International Medical
Graduates Match and Scramble Services
IMG Residency®
Post Scramble Service
We pioneered Scramble services 7 years ago. Seven years is a long time to invent
and test a variety of strategies. The success of our clientele has been measured over and
over. We know how to scramble, period.
Scramble gets more competitive every year. The main reason for this is the ever-increasing number
of well-qualified applicants.
Here are some numbers for the year 2008 and delta with 2007, 2006, and 2005.
2008
08-07 Delta
07-06 Delta
06-05 Delta
Available residency positions
22,240
+395
+186
+205
U.S. Senior Applicants
15,242
+36
+198
+289
IMG Applicants
15,698
+586
+1,046
+1,078
Unfilled positions for the Scramble
1,300
-31
-247
-107
Scrambling U.S. Seniors
703
+189
-516
+28
Unfilled positions left for IMGs
597
-220
+179
-135
Scrambling IMGs
9,117
+1,649
+3,361
+560
IMG's odds in the scramble (Averaged)
6.5%
-4%
-4%
-1%
The statistics above do not account for candidates who scrambled without
participating in the match, which makes IMG's chances even lower.
We have spent a lot of time analyzing the results and determining statistical
correlations, therefore improving our process and future candidates' chances.
More and more positions get filled in the pre-match and match. Program match quotas go
down every year, indicating a wider acceptance of prematch practice, which was not allowed
by the NRMP® until two years ago. The number of unfilled positions has also gone down.
What do you do if you did not match and couldn't get a position in the Scramble?
Post Scramble
After the Match and Scramble are over, there are still a few positions left to fill.
Some programs invite applicants for a face to face interview but they do not come
because they get an offer from another program and accepted it. Some applicants get
into two chairs in the scramble; they accepted an offer from a program and then a better
offer came. Later in the season, some applicants cannot get their visas on time.
Positions do open. How do you find them?
Our Services
We will create a website (see a sample at http://www.imgresidency.com/sample/) for your application. Your application will get delivered
to all programs after the Match. If a position opens, you get a chance to be considered. We also will:
Review your application
Develop a plan of action. This plan includes how to get U.S. LORs and clinical experience (if necessary).
Professionally edit your documents (if necessary)
Guide you throughout the entire process. Sometimes, a simple review can identify things that can be easily
improved.
Submit your application to all programs looking for an opening.
Provide you with a personalized list of programs in your specialty matching your credentials for this and next year's Match.
Prices vary based on applicant profile. Please contact us for details.
How To Register for the Post Scramble Service
Please send us the following documents for a free review by e-mail info@imgresidency.com or fax (815) 550-2224. We will get back
with you usually the same day with a review, pricing details, and a contract.
ERAS® Common Application Form (CAF)
Personal statements, one for each
specialty
Cover letters, one for each specialty
Dean's letter
LORs. If you waived your right to see the letter or the only copy you had was sent to ERAS, please provide LOR writers' names and contact information.
Call us if you have any questions: (210) 787-4555. You can also
click on the Messenger button to begin online chat with a representative:
For those that scramble
We want to
share our A Plan for Scramble article, which has been published by many
websites and was referred to as very helpful by hundreds of people that used
it. It may sound confusing at first; please try to read it a couple of times
until you have a clear understanding of the plan.
A Plan for Scramble
A day before the Scramble - Log on to ERAS and select ALL the programs from the
specialties you wish to apply for. Assign Personal Statement, LORs, and all
other documents the same way you did when applying for the Match. As a result,
you should have all the programs in the "Selected" list with all the documents
already assigned. Here is the reason. On the Scramble day, you will be able to
apply to the 30 programs that ERAS allows much-much faster. You will
only have to find them in your Selected list, check the boxes, and click Apply.
This will take you about 2 minutes. If you had to select them and assign the
documents on the Scramble day, you would have spent at least one hour.
Scramble day:
11:50PM EST - Log on to ERAS and navigate to the Programs tab and then to the
"Apply to Programs" tab, where you already selected all the possible programs a
day earlier.
12:00PM EST - Log on to NRMP and get the Unfilled Positions report for your
specialty. If you are looking for more than one specialty, you will have to run
the report multiple times.
12:05PM EST -Having both windows
open, ERAS and NRMP, start picking programs from NRMP's list and selecting them
in the ERAS window. The best selection would be in or around your city. As soon as
you have 25-28 selected, click at Apply to Programs button.
This will take you from 2 to 10 minutes, depending on how fast you can navigate
between the windows. Try to do some test runs before the scramble. You can
search for the previous year's list on the Internet.
Now, you can start e-mailing, calling, and faxing the programs. If you can get
help from friends and relatives - please do so. Priorities should be set as
following: E-mailing, Calling, Faxing. You and your helpers should do some dry
runs of e-mailing a couple of days before the Scramble. This will help you
improve your throughput significantly. Here is the sequence: New E-mail, To:
copy and paste from the list, Subject: copy and paste from a template you
prepared earlier, Body: copy and paste from the template, Add attachments:
select a PDF or MS Word file you prepared earlier with your complete
application.
Calling - have your helpers dialing the numbers. Most of them will be busy. If
any of them gets through, you should take the phone and start talking.
Faxing - the least effective way of communication. Doing it with a fax machine
will let you send 2-3 applications at most. You can subscribe to some faxing
service online and submit your documents to them a day earlier. Keep in mind
that the fax get-through rate will be very low - 2-10%. For this reason, it isn't
going to be the best way to invest your time.
If at any time through this process you get a phone call, drop everything and
fully concentrate on the interview.
Should you be calling the programs?
This is the question everybody asks. You shouldn't dismiss this opportunity
altogether but it is very important to set your priorities. When you are
calling the programs, you can get three possible answers:
"Please submit your application."
If you say that your application has been submitted, the answer will be either
"We will call you after we look at the application if you qualify." or
The best one - "Let's talk."
Unfortunately, in 99% of cases you will be getting answers 1 or 2.
Please keep in mind that each call will take 5-10 minutes of your time. Compare
this with 1 minute per program with ERAS.
The bottom line is that it may help to call the programs, but only after you
are done submitting your ERAS applications.
Interviews
Please let us share some real-life scramble experience.
Your goal is to have as many programs as possible to become interested in your
candidacy and call you for a phone interview. Any call may be the only call
from programs on that day, so please be prepared and do your best. Typical
interview subjects are:
Your prior work experience
Your dedication to medicine and to a specialty in particular
Your short and long-term goals
Where you see yourself ten years from now (urban/rural, practicing, teaching, attending, etc.)
How comfortable you are being a mentor for interns and medical school students as a senior resident
And many many more...
There are no right or wrong answers. The program
faculty is just trying to see if you are a good fit personality-wise. If you
got a call, you have already passed credential screening and the program liked
most of the things about you. So, just be who you are. Be enthusiastic. At the
end of the interview, you will have a chance to ask your questions. You should
ask about anything you really want to know (how many attendings are at the program,
are there any research opportunities, are there any other IMGs at the program,
is there a daycare facility at the hospital, how good local schools are, what
is the traffic situation). Your questions should demonstrate that you really
are interested in the program.
The interview is usually 15-30 minutes long. You should
expect ANY type of subject brought under discussion.
Some programs will ask to schedule a face-to-face interview for the following day.
This is not very common though. You should go, but have your cell phone
with you in case you get a call from another program.
Offers are usually made on the spot. So, be ready for your Yes or No answer right
away.
What you can do is try to research the program as you speak. However, do it only if
this won't affect your interview performance. You can go to www.google.com and
just type the program's name there. You will get a link to the program website. This
may help you evaluate the program better. This can also help if you show the
interviewer that you already have some information about the program and you
like it.
-The one that you put on your application
should be used for inbound calls only
-Use the other one for calling the programs
-It is also a good idea to have a call waiting
feature on the telephone you are using for inbound calls, so that you can take
a quick break from your current interview, find out who is calling, switch back,
and call the other program after that.
It is a good idea to have a fast Internet connection. This way, you can research
the program on the spot.
Clean up you e-mail to make sure there is enough free space to receive programs'
feedback. Check your e-mail every 3-5 minutes.
In spite of some suggestions on the Internet, we
recommend Hotmail.com or Live.com service over Yahoo. This is
a technical nitty-gritty thing, but believe me; with Hotmail,
your e-mail will show up in your mailbox 2-5 minutes
faster.
Make sure you have the correct name in your e-mail account settings, so when you
send an e-mail, a program can easily find your application by name in the From:
field. Even though you prefer to be called by a nickname, please change it to
the name matching your documents at least for this week.
If you use a cellphone for inbound calls, periodically check your phone's voicemail
indicator to make sure you have not missed a call. Sometimes, cellphone
calls get routed directly to voicemail.
It is an extremely stressful day. Try to get a good night's sleep beforehand.
Have some snacks at your residence to avoid being away for lunch.
