How many residency programs to apply to?!?!

Number of programs to apply for and resources on how to research
This is the 100 million dollar question when applying for residency. How many programs do I apply to? It's hard to say...after talking with a lot of my friends most of us applied to around 120-140 programs. While this is a lot of money to invest, this is a process you only want to go through once so casting the net wide is very important! It's also dependent on what speciality you are hoping to match in and what your USMLE scores are. If your scores are below the average for that speciality then I would apply to every single one you qualify for. (Some require you to have ECFMG certificate before interview some don't, look at their website). If you have competitive scores then you may have the luxury of picking and choosing. For OBGYN the apgo residency directory was my greatest resource, you can click on filters by USMLE scores and then click on each program individually to see M/F ratios, IMG #s etc. I also used FREIDA for all residencies it has a lot of good information as well. You have to log on with your AMA login.

Number of Specialities to apply for
Many of my friends applied to at least two specialities. One that they really wanted and another as a back-up. Think long and hard about how competitive you are for your desired specialty . What was frustrating the most to me during this process was the lack of guidance I had. I didn't have someone to sit down and tell me where they think I should apply based on scores etc. I was talking to one of my friends from a US med school and they said something about a "Match Advisor" I just laughed because I wish our school had something like that! It's ultimately a personal decision on how many specialities to apply for. If you apply for multiple specialties and rank them you have to be 100% ok with matching into that specialty.

My Story
Going into the application, I wanted to match into OBGYN but was really struggling with the lifestyle and the future of the career. I have a good family friend who has been in the field for 30+ years and he was also hesitant that this was the right choice for me given my dreams and aspirations. Before applying, I prayed and asked God to make it clear what we wanted me to go into. I didn't receive an answer, but in my heart, I still felt strongly towards OBGYN. I did a ton of research into every single OBGYN program in the country. I was competitive! I applied to 120 programs total, 90 OBGYN and just kinda threw in 30 family programs last minute as a "back-up." I didn't research the family programs much, mainly applying only around the midwest and programs I knew had a heavy OB component to their curriculum. I received 7 family interviews and 0, yes ZERO OBGYN interviews. If that isn't a plain as day sign from God, I don't know what is! :) There was no other reason for me not to get interviews! I aced all my rotations, almost all of my classes and had decent board scores.  I'm telling you this to be transparent, I want you to succeed but also be open to other possibilities!

Now moving forward, I truly believe Family Medicine is where I am supposed to be, it fits my personality perfectly. It just took me a little longer to figure that out. God has me right where he wants me and I am trusting in him. I still plan to pursue obstetrics heavily in residency and receive training in C-sections. Family Medicine gives me the opportunity to tailor my practice however I want and I could not be more excited to begin! If you look at my numbers 7/120 doesn't seem like good odds but 90 were OBGYN and God was probably laughing at me when I was applying. 7/30 is much better odds and had I applied to more Family programs, I would have received more.

Please don't hesitate to reach out to me about any questions!