Mercy Hospital St Louis Program

Transitional Year Analyst Verified · Sep 14, 2026

Mercy Hospital St Louis Program

Mercy Hospital St Louis Program is a residency program specializing in Transitional Year, located in St Louis, Missouri, directed by Javad Vaziri, DO and coordinated by Sarah Nickerson. The program accepts applications through November 30, 2026 and holds an accreditation status of Continued. International Medical Graduates interested in this program may contact the program coordinator directly at [email protected] or (314) 251-6930. IMGPrep analysts have verified and compiled this program’s IMG acceptance rate, USMLE Step 1 and Step 2 score requirements, Visa Sponsorship Policy, graduation year cutoff, and ECFMG certificate requirements — available to IMGPrep subscribers.

Program Identity & Fit

Mercy Hospital St. Louis is a faith-based, community teaching hospital whose Transitional Year is built almost entirely on core ACGME-accredited rotations (inpatient medicine, CCU, trauma-neuro and med-surg ICU, ambulatory medicine, EM, psychiatry, surgery) rather than an elective-heavy curriculum, reflecting a preparatory rather than exploratory design. With only three elective months and away rotations counted against that limited elective time, the program functions as a launchpad for residents who already know their categorical destination (anesthesiology, radiology, PM&R, neurology, dermatology, etc.) rather than a year for specialty exploration. Research is explicitly available only as an "away elective," signaling it is peripheral, not embedded, in the training identity. The institution's broader mission emphasizes care for the underserved and economically poor as part of its Sisters of Mercy heritage, giving the clinical experience a safety-net, faith-driven community character rather than an academic/subspecialty research identity.

Who it fits

Best suited to an applicant who has already secured or is targeting a non-medicine specialty requiring a preliminary/transitional year, values a structured, low-elective internship that front-loads core ICU/medicine/surgery exposure, and is drawn to a mission-driven, underserved-focused community hospital rather than a research-heavy academic environment.

Research intensity

Low - research is only available as an away elective and is not integrated into the standard curriculum.

Career orientation

Other - the program exists solely as a preparatory intern year feeding categorical specialty training elsewhere, not a terminal career pathway in itself.

Important

Requires three letters of recommendation from the United States.

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