Making the Rounds

Stepping into U.S. residency as an IMG? Consider these practical tips and cultural insights to help you succeed from day one.

What happens on Match Day? How many residency programs are there in the US? How many medical students matched in 2025? What happens if you don't match? Jeanette Calli, chief of match operations at the National Resident Matching Program, discusses the latest main residency match results, including Match Day participation rates and trends in the residency match process. Also covering Supplemental Offer and Acceptance Program (SOAP) results for residency placements. American Medical Association CXO Todd Unger hosts.✶✶✶✶ 

Ahead of Match Day, the NRMP's Chief Operating Officer Laurie Curtin, PhD, offers insight on recent Match trends that may ease stress for eager residency applicants.✶✶✶✶ 

Staying at an institution for residency can feel familiar but it comes with its own unique set of challenges. Avani Patel, MD, MHA, who attended medical school and did her GME training at the same location offers her thoughts. ✶✶✶✶ 

Going through the Supplemental Offer Acceptance Program made for chaotic Match Week for Victoria Gordon, DO. A few years later, she reflects on the process and offers advice for those who might have to match through SOAP.✶✶✶✶ 

Alison Schmidt, MD, a resident physician who went through residency selection virtually, offers advice on how applicants can get a feel for program culture during virtual residency interviews. Dr. Schmidt is an obstetrics and gynecology resident at Michigan Medicine.✶✶✶✶ 

Which questions are you likely to hear during residency interviews? Leigh Eck, MD—the director of the Internal Medicine Residency Program at the University of Kansas Medical Center—offers some tips on common questions and how to prepare for them.✶✶✶✶ 

Charles Lopresto, DO gives tips on how residency applicants can highlight their passions and extracurricular experiences during interviews. Prepared to talk about your research project? Know how to answer about your experiences as an advocate? Dr. Lopresto covers all this and more. ✶✶✶✶ 

What do residency programs care about the most? What does AMA do for medical school? How important is advocacy in medical education? Why is healthcare advocacy important? Michael Suk, MD, JD, MPH, MBA, and chair of the AMA Board of Trustees, discusses the vital role of health care advocacy for medical students and residents, and how involvement in organized medicine can enhance a candidate's residency application and contribute to their development as a physician leader. American Medical Association CXO Todd Unger hosts.✶✶✶✶ 

From letters of recommendation to your CV, what does a complete residency application packet entail and where might students trip up?  In this episode, AMA senior news writer Brendan Murphy talks with Mark C. Meyer, MD, senior associate dean for student affairs at the University of Kansas School of Medicine, about mistakes to avoid and ways you can take your application to the next level. Get more from the interview -- read the article Brendan mentions, here: https://www.ama-assn.org/medical-students/preparing-residency/do-s-and-don-ts-cv-writing-residency-applicants✶✶✶✶ 

Is residency signaling important? Why write a residency personal statement? Should I put geographic preference on ERAS? What makes a medical student CV stand out? Deborah Clements, MD, is chair of the department of family and community medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, and program director for the McGaw Northwestern Family Medicine Residency at Lake Forest. As a chair on the board of National Resident Matching Program (NRMP), Dr. Clements shares advice on how to stand out on your residency application. ✶✶✶✶ 

David Savage, MD, a hematology-oncology fellow at Scripps Clinic in California talks about the process of transferring residency programs. Dr. Savage draws from personal experience to offers insights on how those considering a transfer should approach that decision.✶✶✶✶ 

Reapplying for Match and wondering where to start? Family medicine resident Thomas Irwin, MD, MBA, and his advisor Carla Keirns, MD, PhD, associate professor of medical ethics and medicine at University of Kansas Medical Center talk about strategies to do just that.✶✶✶✶ 

Get tips for navigating your upcoming move to your residency program's location. Leif Knight, MD (they/them) is a first-year emergency medicine resident at Brown University and shares their experience weighing the factors before they made their big move. As an AMA member, they serve as a delegate for the Residents & Fellows Section as well as Vice Chair of the LGBTQ+ section counsel with the AMA.✶✶✶✶ 

What happens on Match Day? How many residency programs are there in the US? How many medical students matched in 2024? What happens if you don't match? Our guest is Jeanette Calli, chief of Match Operations, at the National Resident Matching Program. American Medical Association CXO Todd Unger hosts.✶✶✶✶ 

The public Match Day celebrations aren't for everyone. Haidn Foster, MD had a low-key Match Day experience and offers insight on the pros of that approach.✶✶✶✶ 

Going through the Supplemental Offer Acceptance Program made for chaotic Match Week for Victoria Gordon, DO. A few years later, she reflects on the process and offers advice for those who might have to match through SOAP. ✶✶✶✶ 

Dr. Docherty, now a practicing family medicine physician in New York, gives residency applicants his keys to making a comprehensive rank-order list. ✶✶✶✶ 

While M4s are focused on the next steps of their careers, they also have to hone the skills to be a skilled intern come summer. Dr. Meg Wolff, clinical professor in the department of emergency medicine and pediatrics at the University of Michigan Medical School, offers insight on how students can avoid getting too distracted by the Match process. ✶✶✶✶ 

Alice Chen, medical student at George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences talks about her research submission for the AMA Research Challenge: Effect of Mesenchymal Stromal Cell Delivery Through Cardiopulmonary Bypass in a Piglet Model. Find her poster here: https://www.ama-assn.org/system/files/alice-chen-poster.pdf Learn more about the AMA Research Challenge here: https://www.ama-assn.org/about/events/ama-research-challenge-finals✶✶✶✶ 

Jesse Kirkpatrick, a third year medical student at Harvard Medical School talks about his research in developing an early diagnostic test for cholangiocarcinoma, a rare cancer. Read his poster here: https://www.ama-assn.org/system/files/jesse-kirkpatrick-poster.pdf Learn more about the AMA research challenge: https://www.ama-assn.org/about/events/ama-research-challenge-finals✶✶✶✶ 

Cardiology fellow at the Texas Heart Institute, Matthew Segar, MD, MS talks about his research submission for the AMA Research Challenge: improving non-clinical tasks using a machine learning-enabled provider workflow. Find his poster here: https://www.ama-assn.org/system/files/matthew-segar-poster.pdf Learn more about the AMA Research Challenge here: https://www.ama-assn.org/about/events/ama-research-challenge-finals

Third-year medical student Jack Gomberg from Icahn School of Medicine Mount Sinai, shares about his research submission for the AMA Research Challenge, identifying white matter markers for treatment outcomes in major depressive disorder (MDD). Find his poster here: https://www.ama-assn.org/system/files/jack-gomberg-poster.pdf Learn more about the AMA Research Challenge here: https://www.ama-assn.org/about/events/ama-research-challenge-finals

Srujith Medharamelta, a second year medical student at Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine, Midwestern University, talks about his research submission for this year's AMA Research Challenge. His poster is titled: Effects of Obesity on the Neuromuscular Junction of Genioglossus Muscle and Other Associated Muscles of Respiration. Learn more about the AMA Research Challenge here: https://www.ama-assn.org/about/events/ama-research-challenge-finals

Hilary Fairbrother, MD, has been interviewing residents for a decade. An associate professor and the vice chair of education at UT Health in Houston, she offers tips on standing out during residency interviews in the virtual format.

Bobby Mukkamala, MD, an otolaryngologist in Michigan joins today for the first of many “What I Wish I Knew in Medical School” conversations with physician leaders and medical experts. American Medical Association CXO Todd Unger hosts.

John Andrews, MD, vice president of GME Innovations at the AMA, joins to discuss the transition from undergraduate medical education to graduate medical education and how to prepare medical students for residency. Dr. Andrews points out the biggest pain points in the transition and the things incoming residents can do between medical school and residency to prepare to practice.

While DO applicants are matching at a similar rate to MDs, there are a few intricacies to the process osteopathic medical students should keep top of mind.  Isaac Kirstein, DO, internist and dean at the Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine Cleveland is our guest on this episode.

The application process and Match prospects are different for international medical graduates. IMG and veteran of the Match, Victor Kolade, MD, MS, FACP, offers a few tips and tricks for applicants. Find your IMG mentor with the AMA: https://www.ama-assn.org/education/international-medical-education/international-medical-graduates-img-toolkit-mentorship

It isn't uncommon for residency applicants to rank more than one specialty. A former dual applicant and current ob-gyn resident at Ascension Saint Joseph Hospital-Chicago, Deena Kishawi, MD, gives advice on how it can be done effectively.

As aspiring residents narrow options, how should one get a comprehensive view of the strength of their residency application? Deborah Spitz, MD, who directs residency training in the department of psychiatry and behavioral neuroscience at University of Chicago Medicine, offers her thoughts on a realistic approach to both choosing a specialty and which programs to apply to.

For future physicians approaching residency selection, letters of recommendation can be a vital part of application packets. Suzanne Allen, MD, MPH—vice dean for academic, rural and regional affairs at the University of Washington School of Medicine—offers tips on picking the best letter writers.

Finalizing one's specialty choice is a key step before residency application season. Kathleen Kashima, PhD, senior associate dean of students at the University of Illinois College of Medicine offers vital guidance on that crucial decision. Webinar: https://aamc.elevate.commpartners.com/products/aamcama-t2r-tools-for-a-successful-residency-application-for-2024-residency-applicants-us-md-do-and-imgs-may-22#tab-product_tab_overview

Kelli E. Krase, MD, director of the obstetrics and gynecology residency at the University of Kansas Medical Center offers tips to help visiting students thrive clinically and stand out to potential future colleagues during away rotations.

We want to hear from medical students! Record and submit your questions to help inform future “What I Wish I Knew in Medical School” episodes here: https://bit.ly/3CweAJ1 Special "What I Wish I Knew In Medical School" segment discussing the rewards and challenges of becoming and being a DO with Ilse Levin, DO, an AMA Trustee and a board-certified internist and epidemiologist, as well as a hospital-based physician for the Mid-Atlantic Permanente Medical Group in Silver Spring, Md. American Medical Association CXO Todd Unger hosts.

Tune in on AMA's YouTube channel May 21st at 7:00 PM CT for inspiring messages and advice from Anthony Fauci, MD, Ashish Jha, MD, MPH, Rochelle Walensky, MD, MPH, Robert Califf, MD, and more as we celebrate the nation's newest medical graduates. Subscribe now.

National Resident Matching Program's Donna L. Lamb, DHSc, breaks down the numbers from this year's residency Match. Discussing Match rates, changes by specialty, SOAP results, and what's in store for Class of 2024 Match Day. American Medical Association CXO Todd Unger hosts.

John Andrews, MD, has decades of experience working in residency programs. Currently the AMA's vice president for GME innovations, he offers tips to freshly matched residents-to-be on how to ease their transition to the next level of their training.

Chhavi Chaudhary, MD, didn't Match through the traditional channel or SOAP. Now a first-year fellow in the child and adolescent psychiatry division at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, she offers insight on coping with not matching and how unmatched applicants can find a position.

Chantal Young, PhD, shares what to do to maintain wellness and minimize stress after you submit your rank-order list and wait for Match Week. Young—director of the office of well-being at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC)—also dives into some coping mechanism for those who don't match.

Dr. Docherty, a family medicine resident at United Health Services in Binghamton, New York, gives residency applicants his keys to making a comprehensive rank-order list.

Our guests doctors Michaela Pesce, MD and Brandon Temel, MD—share their advice for and experience going through the Couple's Match. Dr. Pesce is a first-year obstetrics and gynecology resident and Dr. Brandon Temel is a first-year internal medicine resident. 

The financial reality of attending medical school can be particularly jarring for students from historically marginalized racial and ethnic groups who represent the first in their family to attend medical school. In this episode, first-generation medical students cover topics around financial literacy, debt management, different types of loans and repayment plans, building generational wealth, types of retirement plans, and more in an effort to financially empower medical students. Guests include: Sanjay Sharma, MD, MS, MBA; Michael Sweeney, MD, MBA, and Kabir Grewal, a medical student at the Florida State University and president of an organization at FSU that that educates med students about financial literacy and health care economics.

Associate program director of the emergency medicine residency at Geisinger Medical Center, Chadd Kraus, DO, DrPH, CPE, FACEP, offers tips on follow-up etiquette and how to gather information after a residency interview.

Leelabati Biswas, an MD/PhD candidate at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, shares about her research: Decoding Pregnancy Loss, Validating a Novel Genetic Biomarker of Poor Egg Quality. The AMA Research Challenge is the largest national, multi-specialty research event for medical students, residents and fellows, and international medical graduates to showcase and present research. Learn more by visiting: https://www.ama-assn.org/about/events/ama-research-challenge