Does AOA REALLY Matter?

The short answer is No. AOA can get you in the door for a residency interview, but it can’t close the deal. That’s where your killer personality comes in. While some subspecialties place an emphasis on AOA (check out our residency subspecialty rankings), the vast majority are cool with you being incredible enough to finish medical school (a feat in itself). Some individual residency programs are actually all bent out of shape about the importance of AOA. But do you really want to go there anyway? They’ll be gunners everywhere… Hardly a “chill” residency atmosphere.