Match Week to Reveal Training Path for More Than 42,000 Resident Physician Applicants

Number of applicants and positions make the 2021 Main Residency Match the largest in history

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Mar 11, 2021, 16:32 ET

WASHINGTON, March 11, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- On Friday, March 19, the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) celebrates Match Day for the 2021 NRMP Main Residency Match. Medical school students and graduates from the United States and around the world will learn in which U.S. residency program they will train for the next three to seven years. Match Day marks the finale of Match Week (March 15-19) and is a momentous occasion for the next generation of physicians.

"The NRMP is honored to provide a fair, efficient, and reliable Match for thousands of medical students and graduates as they look forward to entering their specialty training," says NRMP President and CEO Donna L. Lamb, DHSc, MBA, BSN. "COVID-19 presented many challenges to the medical education community including remote learning, disrupted clinical rotations, and virtual interviews and we are in awe of the grit and determination medical students and graduates have shown over this past year. Congratulations to all of this year's Match participants."

Match Week Schedule
Match Week begins on Monday, March 15, at 11:00 a.m. ET when applicants learn if they have matched to a training program. Monday through Thursday, unmatched applicants participate in the Match Week Supplemental Offer and Acceptance Program® (SOAP®) to apply for positions that did not fill when the matching algorithm was processed. On Match Day, Friday, March 19, at 12:00 p.m. ET, NRMP releases the results of the Match, including the Advance Data Tables which include key data about Match results. Additional data will be published in early May in the 2021 Main Residency Match Results and Data Book.

View reports from previous Matches

Follow the Joint Match Week Celebration!
The NRMP, American Medical Association (AMA), Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) American Osteopathic Association (AOA), and the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine (AACOM) will join together to celebrate the 2021 Main Residency Match on Twitter, Tagboard, and YouTube, Match participants and the medical education community are encouraged to post pictures, videos, and congratulatory messages commemorating the event, and those interested in the transition from undergraduate to graduate medical education are encouraged to follow #Match2021 on social media.

The Match Process
For applicants, the Main Residency Match process begins in the fall during the final year of medical school, when they apply to the residency programs of their choice. Throughout the fall and early winter, applicants interview with programs. From February to early March, applicants and program directors rank each other in order of preference and submit the preference lists to NRMP, which processes them using a computerized mathematical algorithm to 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.

About NRMP
The National Resident Matching Program® (NRMP®) is a private, non-profit organization established in 1952 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 48,000 registrants, the NRMP conducts Fellowship Matches for more than 60 subspecialties through its Specialties Matching Service® (SMS®).

To schedule an interview with NRMP President and CEO Donna L. Lamb, DHSc, MBA, BSN contact [email protected]. Reporters should contact local medical schools and hospitals directly for details on their Match Day activities and residency program activities.

SOURCE National Resident Matching Program