In the chance you have not received any interviews by December, Dr. Hicks recommends you follow-up with the Program Director and Coordinator of each residency program for which you have applied with a telephone call and express your continued interest in their residency program. Let them know that you are willing to fill in if any chosen applicant cancels or cannot make their interview. This will show Program Directors and Coordinators that you are flexible and dedicated to their program.
There is no limit to the number of specialties or programs you can apply to. So apply to as many specialties and programs that you can afford or have made contact with. Do your homework for each residency program you apply to. Check to make sure that you not only meet the guidelines to practice medicine in that state, but also at that hospital’s program. Some hospitals have their own rules that may be even more strict than the state’s criteria.
Make sure you send a Thank You card to every person you met from the program you interviewed with. This includes the Program Director and Coordinator, each interviewer, as well as the residents. Give details about what you liked about the program and your interview day and close by explaining how you are looking forward to working with everyone in the department in the near future.
Lastly, in February do not forget to rank your residency specialties and programs with NRMP. You can not officially Match into a residency program until you have registered with NRMP. Choose wisely which programs you pick to Match into. Put your ranking list in order of programs for which you had the best chemistry with. Remember you will be working with these people for years, so pick programs that you feel compatible with and you believe will rank you high on their list, as well.
If you unfortunately do not Match into a residency program in March, apply again to the same programs during SOAP (Supplemental Offer and Acceptance Program) Week. This will show you are determined to work for these hospital programs. Currently there is a limit to the amount of programs you can apply to during this week. You can only apply to a total of 45 programs during the week, and there is a cap of applications that you can submit each day. If you did not apply to 45 programs or none of your selected programs are available to re-apply to, then find similar programs to the ones you previously applied to and apply to those. Always follow-up with an email and phone call to the Program Directors and Coordinators expressing your desired interest in their residency programs, but this time only after SOAP is completed. Continue to stay in touch with each residency program until you officially Match into a program.
Good luck to each of you, but if you have any questions, visit www.usmlemastersystem.net , www.ecfmg.org, www.aamc.org, www.nrmp.org or www.fsmb.org .