Internal medicine is the top choice for IMGs
Let us try to understand why the Internal medicine residency in the USA is so attractive for many IMGs. The statistics are the key.
Latest Match offered 11200 categorical positions. Around 5070 US MDs and 2430 US DOs applied to categorical positions.
So, just about 7500 positions potentially can be filled by US MDs and DOs.
As result, at least 3700 positions must be filled by IMGs to make the U.S. healthcare system functioning properly.
Additionally, Internal medicine is not the main target for many US MDs and DOs.
Finally, only around 6100 positions were filled by US graduates with around 5100 positions left for IMGs.
Such a large number of positions offered for IMGs makes Internal medicine one of the best choices for international medical graduates.
More than 10000 IMGs apply for Internal medicine residency each year (8500 has IM as a top choice) and around 9000 have interviews and participate in the Match.
The match rate among interviewed applicants is 57% for US IMGs and 44% for non-US IMGs.
The probability of the match for interviewed applicants starts from 40% (50% US IMGs) for candidates with ~225 Step 2 and increases to 63% (90% US IMGs) for candidates with Step 2 > 250.
Matching just preliminary year is risky because of visa and repeating year funding problems. It is hard to get a PGY-2 position then and J-1 visa holders will need to get back home. Here are the best internal medicine residencies for international medical graduates by number of friendly positions:
