Planning for the 2009 NRMP Residency Match

I must rather start with an apology for being late in writing about planning for the 2009 NRMP Residency Match. While writing up the 2008 Match plan last year, it was the lovely Fall season with red-yellow-brown trees lining the roads, but now as I walk the December streets, I see the same trees playing dead and roads lined by snow-doped vehicles that look more like frozen food :-P

I like putting the whole match timeline process in the backwards, so that it gets logical to understand the reasons for each deadline (or shall I say a time-stone).

When I say 2009 Residency Match , I imply that the Residency year will start in July 2009, the Match results for which will be announced in March 2009 and that candidates will apply for the programs from September 2008 Onwards.


Here we go:

1. The 2009 Match results will be announced in mid-March 2009. It's called the 'Match' because a specially designed computer program National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) will "Match" two sets of lists - such a list is called a Rank Order Lists (ROL). One ROL set consists of lists submitted by individual residency programs, which has a list of candidate names that they interviewed, in the decreasing order of preference. While the other set of ROLs would be those submitted by individual candidates and consists of a list of names of Residency Programs that they interviewed at, again in the decreasing order of their preferences. Thus, in order to have a chance at match, it is imperative that your name exists on at least one ROL submitted by Residency Programs and that you have that program on your list.

2. Now, how does the computer get those ROLs ? They need to be submitted individually on the NRMP website by both - the candidates as well as the Residency Programs. The last day for submitting these ROLs will be around 20th to 22nd of February 2009.

3. It's but obvious that all interviews must naturally occur before the ROLs are submitted by the residency programs. A residency program director usually spends a week or more discussing with his chairman and interviewing faculty and/or residents for finalizing which candidates will be included on their ROL. The purpose of telling you this part is explaining why the interview season gets over by the Jan last week to Feb first week for almost all residency programs.

4. In order to be eligible to have your name added on the ROLs of residency programs that you interviewed at, besides liking you, this is what program directors want to see from you before the ROL submission deadline:

1. Be 'ECFMG Certified' by then (i.e. Cleared Step 1, Step 2 CK, CS and have Medical documents/credentials verified with medical school)
2. Have passed Step 3 if you need an H1b Visa.

At this point lets take a mini-break to dwell a little more on USMLE Step 3:

• Note that you can apply for a Step 3 Permit only after you have RECEIVED your ECFMG Certificate - which takes two weeks to arrive after passing all the previous 3 steps - Step 1, 2 CK and 2 CS. Thus plan this accordingly.
• The registration for Step 3 exams for a given year closes in the first week of September that year. When registration reopens after 1-2 weeks, that's for the next year. For example this is what the FSMB website said about taking Step 3 in the year 2008 = "All 2008 Step 3 applications and fees must reach the FSMB by 5:00 pm C.S.T. on September 5, 2008". So if You wish to take the Step 3 in 2009, you will need to apply for a date BEFORE the first week of September 2009. Subtract two more weeks from that to know when you finish all requirements for the ECFMG Certification.

5. Applying to residencies and then participating in the match is handled by DIFFERENT Agencies - ERAS processes and transmits your residency applications while NRMP does the matching part, so before the last week of November 2008, do not forget to Register yourself for the match on the NRMP website - costs 40$. You can still register later upto Jan 30th, but with an additional late fee.

Hmmm, so far so good, Lets continue backwards further...

6. The peak Interview season will be Oct-Nov-Dec 2008 , while some programs (especially the ones that offer Pre-Matches) will send out Interview offers to applicants as early as September 2008. These interviews for eligible applicants are often on a first-come-first-serve basis. Some programs might wait until ERAS releases the Deans Letter / MSPE on 1st November 2008, to review some applications and call for interviews. You might find it useful to review what dates various programs sent out responses to applicants for the 2008 Match application season on the Residency Programs Responses Database - Thanks to all who fed their data.


7. In order to be invited for Interviews, you should finish applying to programs through the online ERAS system (Electronic Residency Application Service) before the Interview season. To maximize your chances for interviews and get an edge over the competition, it is highly recommended that you apply EARLY (ideally 1st of September 2008) and your application should be complete (with Step 1 , Step 2 CK scores reported and Step 2 CS Passed by then)

8. Here are the credentials you should have completed BEFORE applying on September 1st 2008 :

1. USMLE Step 1 , Step 2 CK and Step 2 Passed and scores already reported (USMLE Step 1 and Step 2 CK scores take about 3 to 4 months of study time each and about 4 weeks for reporting scores. The Step 2 CS needs 15 days of study time but the scores take about 6-10 weeks depending on the score reporting slots )
2. US-clinical Experience (US Clinical Electives, Observerships or Externships) - either completed or ongoing or secured. This is needed so that you can mention that on your application while applying - since you CANNOT change your Application once you applied !
   
3. All documents scanned by ECFMG and uploaded to the ERAS virtual mail-box so that they are ready for programs to download by the time you apply - as explained in point 9

( At this I point I would to state that this timeline is an IDEAL scenario to stay ahead of competition - it does NOT mean that you cannot technically apply without all scores in hand - you can apply even on a single score... but people with all the above ready will always have that advantage..so do aim for this!)

9. Next, in order to be able to apply on the 1st September 2008 deadline these are the things that must be taken of BEFORE 1st Sept. 2008:

1. You should have finished sending required documents [MSPE , LORs ,Copy of Medical school Transcript] to ECFMG-ERAS for scanning, before the start of August 2008. For the 2008 Match, ERAS estimated a 4-week wait time initially between receiving documents and having them scanned ready to be transmitted with ERAS applications ! So the earlier you are , the better. Since all your documents should REACH ECFMG-ERAS by the start of August, based on which part of the world you are applying from, you will need to have ready and mail them even earlier.
2. You should have Completed filling up all the details the online Common Application Form (CAF) on the ERAS website and completed writing Personal Statements for all specialties. Note here that candidates tend to underestimate the time need to make Personal Statements. I would say, to a get a completely satisfactory Personal Statements, it takes 7-10 days of drafting, editing, tweaking, polishing and feedback from friends :-)
3. You should have also completed compiling your list of programs to apply and keep the selections ready on your ERAS application, so that on 1st September all you have to do is hit apply and pay. Again it's best to prepare this by individually calling/emailing programs from the various IMG-friendly Programs listed Here. This takes a lot of time too. Thus, all this pre-application prep is easily gonna make July - August 2008 your busiest months - so don't plan a vacation then ;-) !

[Imp: If you had applied unsuccessfully for the 2008 Match and are reapplying for the 2009 match, you do not need to resend MSPE, medical school transcript, or photograph for the ERAS 2009 application season - BUT you are still required to submit up-to-date, original Letters of Recommendation (LORs).

10. Applying to programs is not about simply hitting the 'Apply' button - you gotta plan to pay too ! - So make sure in advance that you are really ready to pay for those programs - Read about that here.


11. Next, in order to have ECFMG accept your documents and to be granted access to the ERAS website, you first need to have an AAMC ID to login - and that is obtained ONLY after you purchase the electronic 'ERAS token' online through your OASIS account on the ECFMG.org. This token is nothing but a 14-digit number posted on your account and helps you register to get a AAMC ID. When will ERAS tokens for the 2009 Match be available ? Last week of June 2008 ! So grab it as soon it is available (for 75$) and get the ball rolling - it takes about 1 to 2 days to receive your ERAS Token after you have made the purchase :-)


So if you wish to have an ideal situation as described below....the time to act is now ! Very Soon I shall come up with three more things to help you keep track of the 2009 Plan

- A graphic flowchart
- A Sliding timeline, like I had created for the 2008 Match
- A Google Calendar with various 2009 residency match time-stones loaded, to which you can 'subscribe' and have alerts sent automatically to you via email, as deadlines approach.
- Have updates on more tips and tricks emailed to you automatically if you signed up for USMLEtoMD updates through Feedburner. If you have not, Click here to do so - only takes 8 seconds and you will never get any spam from me.

:-)


MORE NOTES:

1. This post was to help understand the timeline that 2009 residency aspirants should aim for - to learn Tips and Tricks about making your application more competitive. Remember that only USMLE scores are no longer important - to understand what else matters for getting interview calls - please read : Application Strategies: Lessons from the Past

2. Try your best to avoid the Step 2 CS Failing-late blunder. There are probably hundreds of people who spend a fortune on applying to residency programs on time and then get a fail result on the Step 2 CS in Oct / Nov / Dec - Result ? No dates available to retake the exam on time to be eligible for ECFMG certification before the ROL submission deadline. All application money wasted ! So take the Step 2 CS way before time - no need to wait for first completing Step 1 and Step 2 CK - the truth is Step 2 CS takes hardly 15 days to prepare and get done with and has no performance relation to whether you studied for Step 1 / Step 2 CK or not. In fact, ECFMG recently posted an advisory saying that IMGs must take the Step 2 CS Exam by August 2008, if they wanted to have their scores reported in time for the 2009 Match.

3. I like to call US Clinical Experience as the New Step 3 ! So after you are done with exams, trying to get yourself involved with US clinical / Research experiences might be a better investment in time before applying




Also Read:


- Step 3 and H1b Relation
- ECFMG Certification - The Basics
- IMG Friendly List of Residency programs



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