The listing of an applicant by a program on its certified rank order list or of a program by an applicant on the applicant's certified rank order list establishes a binding commitment to offer or to accept an appointment if a match results and to start training in good faith (i.e., with the intent to complete the program) on the date specified in the appointment contract. The same binding commitment is established during the Match Week Supplemental Offer and Acceptance Program (SOAP) if a program offers a position by listing an applicant on its preference list and the applicant accepts that offer. The binding commitment may be released only through the waiver procedures set forth in Sections 2.5 and 3.4 of this Agreement. Each such appointment is subject to the official policies of the appointing institution in effect on the date the program submits its rank order list or its preference list and is contingent upon the matching applicant meeting all eligibility requirements imposed by those policies. Those requirements must be communicated to applicants in writing prior to the rank order list certification deadline or at the time the program interviews the applicant during SOAP. It is recommended that each program obtain a signed acknowledgement of such communication from each applicant.
Failure to honor this commitment by either party will be a breach of this Agreement and may result in penalties to the breaching program or applicant, as described in Section 8.0. An applicant who terminates or resigns a position within 45 days of the start date specified in the appointment contract shall be presumed to have breached this Agreement unless evidence is submitted to the NRMP sufficient to show that the applicant entered into the program in good faith and the applicant has a reasonable basis to be released from his commitment to the program.
