Because it provides a uniform date for decisions about residency selection
for both applicants and programs, the National Resident Matching Program NRMP matches eliminate the pressure
that might otherwise fall upon applicants and programs to make decisions
before all of their options are known. The Match
Participation Agreement outlines the guidelines and procedures developed
to accomplish this objective and should be reviewed carefully.
The NRMP can best accomplish its goals when every program involved in
the selection of applicants participates fully in the Match. The NRMP
is a matching service and provides the mechanism for matching applicants
to programs according to the preferences expressed by both parties on
their individualized rank order lists.
There are three steps in a match: registration, ranking, and results.
The entire match process is conducted on the web through the NRMP's Registration,
Ranking, and Results (R3) System.
Registration
Each match has a separate schedule. To learn when registration begins,
go to the Schedule of Dates for all NRMP matches.
To register for any of the matches offered by the NRMP, an applicant must
go to www.nrmp.org and click on the
Register/Login button. Beneath the login information will appear "Applicant
Registration ". The process is three parts:
-
Entering the applicant's personal and professional information. Included
in this information must be a valid email address.
-
After completing the first section, the applicant will be asked to
agree to the Match Participation
Agreement.
- The final section is the payment. Registration fees are non-refundable,
as stated in the Match Agreement. Fees are due at the time of registration
and are payable only online by VISA, MasterCard, or TeleCheck. Other
separately mailed forms of payment cannot be accepted by the NRMP.
Ranking
Applicants and programs submit their rank order lists directly on the
NRMP web site. It is unlikely that a program will rank an applicant
if the program did not grant an interview. Applicants submit, in the
applicant's order of preference, a list of the programs where they have
interviewed. Each program also submits a list of applicants in its order
of preference. Those lists are then compared against each other, incorporating
a computerized matching algorithm program.
Since January 1998, a new applicant
proposing algorithm has been used in all NRMP matches. This algorithm
assumes that offers made to applicants for by various programs are determined
by the applicants' preferred order lists (rank order lists). Applicants
match into the programs listed highest on their lists that also ranked
the applicant and had not filled all of available positions with applicants
the program preferred as determined by the program's rank order list.
There is one cardinal rule for both programs and applicants: neither
must ask the other prior to the Match to make a commitment as to how each
will be ranked. Each party may express a high level of interest in
the other; however, references to how each will rank the other should
be avoided and should definitely not be solicited. Neither programs nor
applicants should consider these comments about interest as commitments.
Candor and honesty are important for both programs and applicants.
Results
Results will be posted on Match Day at 1:00 PM eastern time on the NRMP
web site or can be obtained by contacting the NRMP office. Information
includes:
- Applicants - Where they matched
- Programs - Who matched to the program
Updated
07/11/2005
