May 20, 2016

At its May 2016 Annual Meeting, the NRMP Board of Directors addressed a variety of issues related to the Main Residency Match and the Specialties Matching Service:

Couples’ Rank Order Lists

When participating in the Match as a couple, partners create pairs of programs on their primary rank order lists (ROLs), and each partner often ranks the same program multiple times paired with a different program on the partner’s ROL. This practice can lead to excessively long ROLs that degrade the experience for all Match participants using the Registration, Ranking, and Results (R3) system. To ensure optimal R3 system performance, especially during peak times, the Board of Directors voted:

Beginning with the 2017 Main Residency Match, couples’ rank order lists will be limited to 700 ranks, including unique programs and pairs of ranks in which the “no match” option is used.

Match Participation Agreement

Every year at its May meeting, the Board of Directors considers revisions to the Match Participation Agreement and the Waiver and Violations Policies. This year, the Board addressed communication that occurs between applicants and programs, taking into account incidents reported by medical schools and applicants as well as recently-published articles that examined illegal, unethical, and/or misleading communication during and after the interview. Currently, applicants and programs are prohibited from requesting information about ranking preferences, and programs are prohibited from requiring applicants to reveal information about the programs to which they have or may apply. In expanding that section of the Match Participation Agreement, the Board of Directors voted:

For all Matches opening after June 30, 2016, programs are prohibited from requesting applicants to reveal the names, specialties, geographic locations, or other identifying information of programs to which they have or may apply.

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Supplemental Offer and Acceptance Program Schedule

As originally implemented, the Supplemental Offer and Acceptance Program (SOAP) consisted of six offer rounds. Beginning with the 2014 Main Residency Match, the Board of Directors voted to reduce the number of rounds from 6 to 5 and to conclude SOAP at 5:00 p.m. eastern time on Thursday of Match Week. After reviewing data from the 2014, 2015, and 2016 Main Residency Matches showing that few positions are offered in rounds 4 and 5, the Board voted:

Beginning with the 2017 Main Residency Match, the Match Week Supplemental Offer and Acceptance Program will conclude after round 3 at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time on Thursday of Match Week.

All communication restrictions will be lifted at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time, and the updated List of Unfilled Programs will be posted to the Registration, Ranking, and Results system at 12:00 p.m.

Match Fees

Since 2012, NRMP has implemented staged fee increases for applicants, institutions, and programs to support enhancements to the Registration, Ranking, and Results system. For all Matches opening after June 30, 2016, the applicant registration fee is $75, the institution registration fee is $230 per Match, the program registration fee is $50, and the fee per applicant matched to the program is $50. At its May 2016 meeting, the Board of Directors voted:

For all Matches opening after June 30, 2017, the applicant registration fee will increase from $75 to $80, the institution registration fee will increase from $230 to $240 per Match, the program registration fee will increase from $50 to $55, and the fee per applicant matched to the program will increase from $50 to $55.