The medical residency interview season is about to break for the holiday season. After the holidays, programs can still conduct interviews, but many programs will want to have their interviews all wrapped up for the opening of Rank Order List creation in January.

Now is a good time to begin reflecting on your season, and start making hard decisions based on the number of interviews you have (or have not) received. Depending on how well you perceive your residency application season to be going, you may want to start learning about the Post-Match Supplemental Offer and Acceptance Program® (SOAP®). The Post-Match SOAP allows eligible candidates to apply to programs with unfilled positions.

Post-Match preparation starts with a few simple questions. One of which is: Are you prepared for any additional specialties you might be interested in applying to?

Wise residency candidates know they need specialty-specific documents such as Letters of Recommendation or Personal Statements while applying to programs for the Main Residency Match®. However, this simple principle tends to get forgotten in the mad Post-Match rush. It is very important to assess the resources you have now and compare what you have to what you may need in order to successfully approach the Post-Match.

For example, a residency candidate prepared for and applied to OBGYN programs for the Main Match. Unfortunately, the candidate only received one interview, so they think they may have to go through the Post-Match. The problem is there were only 7 unfilled PGY-1 positions in OBGYN and no Categorical positions during the Post-Match SOAP. As an alternative, the candidate may want to consider applying to preliminary Internal Medicine unfilled positions which had 118 positions. That means this candidate will want to prepare a fresh, Internal Medicine specific Personal Statement and try to get specialty-specific Letters of Recommendation.

By reviewing the data from the previous Match Cycle, those looking to participate in the Post-Match can better prepare to make the most out of the Post-Match. Be sure to keep checking back for more Post-Match SOAP information.

 

Results of the Post-Match SOAP 2019 per Specialty

Anesthesiology

(PGY-1) Participating Programs – 4

Filled Programs – 3

Positions Available – 21

Positions Filled – 4

 

(PGY-2) Participating Programs – 4

Filled Programs – 4

Positions Available – 6

Positions Filled – 5

 

Child Neurology

(PGY-1) Participating Programs – 9

Filled Programs – 7

Positions Available – 9

Positions Filled – 7

 

(PGY-2) Participating Programs – 2

Filled Programs – 1

Positions Available – 2

Positions Filled – 1

 

Combined Medpeds

Participating Programs – 5

Filled Programs – 4

Positions Available – 7

Positions Filled – 4

 

Emergency Medicine

Participating Programs – 14

Filled Programs – 12

Positions Available – 29

Positions Filled – 27

 

Family Medicine

Participating Programs – 113

Filled Programs – 87

Positions Available – 271

Positions Filled – 238

 

Internal Medicine

(Categorical) Participating Programs – 57

Filled Programs – 40

Positions Available – 219

Positions Filled – 176

 

Medicine-Prelim

Participating Programs – 51

Filled Programs – 37

Positions Available – 134

Positions Filled – 105

 

Neurological Surgery

Participating Programs – 0

Filled Programs – 0

Positions Available – 0

Positions Filled – 0

 

Neurology

Participating Programs – 12

Filled Programs – 11

Positions Available – 20

Positions Filled – 19

 

(PGY-2) Participating Programs – 8

Filled Programs – 6

Positions Available – 15

Positions Filled – 13

 

Obstetrics-Gynecology

(PGY-1) Participating Programs – 6

Filled Programs – 4

Positions Available – 9

Positions Filled – 7

 

(Categorical) Participating Programs – 0

Filled Programs – 0

Positions Available – 0

Positions Filled – 0

 

Orthopedic Surgery

Participating Programs – 2

Filled Programs – 2

Positions Available – 3

Positions Filled – 3

 

Pathology

Participating Programs – 17

Filled Programs – 11

Positions Available – 27

Positions Filled – 21

 

Pediatrics

Participating Programs – 28

Filled Programs – 22

Positions Available – 68

Positions Filled – 60

 

Physical Medicine & Rehab

(Categorical) Participating Programs – 0

Filled Programs – 0

Positions Available – 0

Positions Filled – 0

 

(PGY-2) Participating Programs – 3

Filled Programs – 3

Positions Available – 3

Positions Filled – 3

 

Psychiatry

Participating Programs – 11

Filled Programs – 9

Positions Available – 18

Positions Filled – 15

 

Radiology-Diagnostic

Participating Programs – 0

Filled Programs – 0

Positions Available – 0

Positions Filled – 0

 

(PGY-2) Participating Programs – 7

Filled Programs – 6

Positions Available – 11

Positions Filled – 10

 

Radiation Oncology

(PGY-1) Participating Programs – 1

Filled Programs – 1

Positions Available – 1

Positions Filled – 1

 

(PGY-2) Participating Programs – 19

Filled Programs – 13

Positions Available – 26

Positions Filled – 18

 

Surgery

(Categorical) Participating Programs – 0

Filled Programs – 0

Positions Available – 0

Positions Filled – 0

 

(PGY-1) Participating Programs – 145

Filled Programs – 81

Positions Available – 559

Positions Filled – 430

 

Transitional Year

Participating Programs – 35

Filled Programs – 17

Positions Available – 145

Positions Filled – 110