Next week, the National Resident Matching Program® (NRMP®) launches Match Week for the 2024 Main Residency Match. Residency applicants, institutions, training programs, medical schools, and the medical education community at large participate in Match Week activities that culminate on Friday with “Match Day”, the day on which applicants learn of the residency programs in which they will train. Match Day signals the transition from undergraduate to graduate medical education for applicants and is celebrated simultaneously by Match participants across the United States and the globe on Friday, March 15, at 12:00 p.m. ET.
“The Main Residency Match continues to grow and meet the needs not only of Match participants and stakeholders but those of communities and patient populations across the country,” says NRMP President and CEO Donna L. Lamb, DHSc, MBA, BSN. “The NRMP is proud of the role it plays in contributing to a strong physician workforce while also supporting applicants in pursuit of their passions. Their enthusiasm translates into future generations of physicians committed to building better health outcomes for the patients they serve.”
Match Process. The transition to residency cycle begins in September during applicants’ final year of medical school. Applicants apply to residency programs in specialties of their choice, and throughout the fall and early winter, they interview with those programs. In February, applicants rank in order of true preference the programs where they wish to train, and program directors rank in order of true preference the applicants they wish to train. Those confidential rank order lists are then submitted to the NRMP, which processes them using acomputerized mathematical algorithmto match applicants with programs. Research using the NRMP algorithm was a basis for awarding The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel in 2012.
Match Week (March 11 – 15, 2024). Match Week begins at 10:00 a.m. ET on Monday, March 11, when residency applicants learn if, but not where, they have matched to a residency training program. Unmatched or partially matched applicants may participate in the NRMP’s Supplemental Offer and Acceptance Program® (SOAP®), conducted Monday through Thursday of Match Week (March 11 – 14, 2024).
SOAP provides a uniform system for programs to offer unfilled positions to eligible unmatched or partially matched applicants through a series of offer rounds, maximizing the number of applicants obtaining a position before Match Day.
Match Week concludes at 12:00 p.m. ET on Friday, March 15 – Match Day – when residency applicants learn where they matched, and programs learn who they will train.
The Match Day results and the accomplishments of U.S. MD and DO students are recognized by medical schools across the country during in-person and virtual Match Day ceremonies. The accomplishments of applicants, including U.S. IMG and non-U.S. IMG applicants, can be viewed on social media using the #Match2024 hashtag.
Match Data and Publications. On Friday, March 15 at 12:00 p.m. ET, the NRMP will publish a Match Day press release, infographic highlighting Match results, and the Advance Data Tables showcasing key Match outcomes data. This information can be found on the NRMP website, www.nrmp.org, under the Match Data tab. Additional data, including SOAP outcomes, will be published in the 2024 Main Residency Match Results and Data Book later this Spring.
Data on the Main Residency Match provides invaluable projections of the state of the future physician workforce. Last year, nearly 43,000 applicants competed for more than 37,000 first-year training positions embedded in urban and rural communities across the country. Trends revealed through Match data are instrumental in helping healthcare professionals, community leaders, and policymakers understand how well communities are thriving and where opportunities might exist to improve equity in physician distribution. The NRMP is committed to working with stakeholders to build a better understanding of the transition to residency and leveraging its data to inform national conversations and policy that could improve training outcomes for physicians and shape stronger, healthier communities.
View reports from previous Matches
# # #
About NRMP
The National Resident Matching Program® (NRMP®) is a private, non-profit organization established in 1953 at the request of medical students to provide an orderly and fair mechanism for matching the preferences of applicants for U.S. residency positions with the preferences of residency program directors. In addition to the annual Main Residency Match® for more than 47,000 registrants, the NRMP also conducts Fellowship Matches for more than 70 subspecialties through its Specialties Matching Service® (SMS®).
To schedule an interview with NRMP President and CEO Donna L. Lamb, DHSc, contact media@nrmp.org. Reporters should contact local medical schools and hospitals directly for details on their Match Day activities and residency program activities.
