From the Association of Family Medicine Residency Directors: SURVIVING THE SOAP

The end of February usually brings a great deal of relief for residency programs. We have successfully weathered another recruiting season. Hundreds of qualified applications were reviewed, and hours of interviews were completed. The anxious phone calls and solicitous e-mails taper off. We are left amazed by the quality of students applying for post-graduate training and we begin to rank those who we feel would be the best fit for our program. The excitement of match day approaches with all of the pomp and traditions. On occasion, however, the excitement and anticipation is unexpectedly disrupted: an e-mail arrives stating your program did not fill all of its positions