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 AffairsProfessor of Surgery

The Process (April-Nov. 2014)

April May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov.

JoMo Meetings – Reality Therapy

Letters of Recommendation

Class Meeting #1

MSPE Released

Oct. 1

Class Meeting #2

Interview Workshop

Class Meeting

MSPE Crafted by OSA

The Process (Nov. – March 2015)

October November December January February March

Advocacy Call

Interviews

Rank List Deadline(Applicants &

Programs) Match Day

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 2011

Class of 2012

Class of 2013

Class of 2014

Top of the Class 4% 6% 5% 9%

Outstanding 29% 31% 38% 55%

Excellent-Outstanding 25% 33% 22% -

Excellent 37% 27% 32% 34%

Very Good to Excellent 3% 3% 3% 2%

 Very Good 2% - - -

Good - - - -

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 (ERAS) 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 Reading

Manipulation and the Match

By Carl Erik Fisher, M.D.JAMA, September 23/30, 2009 – Vol. 302. No. 12

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                                     

                                     

                                     

                                     

                                     

                                     

                                     

                                     

                                                                          

                                     

10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

                                     

                                     

                                                                          

                                     

                                                                          

• Assume a program takes 10 categorical residents.• Assume the program interviews 100 applicants.• The advocacy call has its greatest impact on the bubble group.

Take Group(3 cycles)

Bubble DNR

Ranked to Match

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

2013 2014

Total graduates 160 171

Total residency placements 157 164

Matching at University Program

149/157 = 94% 157/164 = 96%

Specialty Match Data

Specialty# of

Students% of Students

MatchingAnesthesiology 4 2.4Dermatology 7 4.3Emergency Medicine 17 10.4Family Medicine 2 1.2Internal Medicine 32 19.5Medicine/Dermatology 1 0.6Neurological Surgery 3 1.8Neurology 8 4.9Obstetrics and Gynecology 10 6Ophthalmology 13 7.9Oral Maxillo Facial Surgery 3 1.8Orthopaedic Surgery 9 5.5Otolaryngology 8 4.9Pathology 3 1.8Pediatrics 14 8.5Plastic Surgery 1 0.6Psychiatry 4 2.4Radiation Oncology 4 2.4Radiology-Diagnostic 7 4.3Surgery 11 6.7Urology 3 1.8Total 164 99.7%

Surgery & Surgical Specialties

# of Students

% of Students Matching

General Surgery 11 6.7

Neurosurgery 3 1.8

Ophthalmology 13 7.9

Oral Maxillo Facial Surgery 3 1.8

Orthopaedic Surgery 9 5.5

Otolaryngology 8 4.9

Plastic Surgery 1 0.6

Urology 3 1.8

Total 51 30%

Primary Care# of

Students% of Students

MatchingFamily Medicine 2 1.2

Internal Medicine 32 19.5

Pediatrics 14 8.5

Total 48 29.20%

Matching at Penn, 2014Number of Students

% of Students Matching

Total 42 26%

HUP 35 22%

CHOP 5 3%

Scheie 2 1%

Penn Hospital 0 0%

Matches at Other Premier Institutions: Class of 2014Institution # of Students Matched

Harvard• Brigham & Women’s Hospital• Children’s Hospital Boston• Massachusetts's General Hospital

26 Total(9)(3)

(14)

University of California San Francisco (UCSF) 12

New York University 9

Weill Cornell Medical Center 6

Barnes Jewish/Washington University 4

Johns Hopkins 4

Columbia University Medical Center 4

University of Michigan 4

University of Washington 4

University of California Los Angeles 2

University of Texas Southwestern 2

University of Virginia 2

Stanford 1

University of Chicago 1

University of Miami Bascom Palmer 1

University of Pittsburgh 1

University of Texas MD Anderson 1

What You Need to Do

• Meet with JoMo before Sept. 1st

• Tuesdays and Friday mornings• Call 215-898-7190, or email osa@mail.med.upenn.edu• YOU MUST MAKE AN APPOINTMENT BEFORE MAY 15, 2014! • No JoMo = No MSPE• Remember Early Match Programs - Ophthalmology, Urology

• Unique Characteristics Paragraphs • Submit to OSA by June 1st

Unique Characteristics Paragraphs

• Due to osa@mail.med.upenn.edu by June 1, 2014These 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

What You Need to Do

• Personal Statement

• Solicit Letters of Recommendation

• Next class meeting – late May

• MyERAS opens; students may begin working on application – Mid- April

• ERAS Opens to Programs – Sept. 15th