It’s that time of year again… when the sun is shining, the flowers are in bloom… and new senior medical students are preparing for next year’s Match.
Emergency Medicine (EM) remains a very popular specialty choice. EM enjoys a 99% annual fill rate in the National Residency Matching Program (NRMP) Main Residency Match, with approximately 80% of positions going to U.S. allopathic senior medical students. Students seek many sources of career advice when preparing for their EM clerkships and the residency interview process. Unfortunately, career advice often comes from near-peers and medical school faculty members in other specialties, rather than EM residency directors and clerkship directors. Given the variable quality of information offered as ‘career advice,’ students can be left with inaccurate and confusing opinions about how to assess their candidacy and compete in the Match.
EM Match Advice Series
To answer this need, Academic Life in Emergency Medicine (ALiEM) launched an online series called EM Match Advice in 2104. Each episode features a panel of 3 EM residency directors discussing an important aspect of the Match process. Episodes are recorded using Google Hangout on Air® and archived on YouTube™; they are later converted to podcasts offered on SoundCloud™. “A User’s Guide to the ALiEM Emergency Medicine Match Advice Web Series”, published in the Western Journal of Emergency Medicine, is a companion guide to the web series.1
The User’s Guide provides a summary of each episode, along with references, and reflection questions to prompt discussion between students and their advisors. A suggested viewing order for the episodes corresponds to key milestones in the Match timeline.
Figure. ALiEM EM Match Advice Viewing Timeline
While the Match can be an intimidating process, good advice and thoughtful preparation can make for a positive experience. The User’s Guide and the EM Match Advice series are helpful tools for students seeking reliable, high-quality information about the Match.
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