What is "matching"

[Jumoke]

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I hear this said all the time and i think i have a vague idea what happens in a match. I list program i am interested in and they pick me and bang! we match? Like law of attraction? Is there matching in medical school during clinicals or only during residency? Please excuse my ignorance. What happens in the matching process? Who does the matching?

What if i don't like the program that matches me? Can I apply independently to a program of my choice? Please explain.


No insults please 😀

 

[sinombre]

Matching is how you obtain a residency which you start after medical school. You apply to programs, you interview at the programs that invite you, you make a match list in order of places you want to end up at, the places that interview you rank their order of applicants, and then you end up matching at the highest place on your list that ranks you high enough (determined by an algorithm), which is where you end up doing your residency.

 

[DrEnderW]

This is referring to the residency match that a medical student would apply to during their 4th year.

Interviews are granted based on board scores, clinical grades (preclinical grades to a lesser extent), letters of recommendation, rotations, research, etc. Students "rank" their programs of interest and hope they are coveted by that program's director. An example of this would be, Dr. John ranks Mount Sinai Hospital #1 for a residency in General Surgery. The first link provides a more detailed example/explanation of how this works.

http://www.nrmp.org/res_match/about_res/algorithms.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Residency_(medicine)

http://www.nrmp.org/res_match/

 

[Jumoke]

Very nice!
Thank you both.

Can more than one program match me?

 

[LizzyM]

Very nice!
Thank you both.

Can more than one program match me?

If you are the cat's meow, more than one program could list you as their #1 choice but you would match at the school that you listed as #1, if that school wanted you badly enough to put you near the top of their list. If the school at the top of your list didn't want you, you might match at the school that you ranked #2 even though other schools listed you as their #1 choice (but those were schools you weren't as fond of).

You don't end up with what happens in medical school where a few hundred people each hold offers from 6 different schools and drop from the lists like flies at this time of year leaving some schools to fill their classes from the waitlist.

 

[Doctor Strange]

But really now... http://bit.ly/15qc577

 

[sinombre]

But really now... http://bit.ly/15qc577

lol... or this: http://bit.ly/10rzoKy

 

[Jumoke]

lol... or this: http://bit.ly/10rzoKy

🙄 you are not funny sinombre.

 

[sinombre]

🙄 you are not funny sinombre.

I beg to differ Jumoke.

 

[FSU2013]

What is "google"?

 

[Jumoke]

If you are the cat's meow, more than one program could list you as their #1 choice but you would match at the school that you listed as #1, if that school wanted you badly enough to put you near the top of their list. If the school at the top of your list didn't want you, you might match at the school that you ranked #2 even though other schools listed you as their #1 choice (but those were schools you weren't as fond of).

You don't end up with what happens in medical school where a few hundred people each hold offers from 6 different schools and drop from the lists like flies at this time of year leaving some schools to fill their classes from the waitlist.

I see..
Thank you so much for taking the time to explain

 

[487806]

What is "google"?

Here you go.

OP, you can check out the General Residency forums for more info regarding the whole matching process.

 

[Jumoke]

google can't give me the first hand explanation i have received in this thread. Thanks to the people that helped