Residency selection process: description and annotated bibliography

Specialty and residency training choices of medical students will affect the quality, mode, and geographic location of their future practice; the importance of such choices should not be underestimated. Medical school librarians have largely ignored the opportunity to interact with both medical students and medical school officials in providing sources needed to assist these career decisions, and for the most part students and administrators have ignored the opportunity to utilize the medical library in this process. This article presents an overview of the processes and procedures in which third- and fourth-year medical students are involved in selecting specialty and residency training, and provides a detailed description of the resources which the medical student should consult in order to make thoughtful, informed career decisions. The article urges medical school advisers and medical librarians to work as partners in providing information on specialty and residency selection to medical students.