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Residency Applicants: The Big Day is Approaching

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Here’s a condensed version of this week’s Match schedule from the NRMP website:

Today

11 am EST: Applicants learn if they matched via email and the R3® system. SOAP-eligible unmatched and partially matched applicants have access to the List of Unfilled Programs in the R3 system.

2 pm EST: SOAP applicants can start preparing and sending applications in the AAMC ERAS® system. Applicants cannot communicate with a program until contacted by that program.

Wednesday

SOAP Round 1

12 pm EST: SOAP Applicants begin receiving offers by logging in to the R3 system. Applicants accept or reject offer(s) once all offers have been generated.

2 pm EST: SOAP Applicant deadline to accept or reject Round 1 offers in R3 system.

2:05 pm EST: List of Unfilled Programs updated in R3 system for SOAP-eligible applicants.

SOAP Round 2

3 pm EST: SOAP Applicants begin receiving offers in the R3 system.

5 pm EST: SOAP Applicant deadline to accept or reject Round 2 offers.

5:05 pm EST: List of Unfilled Programs updated in R3 system for SOAP-eligible applicants.

Thursday

SOAP Round 3

9 am EST: Applicants begin receiving offers in the R3 system.

11 am EST: Applicant deadline to accept or reject Round 3 offers.

SOAP ends

12 pm EST: List of Unfilled Programs accessible from R3 system and updated to include unfilled programs not participating in SOAP. All applicants who are unmatched or partially matched have access to List of Unfilled Programs. Programs not participating in SOAP can be contacted by unmatched or partially-matched applicants, including applicants who were not SOAP-eligible.

Friday – Match Day

1 pm EST: Applicants learn the location of program(s) to which they matched via email and in the R3 system.

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Using SOAP to clean up the NRMP Match

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I’m very hopeful that all blog readers who are residency applicants will be Matching successfully this year. But it is worth understanding how the NRMP SOAP (formerly called “the Scramble”) works.

Years ago, when I was an applicant, the Scramble was all that unmatched candidates had… and it was not great. For a quick history on the Scramble’s transition to SOAP, check out this article.

For details on this year’s SOAP (and Match week) schedule, check out this PDF that includes great details.

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How to Be Happy in Residency

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I’m sending a big congratulations to all of those residency candidates who successfully matched last week! Next year will be the start of something wonderful and challenging. Here are my tips for being happy (or at least as happy as possible) during residency:

1. Physician heal thyself. You will be working a ton, but eating healthfully and getting exercise will make everything a little better.

2. You’ve got a friend. You may be working 80-hour weeks, but plan to spend at least half an hour every week catching up with someone who makes you laugh.

3. Vacation – all I ever wanted. Figure out somewhere fun you want to travel when you are not working, and then happily anticipate the trip.

4. Date night. Take time out for your spouse or partner. Although I was not yet married when I trained, I remember being upset by seeing several marriages and relationships split up. You can never get that back. (This advice goes for children too, if you have them. You have an even greater challenge ahead of you than most if you are a parent in residency.)

5. Dance dance party party. Knitting, hiking, dancing, watching movies, kayaking, reading – whatever it is , do not let yourself become unidimensional.

6. Realize that the honking drivers have simply had a bad day. When I was in medical school, a brilliant upper classman came to speak to us about being on the wards. He told us that when someone aggressively honks at you on the road, it’s often because s/he in a bad mood – not because you are about to cause an accident. The same is true in the hospital. Tired, burned out professionals can make you feel bad. Don’t let them.

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Match Ranking is (Strategically, but Not Emotionally) Easy Peasy

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Getting into residency is hard. Understanding how to rank programs for the Match is easy. Thanks to a Nobel Prize winning economist and his colleagues, the current Match algorithm ensures that your desires are the priority over the residency programs’. What this means practically is that you should rank your first choice first, your second second, etc. There is no need to try to play the system.

I’ve had applicants tell me that they plan to rank a less preferred institution higher because that program has more residency slots. That’s a huge no-no. The applicant will actually be harming him/herself with that strategy!

Please see my Guru on the Go® video “NRMP Ranking to Avoid a Spanking” below for a fun summary.
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Understanding How the Match Works is Critical for Succeeding in the Process

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Improving written materials and interview skills is important, but all of that work can go to waste if applicants do not understand basic strategies for the Match. This month the NRMP published an article called, “Understanding the Interview and Ranking Behaviors of Unmatched International Medical Students and Graduates in the 2013 Main Residency Match” in the Journal of Graduate Medical Education. The data is especially important for IMGs who represented the majority of unmatched candidates.

Sadly, the authors found that some applicants made strategic errors including the below:

– Not attending all interviews, thus failing to capitalize on every opportunity to market themselves.

– Declining to rank all programs at which they interviewed or not ranking all programs they would be willing to attend.

– Misunderstanding the Match and ranking programs at which applicants did not interview.

– Failing to rank programs based on true preferences or ranking programs based on the perceived likelihood of matching.

It kills me to read about these mistakes :(. If you do not understand how the Match works, it is absolutely critical that you learn about it to avoid destructive errors.
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About Dr. Michelle Finkel

Dr. Michelle Finkel

Dr. Finkel is a graduate of Stanford University and Harvard Medical School. On completing her residency at Harvard, she was asked to
stay on as faculty at Harvard Medical School and spent five years teaching at the world-renowned Massachusetts General Hospital.
She was appointed to the Assistant Residency Director position for the Harvard Affiliated
Emergency Medicine Residency where she reviewed countless applications, personal statements and resumes. Read more

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