As previously mentioned, ERAS® opens in late September for programs to begin screening applicants. Each program may complete their screening phase slightly differently depending on their resources and ultimate recruiting goals. Some programs set up lters within the ERAS® PDWS to select applicants to invite without anyone spending signi­cant time initially reviewing applications. Highly granular lters can be congured within PDWS and the AAMC part­nership with Thalamus may lead to further improvements in automated screening technology [5]. Other programs form a review committee dividing applications among several indi­viduals. The committee then ranks applications in order to determine who to invite for a formal interview. Some pro­grams offer rolling interviews where they immediately extend an invitation once an applicant has been selected to interview while other programs may decide to review multi­ple applications rst and then issue invitations at once to a group of applicants. Each program will need to decide what is the best approach for them. If a program typically receives more applications than they are able to interview, then it may be more reasonable to review multiple applications before offering interviews. Some programs may receive an over­whelming number of applications and properly congured electronic lters must be used to identify a reasonable num­ber of applications for a more detailed inspection. For pro­grams that may not receive as many applications, generating rolling interview offers to qualifying candidates makes sense.

• The experience section demonstrates which volunteer

• Scholarly activity is also included and may be important for programs that place a greater emphasis on research and/or quality improvement projects during residency.

• Standardized test results (USMLE or COMLEX) should be uploaded. These will likely include a pass/fail for the initial test and a score report for the second standardized test (Step 2/Level 2). Some applicants may not take Step 2/Level 2 until the spring of the fourth year of medical school. Programs will need to decide whether they require a passing score as a prerequisite to interviewing and/or ranking applicants. It will also be important to determine if the program is willing to interview applicants with a prior poor performance (i.e., fail and/or low score) on one or more of the standardized tests. This varies greatly among programs and is something to consider before interview screening of applicants begins each year.

nicant changes to the application website before the 2024 interview season [23]. The experience section will only allow 10 entries to encourage candidates to emphasize what they feel is most important for programs to know about them. Applicants will be able to highlight and describe three of those experiences, whichever were most meaningful to them. Applicants will also have an opportunity to share their expe­riences overcoming any obstacles or hardships. For example, an applicant might share how he/she worked during medical school to provide nancially for a family, limiting the time available for extracurricular experiences. Another applicant might highlight overcoming a health issue that impacted aca­demic performance on standardized tests. All of these changes are intended to provide a more holistic view of can­didates to programs.

which all leads to substantial program costs. Since it’s now established that programs can recruit applicants virtually, many programs and/or sponsoring institutions have decided the cost savings of virtual interviews are worthwhile. The AAMC has recommendations for programs that would like to offer virtual interviews [29].

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, “second looks” (also known as “callbacks”) were traditionally opportunities for candidates to revisit programs they were most interested in matching with. They have been controversial within the GME community as some feel they put undue pressure on candidates who may feel obligated to attend second looks in order to demonstrate their interest in a program. Others feel they are another opportunity to showcase their program by allowing applicants additional exposure to faculty and resi­dents. During the height of the pandemic, some programs offered virtual second looks as a means to promote their pro­grams without placing additional stresses on applicants. There are also candidates who independently decide to visit program locations to explore the area while reaching out to programs asking if they can meet some residents and/or fac-

respective true preferences. Attempting to account for the like­lihood that an applicant will match with a program, or vice versa, has no positive impact on a program’s Match® outcome and, in fact, “…trying to get a preferred match by behaving strategically is far more likely to harm than to help” [35]. Concerningly, 63% of programs with access to preinterview signaling data indicated they planned to use this information during ROL discussions [25]. This is entirely contrary to the intended purpose of the signals. It also fails to account for the way applicants’ perceptions and preferences may be signi­cantly altered during the interview process. Therefore, reli­ance on preinterview signaling data when creating the ROL is irrational and may hurt the program in the Match®.

they are the top-ranked applicant will inevitably lead other students to logically conclude that they are not the top-ranked applicant, and they may even alter their rank lists in response. Hopefully this makes it clear that the risk of sharing ranking information almost always outweighs any small potential benet. Programs should likewise avoid altering their ROL based upon “letters of intent” or other spontaneous commu­nication of preferences from applicants.

Programs that have multiple tracks or rural training pro­grams with separate NRMP® Program Codes will need to conrm the quota and SOAP® status for each unique listing. These types of programs may also wish to congure rever­sions where unlled slots in one program or track are donated to another program or track. For example, a program with an obstetrics track and an osteopathic track may revert unlled positions in one or both tracks to the core program to ensure the overall program lls all positions even if theindividual tracks do notll. Alternatively, positions could be donated from one track to another track and then to the core program. Any system of reversions may be accommodated, as long as it does not result in a series of circular donations [37].

does not have a certied list, the program will not match with a single applicant [38].

Match® Week, like a Dickens’ novel, may start off as the best of times or the worst of times; however, by the end of the week the vast majority of programs will nish on a high note as they celebrate and welcome their next class of residents. The details of Match® Week often slightly change from year to year and programs would be wise to review the annual calendar to ensure they are ready for whatever may come (see Table14.1). Experienced program directors may proac­tively block the entire week and keep their schedules free from precepting and meetings. Less experienced program directors have found themselves on vacation or rounding on the inpatient team when they discovered it was time to urgently learn about the SOAP®.

In 2024 applicants may begin applying to unlled pro­grams through MyERAS® on Monday morning [6]. Applicants, and their representatives, are strictly prohibited from initiating contact with programs outside of ERAS®. Programs currently gain access to applications in PDWS on Tuesday morning. Programs may receive as many applica­tions for just one unlled position as they received in total before Match® Week and thus need to think through their screening process before Tuesday morning. All of the SOAP® rounds are currently scheduled for Thursday with the rst program preference list certication deadline at 8:55am Eastern time. Applicants receive their Round One offers 5minutes later and have 2hours to accept an offer. If an applicant accepts an offer, all of the other offers are auto­matically rejected. Programs are notied of accepted or rejected offers immediately by email and they may also track offer status within R3®. After the rst round ends, programs with unlled positions remaining have 55minutes to make changes to their preference list before the next certication deadline as the list must be certied before each round. After the fourth round ends, programs with unlled positions may elect to manually update their status on the NRMP’s “List of Unlled Programs” and indicate if they do not want to receive contact from applicants who remain unmatched.

6. NRMP. 2024 Main Residency Match Applicants Calendar. https://

Accessed 18 Sept 2023.

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