The NRMP announced that three additions to the 2011 Match:

Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery Fellowships (FPRS): Applicants interested in FPRS programs should register for the FPRS Fellowship Match and not the OB-GYN Fellowship Match.

Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics (DBP): Sponsored by the Society of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, the DBP match will open on August 11, 2010.

Medical genetics (MG): Sponsored by the Medical Genetics Residency Program Directors Group, the Medical Genetics Fellowship Match will open for registration on July 28, 2010. Concurrent with their match at the NRMP, Medical Genetics programs will begin using the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS).

Match Day – the day graduating medical students find out which program they matched to – was held last month. A couple days prior, applicants find out if they matched or if they were going to have to scramble.

The National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) uses a computerized mathematical algorithm to “match” students with residency programs. This computerized program may sound like a mystery but really it doesn’t matter beyond how it affects you. The algorithm favors the applicant – meaning that your highest ranked program that wants you will be the one you get. As long as you rank programs in the order you want them, you will have the upper hand. The order in which you rank your programs has zero impact on whether or not you will match.

More than 80 percent of students get matched with one of their top three. For those students, it is the best day of their life. For the 14,000 others who failed to match with any program, they are forced to scramble.

The Scramble began at noon on March 16th (the day after people found out if they did not match). Once the programs announce their unfilled positions – approximately 1,000 of them—students can contact programs directly. As you can imagine, these spots fill up quickly!

To describe the Scramble as crazy is putting it lightly. It is very important you have access to a fax machine that day, all your paperwork with you ready to be sent out at a moment’s notice and a phone with a lot of minutes available. It’s called a Scramble for a reason.

That said, the process should calm down a couple years from now. The NRMP has formed a working group to better manage the Scramble, starting in either 2011 or 2012. It will most likely still be a mad dash, but hopefully a little less hectic. One suggested change is for a manadated “time out”, where students will have time to consider their options and programs will have time to review all applications.

Finally, you might think that during the Scramble, you are only competing with others who did not Match. This is not the case. Several applicants, namely IMGs & FMGs, choose not to submit a rank list with hopes to gain a spot in the Scramble. That creates an entirely new pool of applicants from which you are competing against. That means you need to be in high gear and impress residency directors, put forth excellent personal statements, and have well-polished answers in the interviews.

Congratulations to everyone who matched or scrambled this year and best of luck to those applying in the future!

The reporting of Step 3 scores occurs within four weeks of testing.  But, according to USMLE, because of necessary modifications to the test item pool, there has been a delay in reporting for some examinees testing beginning in late February 2010. They hope to report Step 3 scores through early April.

Also, beginning in March 2010, Step 3 exams will see a change. If a student uses all of their allotted break time during the day, a warning will appear on their computer screens. According to USMLE, if the warning message appears and the “counter” does not appear to be moving or shows “0”, examinees should rely on the Day Time Information and Exam Overview provided to manage their time.