Institutions and Programs

Announcement of Match Results

The NRMP releases the results of the Main Residency Match during the third week in March. The schedule is outlined below:

Institutions and Programs

At 12:00 noon eastern time on Monday of Match Week, program directors and institutional officials learn whether their programs filled. Reports for each program are posted to the Registration, Ranking, and Results (R3) System, which requires an AAMC ID number and password for access. The NRMP also sends program directors e-mail notifications with the numbers of positions offered and filled in the Match.

At 2:00 p.m. eastern time on Thursday of Match Week, the NRMP posts each program's Confidential Roster of Program's Matched Applicants.

Note: This report is confidential and cannot be made public until 1:00 p.m. eastern time on Match Day, the Friday of Match Week. Programs may not contact their matched applicants before that time. Applicants learn where they matched either at their school's Match Day ceremonies or on the NRMP web site after 1:00 p.m. eastern time Friday.

On the Monday after Match Week, institutional officials and program directors can view their Match Results by Ranked Applicant in the R3 System. Applicants are listed in the order of the program's rank order list. Displayed next to each applicant's name is the applicant's match status: the program to which the applicant matched, "unmatched," "withdrew" or "no ROL." The report helps program directors evaluate their programs. The policy of confidentiality, however, restricts the NRMP from releasing specific information about the ranking of programs by individual applicants.

At the end of April, the institutional official receives copies of the NRMP Results and Data Book , which reports aggregate statistics from both the current and previous matches, as well as a full list of match results for all programs sorted by state and institution.

Applicants and Medical Schools

The deans for student affairs receive information on which students did not match at 11:30 a.m. eastern time on Monday of Match Week, one-half hour before the students find out for themselves via the web or e-mail. Medical schools must comply with the Match Participation Agreement regarding confidentiality of data and may not notify students prior to 12:00 noon eastern time whether they are matched or unmatched.

At 12:00 noon eastern time on Monday of Match Week, NRMP institutional officials, the directors of unfilled residency programs, medical school officials, and unmatched or partially matched applicants who are eligible to participate in the Match Week Supplemental Offer and Acceptance Program (SOAP) can log in to the R3 System to view the List of Unfilled Programs. Contact between unmatched applicants and unfilled programs is prohibited before 2:00 p.m. on Monday of Match Week.

Beginning at 1:00 p.m. eastern time on Match Day, applicants can log in to the R3 System and learn to which program(s) they matched. Medical schools typically hold their Match Day ceremonies prior to that time.

Appointment Letters and Obligations

After the general announcement of the results of the Matching Program, letters of appointment should be sent to all applicants who obtained appointments. Each program and institution determines the specific format of the letters and the associated contracts pertaining to those appointments.

Applicants and programs are bound by the Match results. Under the Match Participation Agreement signed at the time of registration, the listing of an applicant by a program on its rank order list and the listing of a program by an applicant on his/her rank order list establishes a binding commitment to offer/accept a position 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. Such appointments are subject to the official requirements and other published policies of the organization in effect on the date the program submits its rank order list and are contingent on applicants meeting all of the eligibility requirements imposed by those policies. Failure to offer or accept a position is a breach of the Match Participation Agreement, and violators may be subject to penalties outlined in the Agreement and the NRMP's Violations Policy.

Applicants and programs may request a waiver of the binding commitment if fulfillment of that commitment would cause serious and extreme hardship. Waivers must be requested from, and can be granted only by, the NRMP; applicants and programs are not authorized to release each other from a binding commitment. If the waiver is granted, an applicant may accept another position or participate in future NRMP matches, and programs may recruit for the vacant position. If the waiver is denied, the applicant and program are expected to honor the binding commitment. Failure to do so is a breach of the Match Participation Agreement and grounds for a violation investigation. Requests for waivers and reports of any violations should be directed in writing to:

Mona M. Signer, Executive Director
National Resident Matching Program
2450 N St. NW
Washington, DC 20037-1127
E-mail: nrmp@aamc.org
Fax: 202-828-4797

Updated 09/13/2011