internal Medicine Residency Program. Frequently Asked Questions How do I apply? Does the Preliminary Program require a separate interview?

How many positions are offered for Preliminary Year track? What is the benefit of completing both my preliminary year and advanced training at the same institution? For example, U. The likelihood of matching for U. In addition, students applying to competitive specialties, on average, had to submit more applications to reach the point of diminishing returns compared with those applying to primary care specialties.

In addition to considering the new data, the AAMC suggests several steps for students to follow when developing an application strategy:. She suggests students talk with faculty, including people who are familiar with specific residency programs. The new data will help faculty who discuss options with students understand the current Match environment, which is critical, Kashima noted. Her advisors suggested she apply to between 15 and 20 programs.

She submitted about 35 applications, applying to all internal medicine programs in Georgia, where she lived, as well as programs where she had taken electives as a visiting student. Candidates for internal medicine -- which does not typically fill all available residency spots -- applied to an average of 73 applications this cycle, up from 66 in Hammoud told MedPage Today it makes sense that applicants to competitive specialties would submit a greater number of applications.

Medical graduates spend incredible amounts of both time and money on residency applications. But programs, too, take on the burden of over-application, Hammoud said.

An average anesthesiology program, for example, received more than 1, residency applications this cycle, up from just over 1, in Carmody said an anesthesiology program might have between 8 and 10 residency slots to fill -- meaning that around applicants are vying for a single position. When programs receive more applications, it makes it difficult to distinguish which candidates are really interested in them, versus which are hoping to get a spot anywhere in a competitive market, Hammoud said.