UNSTRUCTURED
The cost of applying to residency programs can be a large barrier for medical students in the match process. One major variable cost in the application process is the cost of away rotations, as these rotations have an inherent expense associated with travel and lodging in a new location. Away rotations allow a medical student to get involved with a program outside their home institution and are important for connecting with the residency programs a student has interest in. Visiting Student Learning Opportunities (“VSLO”) is a web application by the Association of American Medical Colleges which allows students to find and apply to away rotations. An analysis of VSLO shows 249 programs in the United States that are currently accepting applications, with 142 of these programs requiring no processing or tuition fees. Only 4 programs reflect a difference in fees between MD and DO students, yet 24 programs have higher fees for IMG (International Medical Graduate) when compared to MD and DO students. Tuition fees for IMGs can be as high as $4500 more than other students. Additionally, VSLO makes it more difficult for IMGs to know which programs are free. IMGs historically have a lower match rate into U.S. residencies when compared to students from schools within the U.S., and these additional fees accentuate the difficulty of matching. The difference in match rates for IMGs is more drastic in competitive specialties, such as Dermatology. The importance of networking during away rotations is heavily emphasized with these competitive specialties, and differences in price for away rotations may contribute to differences in match rates for IMGs.