Medical student's access to information and resources for the residency selection process.

Abstract

In the study reported here, the authors analyzed senior medical students' attitudes regarding the availability of information and resources pertaining to the residency selection process. Results of a nationwide survey of students showed that when the students had access to information from medical professionals (that is, faculty members, deans, house staff physicians), they felt they had greater access to information than did students who made greater use of other sources (official directories, classmates and the "grapevine"). Furthermore, the findings suggest that greater availability of information from medical professionals was related to higher levels of overall satisfaction with the residency match. While no evidence is presented that demonstrates that medical school faculty members and administrators were unwilling to devote attention to any particular group of students, the data suggest that these professionals provided information regarding the residency selection process more often to medical students at high-prestige schools, students who chose high-prestige specialties, and students who perceived themselves as having high class rank than to other students. Also, students in publicly supported schools felt the cost of travel for interviews to be more burdensome than did the students in private schools.