What is the National Resident Matching Program or The Match?

Match Day, the primary day students find out where they will spend their next three to five years, usually occurs on the third Friday in March. According to Tina Woodruff, EdD, PCOM’s senior advisor to the provost, Match Day is a culmination of many months of work on the part of students and residency program directors. And the work continues for applicants who may still be looking for a graduate medical education position and for program directors who have remaining open positions.

The system works this way: Medical students, who anticipate graduating before July 1 of a program year and plan to pursue a specialty, register to participate in the NRMP placement system for the approximately 39,000 funded residency positions in the United States. Students who delayed pursuing a residency program in previous years may also register to match.

According to the NRMP website, the students pay a fee to rank a certain number of programs. For an extra fee, students may rank additional programs up to a maximum of 300. Students apply for residency positions in their specialty of choice and are invited to interview with the residency directors and others either in person or online. Students then rank programs in order of their preference and the programs rank the students they have interviewed.

Using a mathematical algorithm, students and programs are matched. Students who are not matched receive notification the Monday before Match Day. In some cases, students choose not to enter the NRMP.

Students desiring a residency program get to work with their school’s advisors who will receive information about unfilled residency spots. This process is called the Supplemental Offer and Acceptance Program or SOAP. The students then apply directly to the programs they are interested in, interview either in person or online and match to their program of choice.

Students who enter the SOAP may consider specialties that weren’t originally on their list. A major factor impacting students matching to their top choice is that while medical schools have increased the number of students they accept and as more medical schools have opened, the number of residency programs have not increased at the same pace.

Yes. All medical school students apply for the same residency positions. Prior to 2020, separate matches and residency programs existed for some osteopathic students (DO) and allopathic students (MD). Now all medical students compete for positions in the same programs.