Specialty Factors

In March 2022, the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) conducted its survey of directors of programs participating in the Main Residency Match ® with the primary purpose of characterizing the factors that Program Directors use to (1) select applicants to interview, and (2) rank applicants for the Main Residency Match. See results of the Program Director Survey for Pathology below:

The Top 5 Most Important Pathology Application Factors

Percentage of Programs Citing Each Factor

1. USMLE Step 1 score (97%)
2. USMLE Step 2 CK score (93.9%)
3. MSPE (87.9%)
4. Any failed attempt at USMLE (87.9%)
5. Class ranking/quartile (75.8%)

Average Importance Rating for Each Factor (scale of 1 to 5)

1. Applicant was flagged with Match violation by the NRMP (4.8)
2. Perceived commitment to specialty (4.7)
3. Letter of recommendation in the specialty (4.5)
4. Evidence of professionalism and ethics (4.5)
5. Personal prior knowledge of applicant, Audition elective/rotation in PD`s dept(4.5)