A non Match-participating program at my institution offered a position to an applicant who has a concurrent year match to another program. Is my institution liable?

Institutional officials must ensure that none of their programs, regardless of Match participation status, discusses, interviews for, or offers a position to an applicant who has matched to or accepted a concurrent year position in another program or who is ineligible because of a denied waiver or a confirmed violation. Failure to ensure compliance could subject the institution to a violation investigation.

As an applicant, how long must I remain in my matched program?

Applicants who give notice of resignation, resign, or vacate a position within 45 days of the start date specified in the appointment contract are presumed to have breached NRMP policy unless they can demonstrate, through the NRMP waiver process, that they entered into the program in good faith and the NRMP determines they have a reasonable basis to be released from the binding commitment to the program.

Can I offer a position to an applicant who has been released by the matched program? Can I release an applicant from my program?

Applicants and programs are not authorized to release each other from a binding commitment.  As stated in the Match Participation Agreement, once a party has matched, or a position has been offered and accepted during SOAP®, a waiver of the binding commitment may be obtained only from the NRMP.  Moreover, the Agreement also prohibits any program at a Match-participating institution from offering a concurrent year position to an applicant who has not received a waiver from the NRMP.

How do I know if an applicant has a binding commitment to another NRMP Match-participating program?

The Registration, Ranking, and Results® (R3®) system includes an Applicant Match History feature that indicates whether an applicant has a binding commitment to another Match-participating program and whether the applicant has been denied a waiver or has a confirmed violation of the Match Participation Agreement.  The Applicant Match History must be used by program directors and NRMP institutional officials to determine, prior to offering an applicant an interview, whether that applicant is eligible for appointment.  The Applicant Match History does not need to be used to evaluate U.S. seniors since they have no prior Match commitments.

I obtained a position in the Main Residency Match®, but I just learned that I will not graduate in time to begin training on July 1. What should I do?

The Match Participation Agreement states that applicants must meet ACGME® and institutional requirements prior to the start of training in order to be eligible for their matched positions.  If you learn you are ineligible to honor your binding commitment, you must immediately submit to the NRMP a request for a waiver of your match commitment .  You also must request a waiver if you are ineligible to honor a position you obtained during the Match Week Supplemental Offer and Acceptance Program® as a result of your delayed graduation status.

What happens if I obtain a position and decide not to accept it? Can my program release me from my obligation to attend?

The Match Participation Agreement states that a match between an applicant and a program creates a binding commitment to accept a position if a match results and to start training in good faith (i.e., with the intent to complete the program) on the date specified in the appointment contract. For the Main Residency Match®, the same binding commitment is established during the Supplemental Offer and Acceptance Program® (SOAP®) if a program offers a position by listing an applicant on its preference list and the applicant accepts that offer.

Under certain limited circumstances, the NRMP may grant to an applicant or program a waiver of the binding commitment if honoring the commitment would result in unanticipated serious and extreme hardship. However, programs are not authorized to release an applicant from a binding commitment.  A waiver of the binding commitment may be obtained only from the NRMP. Please visit the Policies page on the NRMP website for information about the waiver review process.