Residency Match
Guide to Match Season
by Dr Bookite

January MS3 year -1 year before your match
Will I make the match?
To participate in the Match:

1. you must be done with Step 2CK and CS before Rank Order List (ROL) are submitted. January to March the year before you want to match work on your schedule so you will have finished all you tests by November. This will give you plenty to time to get your results back to safely make theROL deadline.
2. You must graduate at the latest by May. This will allow four weeks for ECFMG certification (minimum 4 to 6 weeks). January to March plan your electives so you will finish no later than May of the match year so you can start residency July 1.

March
Identify the programs you will apply to.
By this time you should have an idea what speciality you will apply to. Now you should start reviewing the different programs and identifying which you will apply to. The websites below will help you with this process. You should have a list of all the programs you will apply to ready by August.

• FREIDA Online search Freida is a website sponsored by AMA listing all programs for every specialty.

• Scutwork.com Website where other medical students/residents can review a program. Good insight into a program

• ACGME Accredited Program and Institutional Listing - Public Access ACGME accredited programs and sponsoring institutions

Start securing your letters of recommendation (LORs).
There are several ways to get you LORs but one way that has worked best is asking your letter writer during or just after you have rotated with them. You can also ask them to keep a copy of the letter on file so it can be updated. When sending them into theECFMG (Acting deans office for FMGs) you will need to have your AAMC # on it. You can't get this number until July so if the LOR is on file you can ask that it be updated with your AAMC number and sent. Several reasons you want to have your letters written ASAP after the rotation. 1) your work and skill is current in their minds. 2) some letter writers take a long time to finish the letter, startingearly will give you time to follow up to make sure it is done.
Advise: Wave your right to see the letter as it is believed these LORs will hold more meaning.

Start on you Personal Statement
This may be the hardest part of the application process. Some programs put more weight into this than others so you want to have a great one. If your English sucks or yourgrammar needs help think about a proof reading service. EssayEdge.com: Personal Statement and Admissions Essay Help, Application Essay Editing does a good job but their service is not free (around 200$?). A good idea is to have a several people read it and correct as needed. There are outlines on theInternet for help. DO NOT COPY PERSONAL STATEMENTS FROM THE INTERNET USE YOUR OWN. You want to start early so you can revise several times.

April
Start working on you CV
Curriculum Vitae is something AUC will use to write your deans letter so make sure it is comprehensive and expanded. When I got my MSPE (deans letter) I was surprised to find they copy and pasted my CV. Had I known I would have written more or gave more detail. CV should contain: Eduction, Work experience, Volunteer work, Published studies, Hobbies, Skills, Awards, and any association you belong to.

May
Request and Pay for your MSPE
There is a financial for you will need to fill out to pay your 20$. You can get this off AUCs website or call them for it. It is important you request this early because these are done on a first come first serve order. If you wait until September you may not make the November deadline.
Advice: AUC will wait to send you transcripts (which you also need to pay for) until you MSPE is done. So if you wait to long to request your MSPE you will not have your transcripts in by September 1st.

June
ERAS
Go to ERAS (ERAS® Residency & Osteopathic Internship Applicants Site) and read the Application Process Guidelines. Download the Manual Application and fill it out. This will give you a guideline while filling out the online version. Read and understand their fees. You can't open your account until July but understanding+ their system will help you.

Token from ECFMG
About the last two week for June you can request and pay for your TOKEN. You must have this to register for ERAS. Tokens take 1-2 days to get after paying.

July
Open ERAS
ERAS is a central application system for sending out your application information. ERAS is not where you will rank programs (that is theNRMP).
You can now open an ERAS account and start filling out all you information. You can copy and past your personal statement. Assign letter writers for yourLORs. Start selecting programs to apply to and request and pay for your USMLE score report to be released. Nothing will be uploaded into your ERAS post office until you apply and pay for at least one program (earliest date Sept).

Send Documents to ECFMG
Because we are FMGs our deans office is the ECFMG and they are responsible for handling all our paperwork. Because they cover all FMGs they will get backed up in scanning your documents into their system. The sooner you have your documents in the sooner they will be available for ERAS. They often take two weeks from the time they receive them to be scanned into their system. The date they receive your documents should show up in OASIS (ECFMG website).

Request Updated LORs
Now that you have your AAMC number you can ask you letter writers to update the letters with this number written on top. Make sure your letters make it to theECFMG by checking OASIS. If you know your letters were sent in and they don't show up on OASIS in a week you need to track them down or have them resent.

August
Request for Transcripts
Request your transcripts from AUC. You will be charged for this and will need to send a payment form in. Once AUC has your money they will send your MSPE if finished and your transcripts to ECFMG. Remember this takes time as ECFMG will be behind on scanning documents. Request early in August so you can have your transcripts for Sept 1st. You can update your transcripts at anytime during the match season by making another request toAUC (they will charge you to resend to ECFMG).

Follow up on your MSPE
Follow up on your MSPE to make sure it is done and will be sent. Programs can't view them until November 1st but if the school has not done it and they are behind it could be late October before they get it out.

Register for the NRMP
You have to register and pay for the NRMP as it is a different system from ERAS. NRMP is where you will submit your rank order list (ROL) and where the match takes place. You have to register and pay them money or you won't go through the match.

Finalize your Programs
By the end of August you want to finalize the programs you are applying to. You can add programs throughout the season but it is better to do it all at once.

September
Apply to your programs
Apply early. Apply September 1 for all your programs. Your documents won't be uploaded into your ERAS post office until you apply and pay for at least one program. Many programs sent out interview invitations on a first come first servebases. If you meet the programs requirements you have a better shot at getting an interview if you apply early.

Programs will start downloading your application
You can track who has downloaded you application via ERAS.

October
Schedule interviews
Some interviews start as early as October and go as late as early February. Check with your clinical coordinator as some hospitals have a policy about how many days you can take off during your rotation. Some say schedule the interview of places you love early so you have time for a second look.

November
MSPE letters are released
Programs may wait until November 1 to offer an interview so they can see the deans letter.

December
Step 2 deadline
Last day to sit for step 2 and get your score back by ROL deadline. I don't recommend waiting this long to take step 2 as you may not make the ROL deadline. Some programs may not interview or rank you if they don't see your scores because if you don't pass step 2 you cannot start residency.

January
Rank order list
You can now start filling out your ROL.

February
ROL deadline
If you pre-match you need to withdraw by this deadline. If you are going through the match your ROL must be finished and certified by this deadline.

March
Match Madness
There are three dates to know so go to National Resident Match Program and find them. They are a Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. Monday you find out if you matched or need to scramble. Tuesday the Scramble starts. Thursday you find out where you matched.

Programs send out contracts


Advice: Have everything ready and apply September 1st.
Get your LORs early.
Wave your right to see your LORs.
Take USMLE step 2ck and cs so your scores are back by September 1st.
Don't wait until the end to do your personal statement.
Apply to as many programs as you can afford.



If anyone see something I missed please add it to the list.

Originally Posted by argazul Also what's the difference between the FREIDA and ACGME sites? I see that there are more search options for FREIDA, but is there a difference about information obtained from these sites?