Match 2019: ACGME and the Last of the AOA Edition?

Fourth Years… The Force is With You!

As August begins fourth year medical students begin a seven month odyssey of anxiety, self-promotion and self-doubt. That’s right, they’re beginning their Match journey. It was incredibly frustrating as a student on rotations trying to compile information and keep calendars straight. There are so many resources and you’re so excited you might puke! But don’t worry, I made you a list. Actually, I made you three lists. Sometimes I go overboard.

• Everyone needs to download AAFP’s Strolling Through the Match guidebook. (If you want a hard copy it’s free+shipping cost, and can be ordered here.)
• AAFP’s mini guides: Choosing a Residency Program, Match Overview & Tips, Preparing your Residency Application (covers LORs, CV, personal statement and your MSPE), Residency Interview Process
• I currently do not recommend the AAFP app because it is slow and the interface is frustrating. To get to residency info you have to find the “For Students” section and then page through individual residency pages. It’s not ideal, but your mileage may vary.
• AAMC’s Understanding the Application Process, Application Strategies, Interviewing for Residency
• ERAS FAQ – everyone uses ERAS.
• ACGME/NRMP Match Calendar 2019 and Match Website
• AOA/NMS Match Calendar 2019 and Match Website
• ACGME Video on the Match Algorithm, AOA Video on Match Algorithm, and our article on the Match Algorithm
• Try Swap&Snooze to decrease the cost of interviews

Curated Tips from FMstudent

These articles aren’t fresh minted, but the advice in them is still solid. We’ll be rolling out updates, with a little PGY-3 perspective, over the next few months. So don’t forget to bookmark the site and follow us on Twitter (@FMStudent)

• Opposed or Unopposed Program?
• Sample Interview Questions
• Tips for Scheduling Interviews in MS-4
• Interview Advice from Family Med Residencies
• Interview Advice from Residents
• Questions YOU Should Ask at Interviews
• Nine Tips for the Interview Trail
• Red Flags on the Interview Trail
• Post-Interview Communication
• Five Tips for Rank Order Lists and Three New Tips

FYI for the DOs

This is the last year of the AOA Match, due to the single GME accreditation transiton. I Matched in 2016 and chose to go through the ACGME Match, like 50% of 2018’s osteopathic graduates. This may be the best option for you, as 2020 is the deadline for transition. I don’t know what is in place for residents in a program that fails to complete ACGME accreditation by the 2020 deadline, but I’d be concerned about the risk of graduating from a program that doesn’t exist after you finish.

AOA and ACGME Match 2019

• July 15th: AOA programs started accepting applications via ERAS AOA 2019 Timeline
• September 15th ACGME programs will accept applications via ERAS ACGME 2019 Timeline
• October 1st – MSPEs available for AOA and ACGME programs
• January 8th – AOA Rank order List can be started
• January 18th – AOA Rank Order List is DUE
• February 4th – AOA Match email tells you if you matched and where. The Scramble begins at 1200 ET.
• February 20th – ACGME Rank Order List is DUE
• March 11th – ACGME Initial Email tells you if you Matched, but not where. SOAP begins at 1100 ET.
• March 14th – SOAP ends.
• March 15th – ACGME Match Day, when MD schools have Match parties at 1200 ET and torture their students with the “reveal” of where they Matched on stages.

That’s the list. The journey ahead is so exciting and awesome, and at the end YOU are going to MATCH into an AWESOME Family Medicine Residency. I’m so proud of you!