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Tips for selecting the best new residents

Residency Program Alert, September 1, 2009

This is an excerpt from a member only article. To read the article in its entirety, please login or subscribe to Residency Program Alert.

Most business executives would agree that if the organization recruits well, success will follow. This idea is just as important for GME programs as it is for the business world. Recruiting the best residents will strengthen the caliber of the training program. Program directors and coordinators have no control over who submits applications to them for consideration, where the candidates rank the program, or the outcome of the Match. They do control which applicants they interview and how they position those applicants on the rank list.

Program directors will determine the process for reviewing applications. Generally, there are two ways used to screen applications:

• Program directors utilize the program coordinator for the initial screening of applicants. This is the most common way programs handle applications. Program directors give the coordinator a set of criteria that he or she will use to weed out those who do not meet minimum standards. Measures may include United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) scores, receipt of the medical school transcripts, and a set number of letters of recommendation (LoR). The program coordinator sends those applicants who make the cut on for a second review by the program director and/or the application review committee.

This is an excerpt from a member only article. To read the article in its entirety, please login or subscribe to Residency Program Alert.

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