Residency Scramble: Improving Your Odds of Success

There is now only one week left before rank order lists must be certified. The deadline is 9 PM Eastern Standard Time on February 24, 2010.

After certifying your rank order list, it will be time to focus your attention on the Scramble. Every year, thousands of applicants participate in the Scramble.

Some participants are forced to scramble because they fail to match. Others simply register for the Match for the purpose of scrambling. The goal, of course, is to secure a position in a program that failed to fill its residency positions through the Match.

Regardless of your reasons for scrambling, the odds are not in your favor. In recent years, well over 10,000 applicants (most of whom are international medical graduates) have scrambled for a little over 1,000 positions. Of these available positions, most are for preliminary (one-year positions) rather than categorical positions.

You will know on March 15, 2010 if you have to scramble. On that day, the NRMP will notify you of your status. You will then have approximately 24 hours to determine the best strategy to secure a position in the Scramble, which officially begins at noon Eastern Standard Time on March 16, 2010.

To maximize your chances of a successful outcome, you have to put into place the right strategy. In addition, your strategy must be executed well before March 15. Waiting until March 15 to implement your action plan is not recommended.

Chief among the steps you must take is to locate a faculty advocate who is willing and able to contact programs by phone and email on the Scramble day. This process is easier for U.S. medical students because U.S. medical schools often have a structured system in place with advocates (e.g., dean) ready. For international medical graduates, the process is generally more difficult.

Once a faculty advocate has been found, it is important that he or she knows what to say or write about you in any communication with programs.

At MD2B and IMG Assist, we have experience advising applicants in the Scramble process. Please contact us at the links below if you require assistance.


Visit: MD2B
Visit: IMG Assist

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