10 Least Competitive Medical Specialties in America

Future medical residents and specialists surely must wonder which are the most and least competitive medical specialties in America – more so because November 30th, 2015 (residency match early registration deadline) is rapidly closing in. Don’t fret if you’re not ready to register just yet, however. You can still register your match after this deadline for an additional fee.

Every medical school graduate already knows that some specialties are more competitive than the others and most of them will try to choose their residency according to that. In order to actually match to a really competitive residency program, a future medical practitioner needs to possess a number of qualities – most importantly, high GPA and MCAT scores. Even though high GPA and MCAT scores are the main prerequisite for highly competitive specialties, they aren’t the only ones, and certainly not guarantees for a match. Highly competitive specialties are often much sought for (that’s why they are competitive after all), and even students with exceptional scores sometimes can’t find their match in one of these fields. But, what about least competitive specialties? Some residency programs have GPA requirements as low as 2.3, as shown in this table. Medical schools with low requirements usually go by the moniker “second chance” schools, and here’s the list of 10 least competitive medical schools in the US.

All those schools offer a variety of medical specialties to choose from. They might be the least competitive med schools, but it doesn’t mean that all of their programs exhibit low competitive ratings as well. We’ll use a number of factors while bringing you the list of 10 least competitive medical specialties in America. For starters, we’ll start with compensation. Respective specialty’s salary has a large impact on its overall competitiveness rating. We have gathered data on physician’s respective salaries from here. Bear in mind the fact that these are physician’s mean salaries which by far exceed residential salaries. However, resident’s salaries are more or less similar and most future medical practitioners look a few steps ahead before committing to their chosen specialty. It’s often more profitable to sacrifice a couple of thousands of dollars a year during the residency program in order to earn couple hundreds of thousands upon reaching the physician’s status – if money is what motivates you, that is. Next we have the USMLE Step 1 and Step 2 mean scores for every given specialty. This criterion is pretty much self-explanatory as least competitive residencies usually end up with lower mean scores gained by their respective student matches. Finally, most competitive residency specialties are most competitive for a reason and vice versa. A number of available residency positions per US applicants (not counting international ones) tell a story of supply and demand. Some specialties are filled almost instantly while others usually end up with plenty of open spots. Needless to say, the latter ones are less competitive and are mostly filled by independent applicants or even left unfilled to some extent. Finally, these three criteria are incompatible with one another which means that we have to assign certain points to them. Let us take a look at the salary points, for example. Overall yearly salaries for respective specialties stretch roughly from $200,000 to $600,000. That’s a difference of around $400,000. We have 10 spots to assign and have divided 400,000 with the number of spots in order to get segments of $40,000. Specialties with salaries between $200,000 and $240,000 have received 10 points, those with salaries between $240,000 and $280,000, 9 points and so on. We have done the same for mean Step scores and number of positions per US applicant as well. We have also used a larger number of positions per US applicants as a tiebreaker winner (or loser in this instance). Finally, highest cumulative scores determine our 10 least competitive medical specialties in America.

10. Emergency Medicine

Score: 18

Deciding for emergency medicine is outright ludicrous. Not only that you’d have to put up with uncertain working hours, but you’ll have a very responsible job of saving people’s lives on a daily basis, and not so great compensation. Average annual salary for emergency medicine physicians (not residents) is $320,419 which doesn’t look so bad compared to other specialties but isn’t that high either. Step 1 score of 229 and Step 2 score of 243 average to a total of 236 which is just shy of 236.5 national average. Ultimately, there are 1.15 spots available per US applicant that decide to apply to this specialty.

9. Obstetrics and Gynecology

Score: 19

Ob/Gyn and Women’s Health practitioners obviously don’t get enough credit since they have found their spot on our list of least competitive specialties. Their respective annual salaries which average $315,295 nationwide are also something that could improve. Still, both Step 1 and 2 scores of 226 and 242 are below national average, and so is their mean of 234, consequently. Add to that 1.24 open positions for every US applicant, and you’ll see why Ob/Gyn isn’t the most sought after practice among US med school graduates.

8. Anesthesiology

Score: 19

Most people well versed into this field will be surprised that anesthesiology has made the list at all, even at such a low spot. Average annual salaries of anesthesiology physicians speak in favor of previous assessment – amounting to $357,116. However, residents applying to this program showcase sub-par USMLE Step test scores of 230 and 241 for Step 1 and 2 respectively. That’s an average of 235.5 which is a whole point below the national average score. In the end, 1.31 open position for every US applicant also doesn’t speak in anesthesiology’s favor.

7. Pediatrics

Score: 23

Pediatrics is rather complex when it comes to final scores. There are a few niches inside pediatrics which range from $157,394 in average annual salary for pediatric endocrinology to $303,917 for pediatric cardiology. On average, Pediatric practitioner’s salary amounts to $206,961 which is right at the foot of our list. Average Step test scores for the niche are also below average with ratings of 226, 241 and 233.5 for Step 1, Step 2 and their mean value respectively. Finally, there are 1.41 spots available for every US senior attempting to get a match in one of Pediatrics’ fields.

6. Neurology

Score: 24

Neurology seems like a path worth taking, but things aren’t that good-looking when numbers get crunched. Median annual salary of $243,105 is low compared to other specialties, and so are the test scores. Residents that find their match in neurology are averaging 235.5 on their USMLE Step tests (230 and 241), and they apply for 1.76 open positions not counting independent applicants. Neurosurgery, on the other hand, is one of the most competitive specialties, but it’s a different thing altogether.

5. Internal Medicine

Score: 24

Being one of the most common practices, it’s no surprise that internal medicine ends up as high as it does on our list of 10 least competitive medical specialties in America. Average annual salary for internists equals $223,175, and oddly enough, it seems that they could have chosen a better path for their careers judging by the USMLE Step scores. Internal medicine residents average 237 points (231 and 243) which is above the mean figures for both categories. The number of applicants and offered positions for this specialty exceeds other residencies by far, but still, US applicants don’t really have to roll up their sleeves as they all fight for 1.8 available spots.

4. Pathology

Score: 24

Pathologists earn more than most other specialties that have made the list with their annual salary averaging $302,610. Mean Step scores achieved by the future pathology residents are close to national average with Step 1 amounting to 231 and Step 2 coming to 241 (average of 236). However, the fact that they apply for 1.98 open positions doesn’t really go in favor of pathology as a specialty.

3. Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation

Score: 27

PM&R is traditionally among the least sought for residencies which usually gets filled by international and other independent applicants. Average annual salary of $278,283 doesn’t look that bad for such a high spot on our list, but USMLE Step 1 and 2 scores of 220 and 234 certainly do. It’s an average of only 227 (almost 10 points below national average), and 1.79 positions per 1 US applicant don’t really go in favor of this residency as well.

2. Psychiatry

Score: 28

All of you thinking of applying for Psychiatry residency; better think again. For starters, you’ll hardly be the ones to treat the Mafia boss like Tony Soprano, and you are highly unlikely to charge triple digits for a session. Average yearly salary of $227,478 is a more likely outcome, but at least you won’t need high Step test scores. In fact, they are exactly 10 points below the national average of 236.5 as 220 and 233 equal to a mean value of 226.5. Add to that 1.77 open positions per US applicant and there you go.

1.Family Medicine

Score: 30

This probably doesn’t come as a surprise to those with some knowledge of the matter. Family medicine has always been near the bottom when it comes to residency competitiveness and it comes dead last on our list of 10 least competitive medical specialties in America. The annual salary of around $227,541 is mediocre in terms of medical average, but USMLE Step scores are even worse. Step 1 score of only 218 is particularly bad, and 234 points in Step 2 tests aren’t exactly flying colors as well. Average of only 226 speaks for itself, but that’s not the worst. US senior applicant rarely decides to get into family medicine residency as there are 2.13 positions open per one of them.