Residency

IMG’s performance in residency was briefly described in the IMG Performance (link to the page) page. US Residency is the ultimate goal or almost any Caribbean Medical Student. This is where the entire investment pays dividend. Although it is still not the end of the road as you did not obtain the license yet, obtaining residency is an important step and crossover from student to a medical professional.

The National Residency Matching Program (The Match) and the AAMC who oversees the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS) handle the residency matching and application process in the United States. Residency match happens once per year, and the results are usually announced mid-March. In Canada, the IMGs apply to residency through Canadian Residency Matching Service (CARMS). While in United States the IMGs match for residency 51% of the time, in Canada that percentage is cut in less than half (22.5% in 2016).

As an incoming student who is trying to select the school the important thing to know is that the Residency Program Directors give significant importance to your performance on the standardized examinations as well as to the MSPE (Medical Student Performance Evaluation filled out by your school) and the Letters of Recommendations in the specialty. These are the top four items that will determine whether you will be granted an interview.

Tip #33: Find out what processes school has in place to assist students in their residency application process. Ask to speak to a person handling residency application process or a student that recently matched for residency.

While it may not be important to you know, knowing that the school has a well-developed system in place will become very important in 4-5 years. It would be extremely disappointing to reach the end of the medical education to find out that the school has poor ability to assist with your residency application. With an average of 51% chance to match (22.5% in Canada), you can use all the help you can get to obtain the residency you want.