? about PASS matching

[Bobby Fischer]

I've seen some videos out there that show medical school students opening letters on 'match' day where they are basically told where they are going to be going for their residencies, sight unseen.

My question is if it works in remotely the same way for the ADEA PASS match thing.

My understanding is that if one wants to do a residency or specialize, they fill out the PASS application the beginning of 4th year and find out where they were accepted before graduating.

My question is if there is any sort of agreement you have to enter prior to being ranked by the programs and assigning a personal rank to the programs stating that you are necessarily roped in to going to the program for which the highest suitable match was obtained?

(not really explaining my question well)

...or is one presented with a series of choices and gets to pick after the results of the PASS match process have been revealed?

I really, really don't want to be assigned some sort of final decision without being personally consulted on my fate. I understand applicants rank the programs only they choose to apply to, but still...don't like the idea of being roped into something and tied down without some sort of final say.

Also, how are the various programs going to evaluate part I board scores now that its pass/ fail?

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[NDPitch]

It's just like medical school. You go where you match. This is from the FAQ from the PASS/Match website.

Q: Can I refuse to accept my Match result?

A: As indicated in the Applicant Agreement which you must accept in order to register for the Match, the Match result constitutes a binding commitment from which neither the applicant nor the program can withdraw. A program must offer an appointment to each applicant with whom it is matched, and the applicant must accept the offer from the program. Alleged violations of the policies of the Match will be reported to the appropriate sponsoring organizations and sanctions will be imposed on applicants or programs that violate their Match agreements.

That said, not all programs have a match. For example, endodontics.

 

[Toothshucker]

I've seen some videos out there that show medical school students opening letters on 'match' day where they are basically told where they are going to be going for their residencies, sight unseen.

My question is if it works in remotely the same way for the ADEA PASS match thing.

My understanding is that if one wants to do a residency or specialize, they fill out the PASS application the beginning of 4th year and find out where they were accepted before graduating.

My question is if there is any sort of agreement you have to enter prior to being ranked by the programs and assigning a personal rank to the programs stating that you are necessarily roped in to going to the program for which the highest suitable match was obtained?

(not really explaining my question well)

...or is one presented with a series of choices and gets to pick after the results of the PASS match process have been revealed?

I really, really don't want to be assigned some sort of final decision without being personally consulted on my fate. I understand applicants rank the programs only they choose to apply to, but still...don't like the idea of being roped into something and tied down without some sort of final say.

Also, how are the various programs going to evaluate part I board scores now that its pass/ fail?

Basically, you are personally consulted when you rank the programs. So if you already know you can't/don't want to go somewhere, then don't apply to that program in the first place and you won't even have to interview there. I do understand that situations do change though.

 

[Bobby Fischer]

Thanks for the responses you guys. That was what I was wondering.

Not a big fan of signing over rights before knowing exactly what getting into...as things do indeed change year to year, month to month, moment to moment...

The effect of the policy is to make one that much more of an interchangeable part to be plugged in wherever the system thinks best.

pmanning19 says it best, "if you already know you can't/don't want to go somewhere, then don't apply to that program in the first place and you won't even have to interview there".

Moving forward I am going to keep that in mind for sure. Yet: and here is the crux of the matter: how do you know you are truly interested enough in a program before you've interviewed there? It sounds like interviewing someplace ropes you into at least going to that one place even if you hated it and ranked it as low as you personally can afterwards? What happens, lets say, if you sit through an interview someplace and give a great interview only to leave and realize a few weeks later you hate the place (they rank you at the top, you ultimately rank everyplace you interview at as low as possible because ultimately, after the interviewing processes you realize you don't want to go to any of them)?

 

[Wax n Relax]

Thanks for the responses you guys. That was what I was wondering.

Not a big fan of signing over rights before knowing exactly what getting into...as things do indeed change year to year, month to month, moment to moment...

The effect of the policy is to make one that much more of an interchangeable part to be plugged in wherever the system thinks best.

pmanning19 says it best, "if you already know you can't/don't want to go somewhere, then don't apply to that program in the first place and you won't even have to interview there".

Moving forward I am going to keep that in mind for sure. Yet: and here is the crux of the matter: how do you know you are truly interested enough in a program before you've interviewed there? It sounds like interviewing someplace ropes you into at least going to that one place even if you hated it and ranked it as low as you personally can afterwards? What happens, lets say, if you sit through an interview someplace and give a great interview only to leave and realize a few weeks later you hate the place (they rank you at the top, you ultimately rank everyplace you interview at as low as possible because ultimately, after the interviewing processes you realize you don't want to go to any of them)?

You dont HAVE to rank the programs you interview at. Also, the programs dont HAVE to rank you. If you dont want to go to any of them in the end, saddle up for the next cycle then.

 

[Bobby Fischer]

You dont HAVE to rank the programs you interview at. Also, the programs dont HAVE to rank you. If you dont want to go to any of them in the end, saddle up for the next cycle then.

oh good to know. So, if you don't end up ranking someplace you initially signed on for:

school ranking x personal ranking 0 = no match?

 

[Kabek]

oh good to know. So, if you don't end up ranking someplace you initially signed on for:

school ranking x personal ranking 0 = no match?

Here read through all of the information on this site:

http://www.natmatch.com/dentres/aboutalg.html

 

[Den90]

I wanted to ask .. what should be the title for Essay ?

 

[duncamunk]

Current OMFS resident, my thoughts:

1) "Pre-agreements" are heard of, but rare. Typically when you interview, programs are technically not allowed to discuss ranking with you. This will differ on specialty and school. I've heard multiple people get burned by trusting in them too much. Remember, if a program goes unmatched its a hard thing to recover from, so some programs will go to any length, even lying, to convince it's applicants they're golden.

2) Everyone wants their resume and paper to shine. I did too. But now I'm on the other side, I read overly ambitious essays and read impossible CVs. Your goal on the interview trail should be to be normal. If you stand out, it's probably for the wrong reasons. Program directors - and more importantly, the residents - want to know if your personality will match the program. To mimic the sentiments from above, if you don't like a place, don't rank it. Especially if you're looking at longer lasting residencies, 6 years is a long time to be miserable for.

3) If you're looking at OMFS, I'm happy to talk more to you personally about my experiences. Also, I'm trying to conduct a study concerning CBSE correlations to step 1 and can talk your ear off about that too.

Good luck

 

[duncamunk]

One last thing, there's a reason why the creators of the MATCH algorithm won a Nobel prize. Again, horror stories abound but at least in my specialty it's something like 45% rank to their first choice and 90% to their top 3. If you're a normal person with a normal transcript you've got a good shot.

 

[setdoc7]

The MATCH seems to work, but as has been stated above, only rank the programs you would definitely go to. Otherwise you may wind up somewhere you are unhappy at. I only rank applicants I know I can work with. A lot of people I meet at the interview wind up on the no pile. Others wind up on the "no matter what" pile (Kevin Costner in Draft Day).