Early Matches

NRMP administers the Main Residency Match^® for residency programs accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), but some ACGME-accredited core specialties participate in national matching programs that conclude before the NRMP Main Residency Match.

This information is for applicants who register for the Main Residency Match and another “early” national matching program. Applicants who obtain a position in an early Match must understand how that match may affect their participation in the Main Residency Match. Applicants may need to change their rank order list or withdraw from the Match. Failure to abide by these policies could result in a match to a concurrent-year position and lead to a violation investigation and the levying of sanctions.

Note. The Urology Residency Match Program, administered by the American Urological Association (AUA), now includes an integrated preliminary (PGY-1) year in the full course of training; accordingly, U.S. MD and DO medical school senior students participating in the AUA Match no longer are required to register with the Main Residency Match to obtain the PGY-1 year of training.

Applicants Participating in the CaRMS Match

The Canadian Resident Matching Service (CaRMS) administers the residency Match in Canada. NRMP has an agreement with CaRMS that permits applicants to participate in both the Canadian and U.S. Matches while preventing them from matching in both countries. Under this agreement, mutual applicants matched in whichever country runs its match first are removed from the other organization’s match.

In the 2025 Main Residency Match, the CaRMS Match results will be released first. NRMP will automatically withdraw any applicants who match through the CaRMS R-1 match. After the Main Residency Match concludes, NRMP sends to CaRMS a list of applicants who obtained positions so that CaRMS can withdraw those applicants from the second iteration.

In years where the NRMP and CaRMS schedules overlap, CaRMS applicants who do NOT match through the NRMP Main Residency Match but have submitted a Rank Order List in the CaRMS R-1 match will be ineligible to participate in SOAP and will not have access to the List of Unfilled Positions either during or after SOAP concludes, regardless of whether they are matched in CaRMS.

Applicants Participating in the Military Match

The Joint Service Graduate Medical Education Selection Board (JSGMESB) administers the residency selection process for the Air Force, Army, and Navy.

• Note. The NRMP no longer automatically withdraws from the Main Residency Match any applicant who is reported by the JSGMESB to have obtained a military training position.  U.S. MD and DO senior students MUST inform their NRMP medical school officials of their military match prior to the Rank Order List Certification Deadline so the official can withdraw them from the Match.  Independent applicants MUST withdraw themselves from the Main Residency Match prior to the Rank Order List Certification Deadline.

Applicants Participating in the Ophthalmology Match

The San Francisco (SF) Match administers the Ophthalmology Residency Matching Program (OMP), which is sponsored by the Association of University Professors of Ophthalmology (AUPO). The OMP Match takes place in January.

Applicants who match to integrated Ophthalmology positions that begin at the PGY-1 year (Preliminary + Categorical training combined) do not need to participate in the Main Residency Match.

Applicants who match to Ophthalmology positions that begin at the PGY-2 year are required to obtain a preliminary (PGY-1) year of training. U.S. MD and DO senior students who obtain PGY-2 Ophthalmology positions through the OMP Match MUST obtain their PGY-1 year of training through the NRMP Main Residency Match. In addition, if the institution’s preliminary program participates in the Main Residency Match, no applicants can be offered a preliminary position outside the Main Residency Match. Applicants should be sure the preliminary-year training is in a specialty that meets the prerequisite requirements for the OMP Match.

• Applicants who match to a PGY-2 Ophthalmology position through the OMP Match or who obtain post-OMP Match positions in Ophthalmology MUST remove all but preliminary (PGY-1) programs from their NRMP rank order lists prior to the NRMP Rank Order List Certification Deadline. The preliminary-year programs should be placed on the applicant’s primary rank order list..