Pathway to Match

Fourth Year Requirements

• Details on required rotations, educational tracks, electives and the USMLE are available on LEO, our learning management system. All NYMC School of Medicine students are enrolled in the Career Planning Curriculum, where you can review the Career Roadmap, connect with NYMC Alumni mentors, Career Specialty Advisors, and additional materials on the Residency Application process posted on LEO in the Career Planning Curriculum course.

• USMLE Related: Passing scores for Step 2CK must be received to be certified to enter the NRMP match in February. Some specialties participate in other Match programs where requirements differ. The Office of Medical Student Affairs will let you know about all examination deadlines.

Applying to Residency

The Office of Medical Student Affairs provides career development workshops and fourth-year medical student planning sessions designed to help you prepare your residency application, practice interviewing and submit your Rank Order List (ROL).

• The AAMC’s Electronic Residency Application Service® (ERAS®) is the online application service that most of you will use to transmit your application to residency programs. Each student will complete and submit the MyERAS® application, along with supporting documentation, to the GME programs you’ve selected.

• ERAS opens in mid-May for residencies starting the following year to allow you to start preparing your application and documents. In September, ERAS applications and supporting documents can be submitted to ACGME-accredited residency programs.

• Make sure you revisit the AAMC’s Careers in Medicine website for information about creating a CV, tips for writing personal statements, and strategies on how to ask for letters of recommendation. The Office of Academic Excellence is another great resource, with a writing specialist on-site who can offer advice and feedback.

• At NYMC SOM, you’ll have an opportunity to review your Medical Student Performance Evaluation (MSPE) for accuracy prior to ERAS upload. Each year, the MSPE is released through ERAS in late September, making the document available to residency programs.

• The leadership in the Office of Medical Student Affairs, the SOM House Advisory Deans, and the Career Specialty Advisors are a valuable resource as you identify the appropriate number and mix of GME programs to which you apply, interview, and rank.

The Residency Interview Process

• Residency programs typically schedule interviews from October through January, with December and January being the busiest interview months.

• Many interviews are now virtual. For in-person interviews, be sure to factor in the costs of interviewing when planning your budget. The AAMC’s program, FIRST (Financial, Information, Resources, Services and Tools), provides a useful financial aid fact sheet “The Cost of Applying for a Medical Residency.” The College’s Office of Student Financial Planning can assist you in making educated and sound financial decisions associated with the interviewing.

• If you accept an interview with a program but later decide that you no longer want to interview there, make sure that you notify the program as soon as possible. This reflects well on your professionalism, the reputation of NYMC and may enable the program to offer an interview opportunity to another candidate.

The Residency Match

At the SOM students will register for one or more matches:

• National Residency Matching Program: The majority of medical students use the NRMP. The NRMP’s registration system includes the Main Residency Match and the Specialties Matching Service (fellowship and fellowship subspecialty positions).
• The San Francisco Match: Students pursuing advanced positions in ophthalmology or plastic surgery use this service, also known as “the early match.”
• The American Urological Association (AUA): Students seeking advanced or categorical positions in urological surgery use this program, which also uses ERAS for participating residencies.
• Military Match MODS: Students pursuing military residency positions apply through this program. Residencies receive applications via the Medical Operational Data System (MODS). The military match is early, taking place in December instead of March.
• CaRMS (Canadian Match)

The Office of Medical Student Affairs leadership and your advisors (SOM House Advisory Deans, Career Specialty Advisors) will work with you to help select which matching organizations are right for you and the specialties that you are considering. In addition, they can provide advice and resources for those interested in applying to residency programs as a Couples Match.

Submitting Your Rank Order List

After you have registered with the match and completed your interviews, you are required to submit a list of programs, ranked in order of preference, to the match program. Program directors also submit a ROL of applicants to the appropriate match programs. A computer algorithm matches applicants to the highest program on their list that has, in turn, ranked the applicant.

Match Week

The third week of March is Match Week. Applicants who participated in the NRMP Main Residency Match find out where they have matched. On the Friday of Match Week, Match Day ceremonies, a renowned medical school tradition, are held where students open their envelopes to reveal where they secured their residency.

What To Do if You Don’t Match Into Residency

In instances when a student doesn’t match, they will want to work closely with the Office of Medical Student Affairs leadership to determine their next steps. If they participated in the NRMP Main Residency Match and did not match, they may enter the Supplemental Offer and Acceptance Program® (SOAP®).

SOAP is a collaboration between the AAMC/ERAS and NRMP designed to enable eligible applicants who are unmatched or partially matched to try to obtain a position in a training program that did not fill all its positions during the Match. Students who don’t match during SOAP may continue to seek a residency position by continuing to work with the Office of Medical Student Affairs and the AAMC’s FindAResident program to identify available opportunities. Some students reapply in the next match cycle and/or explore other opportunities to help assess their choices and their overall competitiveness.