Everything You Ever Wanted
to Know About the Match*
(*But Were Afraid to Ask)
Or, the World According
to JoMo, the Program Director
Jon B. Morris, M.D.
Associate Dean for Student Affairs
The Ernest F. Rosato - William Maul Measey Professor in Surgical
Education
Letters of Recommendation
MSPE Crafted by OSA
JoMo Meetings – Reality Therapy
April
Class
Meeting #1
May
June
Class
Meeting #2
July
Aug.
Sept.
Interview
Workshop
Class Meeting
Oct.
MSPE
Released
Oct. 1
The Process (April-Nov. 2016)
Nov.
Interviews
Advocacy Call
October
November
December
January
February
Rank List Deadline
(Applicants &
Programs)
March
Match Day
The Process (Nov. – March 2017)
Anatomy of the MSPE
• Identifying Information
• Unique Characteristics (Two 125 word paragraphs)
• Academic History (matriculation, graduation, combined degree, repeat/remediate,
adverse actions, gaps, leaves of absence)
• Academic Progress (the “cut and paste”)
• Preclinical Basic Science
• Core Clinical
• Electives
• Combined Degree Summary
• MD/PhD Summary
• Masters Degree Summary
• Summary Paragraph
• Bottom Line
MSPE Bottom Line Distribution
Class of
2013
Class of
2014
Class of
2015
Class of
2016
Top of the Class
5%
9%
7%
6%
Outstanding
38%
55%
53%
50%
Excellent-Outstanding
22%
-
3%
-
Excellent
32%
34%
34%
43%
Very Good to Excellent
3%
2%
2%
1%
Very Good
-
-
-
-
Good
-
-
1%
-
AOA


Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society
Criteria/Selection







1/6th of Class Eligible
Academics
Research
Extra Curricular
Selection Process
Students Notified by Sept. 1 (in time to update ERAS application)
Will be Mentioned in MSPE
JoMo’s Rules



Everything is Discoverable
Nothing is Off the Record
Everything Gets Back to the Program
Director
High Contact Areas:
Applicants and Programs






Phone
Conversations
Email
Receptions
Tours
Interviews
The Interview – The Basics

Are You a Human Being?

Did You Do Your Homework?
Post-Interview Strategy:
Rules of Engagement

PD/Applicants may volunteer
information but cannot coerce or
pressure each other.
Required Readings
#1 Manipulation and the
Match
By Carl Erik Fisher, MD
JAMA, September 23/30, 2009 – Vol. 302. No. 12
#2 How to Put Your Best Self
Forward in Plastic Surgery
Residency Interviews
By Rod J. Rohrick MD
Eduardo D. Rodriguez, MD, DDS
Jacob G. Unger, MD
PLASTIC AND RECONSTRUCTIVE SURGERY 137(1) NOVEMBER 2015
The Goal of Coercion


PDs – want to convince all applicants
that they are takes.
Applicants – want to convince all
programs they are coming.
The Tools of Coercion




Letters
Email
Phone Calls
Second Visits
The Language of Coercion
Applicants:
 I loved your program.
 I will be ranking you highly.
 You are at the top of my list.
 I would be honored and thrilled to train at your
program.
The Language of Coercion
Program Directors:
 How are your other interviews going?
 If you want to match with us, let us know.
 How seriously are you considering our program?
 Why would you want to come to our program?
Rising on a Rank Order List



Be a Superstar
Passive Osmotic Ascent
Advocacy Call
Rank Order List Strategy: Getting to the Top
Ranked to Match
10
20
Take Group
(3 cycles)
30
40
Bubble
50
60
70
DNR
• Assume a program takes 10 categorical residents
• Assume the program interviews 100 applicants
• The advocacy call has its greatest impact on the bubble group
80
90
100
Why Would a PD Respond
to an Advocacy Call?



PD is a human being
PDs want applicants that want their
program
The selection process is not infallible
Why Some Don’t Match
•
•
•
•
Applied to inadequate number of programs
Disconnect between academic record and career choice
Interview Performance
Bad luck
The Golden Rule of ROL
Creation
• Only rank programs where you would be
willing to train. Do not rank any program
that you do not wish to attend.
Penn Med
Residency Match Data
Total graduates
Total residency
placements
Matching at
University
Program
2015
167
2016
140
165
132
158/167 = 95%
128/140 = 91%
Specialty Match Data 2016
Specialty
Internal Medicine
Pediatrics
Emergency Medicine
Neurology
Orthopaedic Surgery
Ophthalmology
Dermatology
Surgery
Pathology
Psychiatry
Medicine-Pediatrics
Family Medicine
Obstetrics and Gynecology
Oral Maxillo Facial Surgery
Radiation Oncology
Radiology-Diagnostic
Anesthesiology
Otolaryngology
Neurological Surgery
Plastic Surgery
Thoracic Surgery
Urology
Total
# of
Students
% of Students
Matching
32
17
10
9
9
7
6
6
5
5
4
3
3
3
3
3
2
2
1
1
1
0
24.24
12.88
7.58
6.82
6.82
5.3
4.55
4.55
3.79
3.79
3.03
2.27
2.27
2.27
2.27
2.27
1.52
1.52
0.76
0.76
0.76
0
132
100%
Matching at Penn, 2016
Number of
Students
% of Students Matching
Total
37
28%
HUP
30
23%
CHOP
6
4%
Scheie
1
1%
Matches at Other Premier Institutions: Class of 2016
Institution
Harvard
•
Brigham & Women’s Hospital
•
Massachusetts's General Hospital
•
Children’s Hospital of Boston
•
Beth Israel Deaconess
•
Mass Eye and Ear Infirmary
# of Students Matched
20 Total
(7)
(6)
(5)
(1)
(1)
University of California San Francisco (UCSF)
9
Barnes Jewish/Washington University
9
University of Washington
6
NYU School of Medicine
4
Weill Cornell Medical Center
3
Stanford
3
Johns Hopkins
2
Columbia University Medical Center
2
Yale New Haven Hospital
2
Duke University
2
Vanderbilt University
2
University of Chicago
2
What You Need to Do
• Meet with JoMo before Sept. 1st
•
•
•
•
•
Tuesdays and Friday mornings
Email osa@mail.med.upenn.edu or call 215-898-7190
YOU MUST MAKE AN APPOINTMENT BEFORE MAY 15, 2016!
No JoMo = No MSPE
Remember Early Match Programs - Ophthalmology, Urology
• Two Required Readings (must read before JoMo meeting):
• Manipulation and the Match
• How to Put Your Best Self Forward in Plastic Surgery Interviews – tips that apply to all specialties
• Unique Characteristics Paragraphs
• Submit to OSA by June 1st
Unique Characteristics
Paragraphs
• Due to osa@mail.med.upenn.edu by June 1, 2016
These paragraphs should be no more than 250 words total. An additional paragraph may be
added for time spent doing a year out. Each paragraph is to be written in the third person. See
the Student Portal for samples.
Paragraph 1:
•
The introduction is a succinct chronology of a student’s entry and progress through medical school. Pre-matriculation academic, social
or employment background characteristics may be included.
Paragraph should include:
•
•
•
•
•
College, degree date, major, minor
Advanced Degrees
Membership in honors societies, graduation honors, significant extra-curricular activities
If you did not enter med school immediately after graduation, describe your activities
Paragraph 2:
Paragraph should include:
•
•
•
Employment, extra-curricular activities (e.g. triathlon, raised quintuplets, etc..), committees, class officer
Fellowships, awards, accomplishments
If you took a year off, please include your activities
Next Steps
• Student Portal: http://www.med.upenn.edu/student/career.shtml
• Solicit Letters of Recommendation to be uploaded by writers
• Personal Statement
• CV
• MyERAS opens; students may begin working on application – May
• Next class meeting – late June/early July
• ERAS Opens to Programs – Sept. 15th
Letters of
Recommendation
LORs are requested and uploaded through ERAS
•
•
•
•
•
Register Token
Finalize LOR authors in ERAS
Give authors unique link and instructions
LOR authors upload letters
Unlimited amount of letters may be requested and uploaded - maximum 4
assigned to each program
Taking a year out? You can ask for letters now. Authors may hold the
letter until the 2018 season opens and upload it then, or they can send it
to OSA@mail.med.upenn.edu and it will be sent back to them to upload
when you apply (you may use the waiver on Student Portal).
Letters of
Recommendation
• You can submit up to four letters through ERAS
• The MSPE (Dean’s Letter) does not count as one of the
four letters
• The Departmental or Chairman’s Letter does count as one
of the four
• You do not have to send the same four letters to each
program
Letters of
Recommendation
Departmental Letters Required for:
Anesthesiology
Emergency Medicine
Otolaryngology
Internal Medicine
Plastic Surgery
Obstetrics and Gynecology
Urology
Pediatrics
General Surgery
Orthopaedics
Neurosurgery
Letters of
Recommendation
No Departmental Letters for:
Dermatology
Family Medicine
Neurology
Ophthalmology
Radiation Oncology
Pathology
Psychiatry
Radiology
Specialty
Recommendation Forms
• Plastic Surgery Residency Recommendation
Form
• Otorhinolaryngology Residency
Recommendation Form
• Emergency Medicine Standard Letter of
Evaluation (SLOE)
• Orthopaedic Surgery
Letters of
Recommendation
Tracking your letters:
In your ERAS application find the “Letters of
Recommendation” tab
“Confirmed for Upload” - you have successfully finalized
the author
“Uploaded” - author has uploaded the letter and you can
assign to programs
Application Fees
Averages without travel cost
Approximate Minimum Cost for Residency Application in 2016:
- ERAS Application Fee: ≈ $300 (based on example average)
- USMLE Online Transcript Fee: $80
- NRMP Match Fee: $70
- Travel, lodging, food: varies
TOTAL (without travel/lodging):$450
Approximate Minimum Cost for SF Match Ophthalmology Application in 2016:
- ERAS total for Prelim year: $450
- SF CAS Program ≈ $60 (applying for 10 programs)
- USMLE Paper Transcript Fee: $65
- SF Match Fee: $100
- Undergrad transcript/mailing fees: $25
- Travel, lodging, food: varies
TOTAL (without travel/lodging): $700
Careers in Medicine
Website
http://www.aamc.org/students/cim/
Specialty selection assistance, program research
Log in with your AAMC ID
Questions and Help
Office of Student Affairs
215-898-7190
Barbara Wagner wagnerb@mail.med.upenn.edu
Dr. Jon Morris morrisjo@uphs.upenn.edu
Carrie Barjenbruch osa@mail.med.upenn.edu
Nancy Murphy murphynk@mail.med.upenn.edu