Friday, March 15, 2013

Match Day Matches 40,000 Medical Students With Residencies

Matchmaker, Er, Match Week Make Me A Doctor by Ankita Rao.  NPR/Kaiser Health News.  March 15, 2013.

Today is the day that medical students find out where they will be doing their residency.  Without doubt  this is a milestone in their medical careers.  More medical schools, more foreign-born applicants, and more osteopathic medical students combined to make today's match bigger than any previous year.  An interesting fact brought out by the article is that the matching algorithm was developed by 1952 Nobel Prize economist Alvin Roth.  The system is designed to prevent gaming the system by, say, only indicating one choice.  A student who does that risks not being selected by any program.  Students who are not matched on the first day enter the Supplemental Offer and Acceptance Program.  Those not accepted after SOAP usually wait a year and apply again.

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