International Medical
Graduates Match and Scramble Services
IMG Residency®
Post Match Scramble Service
We pioneered Scramble services 8 years ago. Eight years is a long time to invent
and test a variety of strategies. Our client success has been measured over and
over. We know how to scramble, period.
Scramble gets more competitive every year. The main reason is constantly increasing number
of well-qualified applicants.
Here are some numbers for the year 2009 and delta with 2008, 2007, 2006, and 2005.
2009
09-08 Delta
08-07 Delta
07-06 Delta
06-05 Delta
Available residency positions
22,427
+187
+395
+186
+205
US Graduates
18,910
+396
+36
+198
+289
IMG's Applicants
10,980
+421
+586
+1,046
+1,078
Unfilled PGY-1 positions for the Scramble
1,087
-213
-31
-247
-107
Scrambling US Seniors
515
-188
+189
-516
+28
Unfilled positions left for IMGs
572
-25
-220
+179
-135
Scrambling IMGs
6,184
+1,425
+1,649
+3,361
+560
Averaged out IMG's odds in the scramble
9.25%
The statistics above do not account for candidates who scrambled without
participating in the match, which makes IMG's chances even lower.
We have spent a lot of time analyzing the results and determining statistical
correlations, therefore improving our process and future candidates' chances.
When we tried to time all the things that had to be done in the first
couple of post match hours, we realized that there was no way a human
being could do that. We wrote a state of the art software system that automates
everything but you calling the programs.
It isn't a big deal to do that manually, but time is of essence! Try to
estimate how much time you need just to send 30 e-mails or faxes. Take into
account busy signals because everybody else is trying to do the same and you
will end up with about 3 hours.
Our Services
Stage 1*. We will create a web site (see a sample at http://www.imgresidency.com/sample/) for your application and
e-mail your cover letter to ALL the programs in the specialties you want to get
to. We will do it about one week before the match. This step should pay
off in the post match or even after the match. Program Directors will keep your
application on file until about September 2010. Quite often programs have
openings before July 1st because some residents cannot get their visa, family
matters, etc. This application will get you the necessary exposure. Even in the
worst-case scenario, this information will help you getting interview for the
2010 Match. In our opinion this step is even more important than sending
your application on a scramble day. We will also professionally review your
application and perform Personal Statement and CV editing if required. Deadline
for receiving Stage 1 applications is March 5th
Stage 2. We will create (or re-use) your application web site as in
Stage 1. Your application will get delivered to ALL unmatched programs via
e-mail and fax to the addresses published by the programs in the Unfilled
Positions List. This will happen in just a few minutes
after the lists are published. We guarantee the highest get through rate for both e-mails and faxes
because of a variety of technological know-hows used in the process.
We have an exclusive contract with the largest Internet Fax provider, which
means your application won't be competing for outbound lines with other business
and scramble faxes on March 16th.
Our system has been operated, thoroughly tested, and refined since 2003.
The system is triple redundant and geographically distributed in three major U.S. cities.
Your application is protected from power and Internet outages on this critical day.
Backbone 1Gigabyte per second Internet connection. Your application won't have to wait.
We know how to deliver your e-mails without having them thrown to Spam. Domain Keys,
SPF, reverse zone lookups, TLS are just a few standard technologies that we support. In addition we
utilize several patent-pending technologies designed by our engineers exclusively for our service.
We recommend combining stages 1 and 2 and offer a significant
discount. Stage 1 and 2 together create a very strong strategy .
First, most PDs that anticipate any unfilled positions will keep your
application from Stage 1 and most likely will contact you right after the
post-match scramble starts. Second round of e-mails to the programs with
unfilled positions will get some more PDs to revisit your application.
We guarantee delivery of your application to all unmatched programs in your
specialty(ies) within the first minutes after the list is published. We have never taken more
than 15 minutes and the last year we were done by 12:11 on March 17th.
If you matched, we will refund you 30% of your payment just to cover the cost
of making your application ready (50% for Stage 2 applications).
Bulk Submissions
We have been on the market for 8 years and since the day one our system worked
as a delivery media for your and only your application. All e-mails and faxes
are sent individually from you to appropriate persons, which are greeted with
their titles by their first and last names. In other words your application
will be no different from the ones that come from the applicants composing
e-mails one by one.
Pricing
Price vary based on applicant profile. Please contact us for details.
How To Register for Scramble Service
Please send us the following documents for a free review by e-mail info@imgresidency.com or fax (815) 550-2224. We will get back
with you usually the same day with a review, pricing details, and a contract.
ERAS® Common Application Form (CAF)
Personal statements, one for each
specialty
Cover letters, one for each specialty
Dean's letter
LORs. If you waived your right to see the letter or the only copy you had was sent to ERAS, please provide LOR writers names and contact information
Medical school transcript
USMLE Step 1, Step 2 and Step 3 if available score reports
ECFMG®
certificate (if available)
Your picture
Call us if you have any questions: (210) 787-4555. Or
click on the Messenger button to start online chat with a representative:
Competitive Advantage
Our software engineers work hard to make sure your application gets where it
belongs - in the Program Directors mailbox, not in a junk mail bucket on the
program mail server. We employ sophisticated technology to make sure your
application does not look like Spam. Each application is personalized and
e-mailed/faxed individually and not in bulk. We have program addresses
prefilled in our database, so your application will be delivered to a program
even if its address is not published in the list. We employ a variety of
know-hows to ensure that your application gets to the programs ahead of others.
Please check our "A Plan for Scramble" section for just one of them.
We are the best on the scramble services market not only because of
technological advantages. You are getting service from people who have gone
through the scramble and learned how to do it in a hard way, not those who were
trained to do a specific thing and perform it to a high enough standard. You
are receiving help from the people that have spent numerous years on this
subject and therefore can relate with your needs.
We will strive to be your best choice since we know that we can produce the
best results.
Scramble 2010 Webinar
IMG Residency hosted Scramble 2010 Webinar on 01/23/2010. Recording and Q&A session are available at at this page.
If you need to do it yourself
There may be a variety of reasons why you wouldn't hire us for the Scramble.
Keeping in mind that not everybody can afford the full service, we want to
share our A Plan for Scramble article, which has been published by many
web sites and was refered to as very helpful by hundreds of people that used
it. It may sound confusing at first. Please try to read it a couple of times
until you have a clear understanding of the plan.
A Plan for Scramble
A day before the Scramble - Log on to ERAS and select ALL the programs from the
specialties you wish to apply for. Assign Personal Statement, LORs and all
other documents the same way you did when applying for the Match. As a result
you should have all the programs in the "Selected" list with all the documents
already assigned. Here is the reason. On the SCramble day, you will be able to
apply to the 30 programs that ERAS allows you for much-much faster. You will
only have to find them in your Selected list, check the boxes and click Apply.
This will take you about 2 minutes. If you had to select them and assign the
documents on the Scramble day, you would have spent at least one hour.
Scramble day:
11:50PM EST - Log on to ERAS and navigate to the Programs tab and then to the
"Apply to Programs" tab, where you already selected all the possible programs a
day earlier.
12:00PM EST - Log on to NRMP and get the Unfilled Positions report for your
specialty. If you are looking for more than one specialty, you will have to run
the report multiple times.
12:05PM EST -Having both windows
open, ERAS and NRMP, start picking programs from NRMP's list and selecting them
in ERAS window. The best selection would be in or around your city. As soon as
you have 25-28 selected click at Apply to Programs button.
This will take you from 2 to 10 minutes depending on how fast you can navigate
between the windows. Try to do some test runs before the scramble. You can
search for the last year list on the Internet.
Now you can start e-mailing, calling, and faxing the programs. If you can get
help from friends and relatives - please do so. Priorities should be set as
following: E-mailing, Calling, Faxing. You and your helpers should do some dry
runs of e-mailing a couple of days before the scramble. This will help you
improve your throughput significantly. Here is the sequence: New E-mail, To:
copy and paste from the list, Subject: copy and paste from a template you
prepared earlier, Body: copy and paste from the template, Add attachments:
select a PDF or MS Word file you prepared earlier with your complete
application.
Calling - have your helpers dialing the numbers. Most of them will be busy. If
any of them gets through, you should get the phone snd start talking.
Faxing - the least effective way of communication. Doing it with a fax machine
will let you send 2-3 applications at most. You can subscribe to some faxing
service online and submit your documents to them a day earlier. Keep in mind
that fax get through rate will be very low - 2-10%. This is why this isn't
going to be the best way to invest your time.
If at any time through this process you get a phone call, drop everything and
fully concentrate on the interview.
Should you be calling the programs?
This is the question everybody asks. You shouldn't dismiss this opportunity
altogether but it is very important to set your priorities right. When you are
calling the programs you can get three possible answers:
"Please submit your application".
If you say that your application has been submitted, the answer will be either
"We will call you after we look at the application in case if you qualify" or
The best one - "let's talk"
Unfortunately in 99% of the cases you will be getting answers 1 or 2.
Please keep in mind that each call will take 5-10 minutes of your time. Compare
this with 1 minute per program with ERAS.
The bottom line is that it may help calling the programs, but only after you
are done submitting your ERAS applications.
Interviews
Please let us share some real-life scramble experience.
Your goal is to have as many programs as possible to become interested in your
candidacy and call you for a phone interview. Any call may be the only call
from programs on that day, so please be prepared and do your best. Typical
interview subjects are:
Your prior work experience
Your dedication to medicine and to a specialty in particular
Your short and long-term goals
Where do you see yourself ten years from now (urban/rural, practicing, teaching, attending, etc.)
How comfortable are you being a mentor for interns and medical school students as a senior resident
And many-many more...
There are no correct and incorrect answers. Program
faculty is just trying to see if you are a good fit personality-wise. If you
got a call, you have already passed credentials screening and program liked
most of the things about you. So, just be who you are. Be enthusiastic. At the
end of the interview you will have a chance to ask your questions. You should
ask about anything you really want to know (how many attendings at the program,
are there any research opportunities, are there any other IMGs at the program,
is there a day care facility at the hospital, how good local schools are, what
is the traffic situation). Your questions should demonstrate that you really
are interested in the program.
The interview is usually 15-30 minute long. You should
expect ANY type of subject being discussed.
Some programs will ask to schedule a face-to-face interview for the next day.
This is not very common though. You sure should go, but have your cell phone
with you in case if you get a call from another program.
Offers are usually made on a spot. So, be ready for your Yes or No answer right
away.
What you can do, try to research the program as you speak. But do it only if
this won't affect your interview performance. You can go to www.google.com and
just type program name there. You will get a link to the program web site. This
may help you evaluate the program better. This can also help if you show the
interviewer that you already have some information about the program and you
like it.
-The one that you put on your application
should be used for inbound calls only
-Use the other one for calling the programs
-It also is a good idea to have call waiting
feature on the telephone you are using for inbound calls, so that you can take
a quick break from your current interview, find out who is calling, switch back
and call the other program after that
It is a good idea to have a fast Internet connection. This way you can research
the program on the spot.
Clean up you e-mail to make sure there is enough free space to receive programs
feedback. Check your e-mail every 3-5 minutes.
In spite of some suggestions on the Internet, we
recommend Hotmail.com or Live.com service over Yahoo. This is
a technical neety-greedy thing, but beleive me with Hotmail,
your e-mail will show up in your mailbox 2-5 minutes
faster.
Make sure you have correct name in your e-mail account settings, so when you
send an e-mail, a program can easily find your application by name in the From:
field. Even though you prefer to be called by a nickname, please change it to
the name matching your documents at least for this week.
If you use a cell phone for inbound calls, periodically check your phone voice
mail indicator to make sure you have not missed a call. Sometimes cell phone
calls get routed directly to the voicemail.
It is an extremely stressful day. Try to get a good night sleep before that.
Have some snacks at your residence to avoid being away for lunch.
