SOAP for FM residency

[gutts10]

Hey guys! long time lurker of these forums but first time poster. I dont usually post because I search the forums and almost every topic is covered in the SDN forums. One topic I found very little about is SOAP.

My main question is how to maximize my chances in SOAP. I screwed up and did not apply to enough programs. Therefore, I think my chances of matching without SOAP are slim. I am trying to prepare for SOAP the best I can. Mainly, my questions are:

-I live in New York and I am willing to apply anywhere. Should I spend my 45 applications in the New York area or should I apply to rural areas? Where would my chances be greatest? I would like to stay in NY but I could live anywhere for 3 years. Im torn about this decision because there will probably be more unfilled positions in NY but more competition for those seats. On the flip side, rural areas will have less unfilled seats (lower odds) but much less competition.

-If I decide to go the rural route; what areas would you think are best?

-Do I burn all of my 45 applications on the first round or do spread out my applications over the several rounds?

-Does anybody know of any hospitals or areas that are particularly good at accepting positions through SOAP?

Thanks again guys. SOAP is one of those topics very lightly covered on SDN and googling doesnt help much either.

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[SLC]

Hey guys! long time lurker of these forums but first time poster. I dont usually post because I search the forums and almost every topic is covered in the SDN forums. One topic I found very little about is SOAP.

My main question is how to maximize my chances in SOAP. I screwed up and did not apply to enough programs. Therefore, I think my chances of matching without SOAP are slim. I am trying to prepare for SOAP the best I can. Mainly, my questions are:

Doing the SOAP sucks (I went through it) but it's a pretty slick system overall. First off, maybe you won't need it, let's hope for that. But if you do end up in SOAP, I think I can answer just about all of your questions for you.

-I live in New York and I am willing to apply anywhere. Should I spend my 45 applications in the New York area or should I apply to rural areas? Where would my chances be greatest? I would like to stay in NY but I could live anywhere for 3 years. Im torn about this decision because there will probably be more unfilled positions in NY but more competition for those seats. On the flip side, rural areas will have less unfilled seats (lower odds) but much less competition.

The way this works is that if you don't match, you'll gain access to the SOAP application system, which comes with a list of the unfilled programs in each specialty that are participating in SOAP. There may or may not be spots in FM in New York; only time will tell.
You can only apply to the programs on that list so right away you'll be geographically limited.

-If I decide to go the rural route; what areas would you think are best?

Only you can decide this; based on where you'd be most comfortable moving (out of the options you have). I'm partial to the west, but there are good things to say for just about anywhere.

-Do I burn all of my 45 applications on the first round or do spread out my applications over the several rounds?

You use them all up front. Then you will be given additional apps (I think 10 more) if you still haven't matched in round 1. Absolutely send all 45 out right at first, you can only use them up front, they don't allow you to save any for later if I remember correctly.

-Does anybody know of any hospitals or areas that are particularly good at accepting positions through SOAP?

This is exactly what you don't want. You want to find a program who hasn't been in the SOAP of at all possible; if a program is perpetually in it, there are probably some big issues with the program.

I hope you don't have to go through it; but if you do, just know that it can work out in the end. I've been extremely happy with my SOAP result! It's honestly been better than any of the places I applied to initially.

 

[gutts10]

wow! thanks for the great answer. Iv heard quite a few success stories of people going through SOAP, so im very happy to hear yours. I remain optimistic about matching at my number one program but i am still extemely nervous at the prospect of not matching that I am dotting all my I's and crossing all my T's; I am making sure I am prepared for SOAP.

I am looking for strategies that will best optimize my chances of matching through SOAP. The first question was partially answered so im going to rephrase it bc i dont think i was too clear:

-I dont mind applying to geographically rural areas or to areas that will take me far away from home. However, NYC is my home and I would love to SOAP in NYC. With that being said, where would my chances be greatest? Should I burn a lot of my applications in NY where there will be more unfilled positions than other areas (better odds for me) but there will be more competition for those seats (lower odds for me). On the other hand, we have a rural area where seats are few and far between (doesnt affect my odds bc ill go anywhere I match) but with much less competition (greater odds for me). By this model i think my best bet would be to apply outside of NY to maximize my odds and not spend any of my applications in NY or any other metropolis where competition would be greatest. Whats your thoughts about that? Or should I do 50% outside and inside of NY? .... lol I may be overthinking this

Your last point is very accurate and makes perfect sense. However, if im in SOAP then ill be desperate and will go to even the worst of programs. Waiting a year to match would be a big no-no for me and my resume. And given that, i will go anywhere in the world... how do I find hospitals and areas that are desperate to fill positions?

 

[hallowmann]

OK, so I was curious and decided to review the match stats from last year to get a better idea of your question. Here are the number of positions left after the main residency match in 2016:

Alabama: 3
Arkansas: 2
California: 6
Colorado: 3
Florida: 8
Idaho: 2
Illinois: 8
Indiana: 5
Iowa: 9
Kentucky: 5
Louisiana: 5
Maine: 2
Maryland: 4
Michigan: 3
Minnesota: 1
Mississippi: 5
Missouri: 3
Nebraska: 3
Nevada: 2
New Mexico: 1
New York: 0
North Carolina: 4
Ohio: 8
Oklahoma: 2
Pennsylvania: 7
South Carolina: 5
South Dakota: 3
Tennessee: 9
Texas: 5
Virginia: 6
Washington: 3
West Virginia: 7
Wisconsin: 5

155 positions total. As you can see they were pretty spread out and NY (along with a bunch of other states I didn't list) didn't have any. Each state had only 1-4 programs that didn't fill.

According to the match data, only 73 programs weren't filled in the match, and 69 of those filled in the SOAP. If you have 45 applications, you'll be applying to the majority of the unfilled programs regardless of where they are. I would use the whole 45 in the first round, because options drop significantly after each round. Plus there are only 3 rounds this year.

You won't know which programs are left until match day, but be prepared to apply all over.

Hopefully it's not something you'll have to worry about though.

 

[abcdior]

Doing the SOAP sucks (I went through it) but it's a pretty slick system overall. First off, maybe you won't need it, let's hope for that. But if you do end up in SOAP, I think I can answer just about all of your questions for you.



The way this works is that if you don't match, you'll gain access to the SOAP application system, which comes with a list of the unfilled programs in each specialty that are participating in SOAP. There may or may not be spots in FM in New York; only time will tell.
You can only apply to the programs on that list so right away you'll be geographically limited.



Only you can decide this; based on where you'd be most comfortable moving (out of the options you have). I'm partial to the west, but there are good things to say for just about anywhere.



You use them all up front. Then you will be given additional apps (I think 10 more) if you still haven't matched in round 1. Absolutely send all 45 out right at first, you can only use them up front, they don't allow you to save any for later if I remember correctly.



This is exactly what you don't want. You want to find a program who hasn't been in the SOAP of at all possible; if a program is perpetually in it, there are probably some big issues with the program.

I hope you don't have to go through it; but if you do, just know that it can work out in the end. I've been extremely happy with my SOAP result! It's honestly been better than any of the places I applied to initially.

how do you find out if you dont match?

you get a call on Monday of Match week? i might be out of the country, do they send an email too? can you please explain the SOAP timeline a bit?

 

[SLC]

how do you find out if you dont match?

you get a call on Monday of Match week? i might be out of the country, do they send an email too? can you please explain the SOAP timeline a bit?

You'll get an email on Monday of matchweek that either says you matched or you didn't.

If you did, you chill out till the end of the week to find out where. If you didn't, then about an hour later you start SOAP'ing.

 

[abcdior]

You'll get an email on Monday of matchweek that either says you matched or you didn't.

If you did, you chill out till the end of the week to find out where. If you didn't, then about an hour later you start SOAP'ing.

good to know thanks!