What Does It Take for a Foreigner to Be Successful in the North American “Match” Program?

What Does It Take for a Foreigner to Be Successful in the North American “Match” Program? – Dr. Joe Herbert.

Welcome to part two of the mini-series on the dreaded Match program. This time, I’m sharing my perspective on what it takes to be successful as a foreign applicant navigating the wild west of the Veterinary Internship and Residency Match Program (VIRMP aka the Match). This article might be a little ill-timed, considering how rapidly everything is shifting on the U.S. side of the process. It’s hard enough to keep up, let alone give meaningful advice when immigration laws weekly .

That said, everything about the Match boils down to two categories: things you can’t do a damn thing about (luck, what programs are open that year, number of applicants etc) and things you actually can influence, namely your strategy, CV, cover letter, and letters of reference. Let’s start with the most underrated of them all: strategy.

Strategy

A lot of success in the Match comes down to strategy, and by that I mean common sense, deliberate planning, and not making dumb decisions. Strategy is the cement that binds all the other moving parts of your application and lets you play to your strengths.

The single most important strategic decision is where to apply. Fortunately, the VIRMP website has come a long way in the past few years and now clearly indicates which programs accept international applicants. It used to just say, the program may accept international applicants, which was as useful as not having anything written there at all. These days, if it days it does, you are in the clear, if it says does not,  then don’t apply (unles you have a green card or citizenship), and if it is vague, for heaven’s sake email and ask.

Honestly, I would email and ask for specifics even if it does say they accept internationals, as I was nearly burnt by this issue myself. I was going to apply to a big-name school that claimed to be international-friendly, they had international faculty, had accepted foreign applicants before, and were generally seen as diverse. But when I emailed, the reply was: yes, we accept internationals, but we will preferentially rank American applicants higher unless none of them are suitable, as we’ve had visa issues within the last year. Translation: if you’re applying for a competitive residency like cardiology, you’ll be up against qualified and suitable Americans, so there’s a good chance you don’t stand a chance. I applied anyway, but they were dead last on my rank list. Apply to everything you can, just in case.

That brings me to my next point: if you’re going for a competitive program (e.g., cardiology, imaging, oncology), you need to apply broadly. If you’re going for something with more availability, you can afford to be a bit pickier. Be strategic in how you rank programs. This is personal and depends on your circumstances, but in general:

• Rank higher the places where you interviewed and think you made a good impression. Obvious, yes, but not always easy to gauge. If you’re unsure, and you’ve interviewed at several places, then:

1. Rank international-friendly programs higher. For example, UC Davis is known as “Mini-Australia” as they take lots of Aussie-trained residents. For me this means I should rank them higher as this works in my favor. The school I mentioned earlier that only theoretically takes internationals? Not ranked high.
2. Prioritize places where you or your colleagues know the faculty. More on that below—it’s not what you know, it’s who you know – but for reference, the two faculty I have here know 3/4 of my references personally and they also know other professional colleagues of mine which did not write me references.
3. If you’re not a strong “on  paper” candidate, go for less prestigious programs or ones in less glamorous locations. More on that below too.

It’s Who You Know, Not What You Know

People love to say it’s all about your application and how strong your references are. Bullsh*t. Your letters of reference matter, of course they do, but you are also going to be informally vetted through back channels. If someone in the department knows someone where you trained, they’ll be calling them,  even if they didn’t write you a letter. And if there’s a whisper of you being difficult, unpleasant, or, heaven forbid, a bridge-burner, it will come back to bite you.

Who writes your letters matters. For example, in my field, not all cardiologists are created equal. If a cardio-famous person writes your letter, it will carry far more weight than one from Joe Bloggs in the middle of nowhere, known to no one but still technically a cardiologist. Also, some cardiologists are controversial – don’t ask them for references. Their letters will only hold value with the select few who agree with them. Those who don’t may see you as too much work, someone who needs to be “untrained,” and they won’t want to spend their entire week undoing the principles you were previously taught but they fundamentally disagree with.

Residency programs aren’t just looking for smart applicants, they’re looking for people they can survive three years with. No one wants to share a clinics day with someone who makes them not want to get out of bed in the morning. We’ve had candidates interview well, only for a bit of digging to reveal that they treated interns or nurses poorly, or burned a bridge somewhere, resulting in an instant no.

So here’s my golden rule: don’t burn bridges. Veterinary medicine is a tiny world, and bad news travels fast and international borders will not save you.

Location, Location, Location

The old real estate adage holds true in vet med as well. A lot of American vet schools are, frankly, in the middle of nowhere, and their saving grace is that they are part of an academic institution. Take Texas A&M, for instance, has a great cardiology program but is based in College Station, which is essentially a flat town in the middle of a very hot and humid nowhere, with a football stadium that has more seats than actual residents. It’s competitive despite the location because of the program’s academic strength. However, if a private program is based somewhere that nobody you know would voluntarily move to, it’s probably going to have fewer applicants than one in a more desirable location.

If you’re wondering why, here’s my take: the more desirable the location, the more competitive the program becomes because;

1. Interns and residents you are competing with want to live there.
2. Top-tier faculty want to live there too, so you end up with excellent private programs in places like New York, Boston, or Portland. Think AMC, Dove Lewis, and Angell MSPCA: non-academic but highly respected programs located in cities people want to be in. Trust me, they don’t shy away from selling the location hard at recruitment booths. Meanwhile, have you ever heard of a top private program based in Arkansas or Louisiana? Neither have I.

Interview Factors That Affect Rank

As an international applicant, you’ll probably be offered Zoom interviews. If you can, try to arrange an in-person visit. Yes, it’s expensive. Yes, we barely get time off. But if you can swing it, you will stand a much better chance of making a memorable impression. A full-day clinic visit plus an interview beats a 30-minute jittery Zoom call every time, especially if the other candidates are doing in-person interviews. This may be less critical at lower-traffic programs, but for anything competitive, it matters.

We like to believe we’re immune to bias, but it’s easier to root for someone you spent a day with than someone whose face froze mid-answer during a laggy Zoom call.

And remember, some programs are famous for certain specialties; e.g. UC Davis for medicine (especially renal), Penn for ECC, Colorado for oncology etc. Those programs will be hyper-competitive. Apply, sure, but be realistic. If your interview was average, don’t rank them first just because you like the name. Programs like cardiology assume they’ll match with someone in their top three to five. Unless you feel like you’re one of those top five, don’t rank them at the top.

And yes, some places do group interviews. You may walk out thinking, “I did well,” but what you need to ask yourself is, was I in the top 5. Rank accordingly.

The Paperwork

I’ll dive into CVs and cover letters more in the next article (which will focus on the match for North Americans), but here’s are a couple of international applicant pitfalls ill mention:

Your letters of reference are crucial. Ask your referees directly if they feel they can write you a strong letter. A lukewarm one won’t cut it, especially since you’re competing with people who will have four glowing ones. And yes, you should submit four. It says three minimum, but submitting only three puts you automatically half way down, if not the bottom of the pile. Everyone else will submit four. Be better than everyone else.

Now, about tone. Americans love hyperbole. It is not uncommon to see letters that sound like Oscar nominations: “We’d be honoured to have them stay on,” “They’re the best at xyz,” etc. If you’re from the UK or Australia, this may cause you to gag, but in the U.S., it’s normal.

European and Australasian letters tend to be more restrained, even when supportive. They might include a weakness (because let’s be honest, everyone has one), but in the American context, this can read as negative. And if your reference comes across as humble, when compared to someone else’s which sounds like a Nobel Prize endorsement, yours will sound worse, putting you at a disadvantage—even if their letter is less accurate. The same goes for cover letters. Modesty won’t help you here. You need to spell out what you’ve done and why you’re amazing. There is not such a thing as the tall poppy syndrome when it comes to American cover letters.

In Conclusion

Like I said in the first part of this series, there’s always going to be an element of luck, some black magic, and a bit of chaos involved in the Match.

That said, my biggest piece of advice? Reach out. Ask questions. Visit if you can (serious brownie points). And even if you don’t feel “ready,” apply anyway. I had a program tell me, “We’re not interviewing you this year, but we’ve seen huge improvements in your application. Keep it up, and it’s only a matter of time.” And they weren’t alone as many programs will compare your application year to year. They want to see progression, growth, and hustle. Show them that, and do not rest on your laurels.

Dr. Joe Herbert – 21.10.2025

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