After you’ve applied to residency programs and while you are waiting for interview invitations, there are many questions you may think about. For example, you may wonder about the ratio between the number of applications programs receive versus how many invitations are sent out, and when the bulk of the interview invitations are extended versus when the interviews are actually held.

Fortunately, NRMP® regularly performs surveys with thousands of residency Program Directors to get a better sense of how Program Directors are making decisions as a whole, shedding some much-needed light on the mysterious program side of the entire residency application process. (Source)

Below is an analysis of the average applications received per individual program, residency interview invitations extended, interviews attended, the month with the most interviews extended, and month with the most interviews held for the most popular 18 medical specialties.

Anesthesiology

Average # of Applications Received: 721

Average # of Interview Invitations Sent: 162

Average # of Applicants Interviewed: 124

Month of Largest Percent of Interviews Sent: October (59%)

Month of Largest Percent of Interviews Held: November (36%)

Child Neurology

Average # of Applications Received: 95

Average # of Interview Invitations Sent: 24

Average # of Applicants Interviewed: 18

Month of Largest Percent of Interviews Sent: October (58%)

Month of Largest Percent of Interviews Held: November (37%)

Dermatology

Average # of Applications Received: 449

Average # of Interview Invitations Sent: 38

Average # of Applicants Interviewed: 34

Month of Largest Percent of Interviews Sent: November (63%)

Month of Largest Percent of Interviews Held: January or Later (53%)

Emergency Medicine

Average # of Applications Received: 905

Average # of Interview Invitations Sent: 188

Average # of Applicants Interviewed: 145

Month of Largest Percent of Interviews Sent: October (58%)

Month of Largest Percent of Interviews Held: November (35%)

Family Medicine

Average # of Applications Received: 1,240

Average # of Interview Invitations Sent: 111

Average # of Applicants Interviewed: 87

Month of Largest Percent of Interviews Sent: October (42%)

Month of Largest Percent of Interviews Held: November (33%)

Internal Medicine

Average # of Applications Received: 2,619

Average # of Interview Invitations Sent: 248

Average # of Applicants Interviewed: 201

Month of Largest Percent of Interviews Sent: October (48%)

Month of Largest Percent of Interviews Held: November/December (34%)

Internal Medicine/Pediatrics

Average # of Applications Received: 254

Average # of Interview Invitations Sent: 76

Average # of Applicants Interviewed: 61

Month of Largest Percent of Interviews Sent: October (59%)

Month of Largest Percent of Interviews Held: November/December (38%)

Neurological Surgery

Average # of Applications Received: 241

Average # of Interview Invitations Sent: 51

Average # of Applicants Interviewed: 40

Month of Largest Percent of Interviews Sent: October (69%)

Month of Largest Percent of Interviews Held: December (37%)

Neurology

Average # of Applications Received: 530

Average # of Interview Invitations Sent: 79

Average # of Applicants Interviewed: 62

Month of Largest Percent of Interviews Sent: October (52%)

Month of Largest Percent of Interviews Held: November (36%)

OBGYN

Average # of Applications Received: 488

Average # of Interview Invitations Sent: 92

Average # of Applicants Interviewed: 73

Month of Largest Percent of Interviews Sent: October (61%)

Month of Largest Percent of Interviews Held: November (41%)

Orthopaedic Surgery

Average # of Applications Received: 669

Average # of Interview Invitations Sent: 77

Average # of Applicants Interviewed: 64

Month of Largest Percent of Interviews Sent: November (65%)

Month of Largest Percent of Interviews Held: January or Later (51%)

Pathology

Average # of Applications Received: 432

Average # of Interview Invitations Sent: 62

Average # of Applicants Interviewed: 44

Month of Largest Percent of Interviews Sent: October (47%)

Month of Largest Percent of Interviews Held: November (40%)

Pediatrics

Average # of Applications Received: 1,212

Average # of Interview Invitations Sent: 234

Average # of Applicants Interviewed: 185

Month of Largest Percent of Interviews Sent: October (52%)

Month of Largest Percent of Interviews Held: November (35%)

PM&R

Average # of Applications Received: 350

Average # of Interview Invitations Sent: 70

Average # of Applicants Interviewed: 65

Month of Largest Percent of Interviews Sent: October (41%)

Month of Largest Percent of Interviews Held: December (36%)

Psychiatry

Average # of Applications Received: 983

Average # of Interview Invitations Sent: 105

Average # of Applicants Interviewed: 86

Month of Largest Percent of Interviews Sent: October (49%)

Month of Largest Percent of Interviews Held: November/December (30%)

Radiology (Diagnostic)

Average # of Applications Received: 445

Average # of Interview Invitations Sent: 113

Average # of Applicants Interviewed: 88

Month of Largest Percent of Interviews Sent: October (55%)

Month of Largest Percent of Interviews Held: January or Later (31%)

Surgery

Average # of Applications Received: 759

Average # of Interview Invitations Sent: 83

Average # of Applicants Interviewed: 63

Month of Largest Percent of Interviews Sent: October (48%)

Month of Largest Percent of Interviews Held: December (34%)

Transitional Year

Average # of Applications Received: 549

Average # of Interview Invitations Sent: 103

Average # of Applicants Interviewed: 83

Month of Largest Percent of Interviews Sent: October (46%)

Month of Largest Percent of Interviews Held: November (34%)

 

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