There are two types of soaps we utilize as health care professionals, one we happily indulge in and involves being used as a cleaning substance, the other is a mentally draining process called the Supplemental Offer and Acceptance Program (SOAP). This is a mechanism used in the National Residency Match Program (NRMP) to match unmatched applicants with unfilled residency positions. Here's what you need to know about how the SOAP process works and how to navigate it:
1. Eligibility: Applicants who did not match in the main residency match aka match day and programs with unfilled positions are eligible to participate in the SOAP process.
You must be registered for the main residency match.
Be able to enter graduate medical education by July 1st year of the match as verified by your medical school or ECFMG.
Be partially or fully unmatched on the Monday of Match week. For example, if you are partially matched to an advanced program, you are only eligible to apply for transitional or preliminary year programs during the SOAP.
2. Applications: Applicants can apply to programs with unfilled positions through the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS).
During this process each applicant is only allowed the opportunity to apply up to 45 programs, FREE of charge. Yes, you heard that right, a gold coin given in the midst of a Tsunami.
3. Programs list positions: Programs with unfilled positions create a list of available positions that they will be offered through the SOAP.
4. Rounds of offers and acceptances: There are 4 rounds of offers and acceptances within 24 hours of the SOAP, each round lasting 2 hours. During and following each round, applicants can see the updated available positions, and programs can see the available applicants. Programs can then offer positions to applicants, who can accept or reject the offer.
Applicants can only contact programs through an ERAS application. You CANNOT contact programs outside of the application. This also includes any individual acting on your behalf. Programs must first initiate contact with you.
Programs can conduct telephone or zoom interviews.
If you receive an offer during a round you can accept, reject or let an offer expire. BUT, once that round is completed the offer you will no longer be extended to you in future rounds.
If given multiple offers, accepting one will reject all others, and a binding commitment is made.
5. SOAP concludes: After the rounds of offers and acceptances are complete, the SOAP process concludes, and all applicants are informed of their final match status.
Overall, the SOAP process is designed to help applicants who did not match in the main residency match find available residency positions and help programs fill their unfilled positions.
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