I hope you received this email today: Congratulations, you have matched!

Hi guys, it’s Medicine Mondays again… but it’s not just any Monday… it’s Match Day!

Stock Photo from: Pixabay

If you’d like a throwback to last year’s post… here it is: Match Day 2016

So for those who don’t know, today is the day all the medical students participating in the NRMP match find out if they matched or not.

All the possible email results can be found here. – Source (NRMP)

For simplicity, I’m going to cut and paste the three possible matching results:

1. Congratulations, you have matched!

This message will be displayed for applicants who

matched to a categorical, primary, or reserved (physician only) program.
matched to a PGY-1 preliminary and PGY-2 advanced program.

2. Congratulations, you have matched to an advanced position!

This message will be displayed for any applicant who

matched to a PGY-2 advanced position.
Applicants who receive this message and who are deemed eligible to enter GME on July 1 in the year of the Main Residency Match will have access to the List of Unfilled Programs and will be eligible to participate in the Match Week Supplemental Offer and Acceptance Program® (SOAP®) obtain a preliminary position, if needed.

3. Congratulations, you have matched to a one year position!

This message will be displayed for any applicant who

matched to a PGY-1 preliminary position.
Applicants who receive this message and who are deemed eligible to enter GME education on July 1 in the year of the Main Residency Match will have access to the List of Unfilled Programs and will be eligible to participate in SOAP to obtain an advanced position, if needed.

For some of you, you may have already have known this. However, back in 2007 when I matched, my email just said:

Congratulations, you have matched!

Since I was applying to both prelim medicine programs and advanced radiology programs, upon seeing these words I was filled with a sense of elation. This was followed immediately by a sudden rush of… WHAT DOES THIS MEAN? Does this mean I matched to both, or just one or the other?

So I frantically searched google to make sure that I had matched to both. You have to remember that I was fully prepared to not match as I’ve discussed in this post.

Ok… so now what do we do?

The same thing we do every night Pinky… try to take over the world…

You’ve secured your residency position. You just don’t know where yet.

You’ll probably spend the rest of the week trying to figure out where you matched at…

Please try not to do this. This is honestly just an exercise in futility and will be waste of time.

If you’re still on rotations…

then remind yourself that in a few short months you’ll be an intern.

Turn your attention back toward learning what you can to be a strong, capable intern, who is not dangerous.

If you’re on vacation during match time, great!

Knowing you’ve matched should feel like a weight has been lifted from your shoulders.

Take this time to go be you again before intern year starts… then when back on rotations again.

Turn your attention back toward learning what you can to be a strong, capable intern, who is not dangerous.

What about SOAP?

To be honest, the SOAP system has evolved significantly.

From my understanding, most if not all of it, is now digital and much better regulated.

During my match year, “the Scramble” was akin to the chaos of Black Friday sales where everyone was just faxing their CVs to programs and having their school/program directors make calls for them. Most faxes didn’t go through and most calls were met with busy signals.

From my understanding, the majority of spots were filled in the first 2 hours of the Scramble. Medical students were offered positions over the phone in a high-stress situation of “take it or leave it”. Obviously making large life decisions under high stress is not a good idea if it can be helped. I imagine that it was like playing musical chairs trying to find a seat before the music stops.

At the very least, I think that this is no longer the case. I honestly can’t comment directly on the current system, but now it’s almost like a “second Match” rather than previous chaotic “Scramble”. I would imagine it is a better experience than the previous “Scramble”.

If anyone has been through the new SOAP process, I would welcome a guest post on it. Just let me know [email protected]

Ok, so what’s next?

Any friends/peers you have in the SOAP will do the SOAP Process. You will find out where you matched on Friday.

If your school does a match ceremony, then you will find out at the ceremony. Otherwise you will find out at 1pm EST via email or in the R3 system.

I didn’t have a match ceremony for my school, so I found out at 9am on Friday morning where I matched back in 2007.

Until then, you’re chillin’… although it’ll feel like you’re in limbo, because you kind of are.

I’ll do another post this Friday for you guys to read after you find out where you matched.

It’ll have something akin to a checklist for the 4th year medical students to complete before starting internship July 2017.

TL;DR

Congratulations, you have matched!

Otherwise, no real need for a TL;DR for this one, except to come back on Friday after you find out where you matched.

-Sensei

Agree? Disagree? Questions, Comments and Suggestions are welcome.

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