Good afternoon,

The match has occurred for 2009, and in talking with a residency coordinator I hit upon the idea to publish a blog to allow residency candidates to ask questions and for me to give some insight into the matching process so that you, the candidate, get the most out of ORMS and its process.

The first thing that I can tell you is that you stand a much better chance of matching with a program if you rank the program first or second on your list. The algorithm matches the best match possible, but there is the possibility of a tie. That occurs when the program ranks one candidate as number one and the candidate lists the program as number two and vica versa for a second candidate at the same program. Both matches would be "three," and the position would go to the candidate who ranked the program highest. The majority of matches are the equivalent of 1-1 or 1-2 matches. So again, your ranking is very important.

With the above being said, I would encourage a candidate to select 2-3 sites or more on their matching forms. Even though you face dimenishing returns for programs rank lower than #1 there is still a chance that you may be matched at that site. If you select only one program, you cannot be matched at other sites where you would consider serving.

The above two paragraphs are the most important for potential residents to understand about the match. While candidates do not have direct control, their ranking of site is the key to using ORMS effectively.