• Fourth-year medical students must certify rank order lists by 9 PM Eastern on March 4
• No changes will be allowed after the deadline
• All students must sign the match participating agreement
• All fees must be paid
• All students must be fully verified

For Aliya Redd, a fourth-year medical student at the University of Florida (UF) College of Medicine, Gainesville, Florida, the reality of the match process is sinking in as the March 4 deadline for rank-order lists approaches.

“It’s kind of scary,” said Redd, even though she is excited to continue her professional training to become a pediatrician. Redd teaches exercise classes and exercises a lot on her own. That is helping her to stay grounded.

She said she’s trying not to “overthink it” as she completes her rank-order list.

But one thing that students do need to think about is the hard, fast deadline of Wednesday, 9 PM ET.

Jeanette Calli, chief of match operations at the National Resident Matching Program, said students need to know there is no changing rank order after the certification deadline.

“We do get calls saying, ‘I want my No. 3 to be ranked No. 1,’ and the answer is always ‘no,’” she said.

Calli encourages students to make sure they list their true preferences, and not just where they think they will match.

Diane Howell, MD, interim assistant dean for students at the UF College of Medicine, echoed that thought. She said students need to think of their true desires and goals. Programs and students may fall in love with each other during the interview process, she said, but students must make their rank-order lists based on a solid assessment of their goals and life circumstances.

“You have to get out of your head what they (a residency program) think about you,” Howell said.

The match algorithm favors the student, Howell said, and students must trust that process. Part of doing so is ranking their true choices in the order they want.

After certification on March 4, Redd said she intends to relax as much as possible up until March 16, when students learn whether they matched or not.

Many medical school advisers urge fourth-year students to have a match buddy as they head into match week.

“You need to be surrounded by your village,” said Howell, whether that is friends, family, or both. At the UF College of Medicine, all fourth-year students are required to be on campus for match week, even if they have been clerking at another location. 

Medical schools in turn block out the week to support those who don’t match and to help others through the final week — and, of course, to celebrate on Match Day, March 20.

“It’s spring break, but my kids know we aren’t going anywhere,” said Howell.

No disclosures were reported.