Off cycle match possible?

[medstar11]

To make a long story short, I took a medical LOA which put me in the weird position of finishing rotations around fall of 2020 when my original graduation date would've been May 2020. I am wondering if anyone has had the opportunity to match off cycle at a program that did not fill its spots? I am very interested in rural programs especially ones with strong OB tracks. I am a DO student with COMLEX of Level 1 ~490's and in the current process of studying for level 2. I have finished all my third year rotations with 2-HP and 4-H. I have been researching programs that did not fill with the match but then it looks like they fill with SOAP. I would not be eligible for either of these this year as I cannot start residency by July. If I cannot find a program I will just continue rotations into 2021 and match next year but if I could speed up the process I would not be upset. Any advise would be very much appreciated.

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[hallowmann]

To make a long story short, I took a medical LOA which put me in the weird position of finishing rotations around fall of 2020 when my original graduation date would've been May 2020. I am wondering if anyone has had the opportunity to match off cycle at a program that did not fill its spots? I am very interested in rural programs especially ones with strong OB tracks. I am a DO student with COMLEX of Level 1 ~490's and in the current process of studying for level 2. I have finished all my third year rotations with 2-HP and 4-H. I have been researching programs that did not fill with the match but then it looks like they fill with SOAP. I would not be eligible for either of these this year as I cannot start residency by July. If I cannot find a program I will just continue rotations into 2021 and match next year but if I could speed up the process I would not be upset. Any advise would be very much appreciated.

Its possible to find off cycle spots out of the match, but its labor intensive and will severely limit the programs you can apply to. You will basically have to cold call/email places. Honestly, your best bet is waiting for the next match.

You don't have to continue rotations to 2021, just make sure you don't graduate before Oct 2020 so you'll still be a student when you apply through ERAS. Maybe see if you can do something valuable with the extra time too.

 

[Ironheme]

Agree with hallowmann. Just apply through the match. It doesn't count against you since you wouldn't have gone through it once.