Instructions for applicants for 2009-10 residency year
Please print this page now for your future reference. This page contains all of the information that you need to complete the entire matching process.
1. Become familiar with all available training programs. The Directory of Participating Programs is a good starting point. Contact the individual program coordinators, past residents or current residents for up-to-date details regarding each program. Your school's residency director or the Association of Schools and Colleges in Optometry (ASCO) Residency-Graduate Programs Directory (available in libraries at the schools and colleges of optometry and on the web) are also good sources of information.
Due to federal regulations, funded residency positions at US Federal facilities are limited to United States citizens. ORMS does not have responsibility for enforcement of this regulation; residency candidates are encouraged to contact the individual programs for more information.
ORMS and the NBEO have entered into an agreement for ORMS to supply NBEO scores to programs where you apply during the last weeks of February and again once Part III scores are available in June, for all matched candidates. This service is provided at no cost to you by ORMS.
While on the topic of Part III of the NBEO, please check with individual programs prior to registering for Part III of the NBEO, so that you may register for the appropriate state law examinations that are administered by the NBEO in conjunction with Part III.
2. As
soon as possible, contact the coordinators of the programs in which you are
interested. It is recommended that
this be done prior to January 15, 2009 to ensure adequate time for interviews.
The interview is the most critical single activity in the entire matching
process. It is here that both the program coordinator and the candidate get a
chance to evaluate each other. While telephone interviews are acceptable,
it is always better to have a face-to-face meeting with the site coordinator
prior to the match.
E-mail links are available in the
Directory of Participating Programs on
this web site.
Deadlines at individual programs do vary; it is your responsibility to familiarize yourself with the local procedures for each of the programs in which you are interested.
3. You must register with ORMS by submitting a completed application form. The application and application fee are due February 1, 2009. A late fee of $15 will be added to the processing fee for those payments after February 1.
This year you may pay using one of the following two options: by mail as is the traditional method or the online payment (Visa, MasterCard or Discover only) system. If you choose the online system, some of the labels may be slightly confusing. On the order form there is a section that says, "Ship to:," that is the section that you need to populate with your data. You only need to fill in the "Bill to:" information, if that information differs from the "Ship to:" information. Should you choose to pay your registration fee by mail, please make the check payable to ORMS, Inc. and send to:
Optometric Residency Matching Service, Inc.
151 Principia Court
Claremont, CA 91711-4657
Please allow adequate time for the payment to transit the mail system so that deadlines are met.
The first deadline for application and application fee is 5 PM PT, February 1, 2009. The application fee is $30 dollars for up to five program selections. There is a $10 fee per unit for each additional program over five selections on your application.
All additional site requests submitted after your application will be processed at $10 per program, regardless of the number sites listed on your original application. These requests must be submitted via an Additional Site Form; do not submit additional applications.
Applications received after 5 PM PT, February 1, 2009, will be accepted if the program supervisor(s) consents, and the late application fee is $15 in addition to the above fees. In any case, applications that are received after 5 PM PT, March 1, 2009, will not be processed in the match.
4. ORMS will forward your application to all programs in which you express an interest on the second portion of the application form. It is a good rule of thumb that you should list only programs on this form that you are contemplating personally visiting for an interview. You may add to your list of programs at any time prior to March 2nd by submitting an Additional Site Form and paying $10/site. The usual number of programs chosen on the application is approximately four, with candidates listing any number of programs from one to ten. When ORMS forwards applications to a specific program, only the program addressed will appear at the bottom of the application, and there will be no indication of the position that the candidate listed that particular program. Should you list a program where you have little interest, the program coordinator will be operating under the mistaken impression that you are an active candidate. In fairness to all, please be judicious when listing programs of interest. At each program where you apply, the coordinator expends considerable effort in recruiting residency candidates and to use the application as a letter of introduction is inappropriate. Only apply where you seriously consider serving.
5. All supporting documents are to be sent directly to the program coordinator at each of the programs of
interest by the candidate. To reiterate, early submission is recommended to ensure adequate time for
correspondence and interviews. Supporting
documents include but are not limited to:
Curriculum vitae,
Official transcripts of optometric education and
A brief statement detailing your desire to complete a residency.
Please check with the individual program coordinator for specifics of the application process that might differ from what is listed here.
6. Arrange for letters of recommendation to be sent directly to each program in which you are interested.
7. Submission
of the Application Form attests to your understanding of the process, indicates
your desire to participate in the match and confirms your commitment to honor
the policies and outcome of the process. Other
residency candidates are placed in jeopardy if you do not abide by your match. The
importance of fulfilling your commitment cannot be overstated.
8. After
the interview process is complete, submit the
Applicant's
Ranking Form (Matching Form). This must be
received by ORMS on or before the close of business [5 PM Pacific Time
(PST)] March 6, 2009. All ranking
information submitted to ORMS is kept strictly confidential.
As a security check your
submission will be acknowledged by return e-mail. All applicants, even those who are applying to only one
program, must follow this procedure in order to be eligible for a position at a
participating program.
At the bottom of the Matching Form you may choose to participate in the unmatched candidate "pool," should you not match at your most desired programs. There are usually good opportunities to negotiate a position with quality programs after the “match.” Candidates on the pool list are under NO obligation to go to a site in which they do not wish to serve. Those candidates who check "yes" to be included in the pool (and do not match in the initial match) will have their names listed in a file that is distributed only to residency program coordinators who have not filled all of their positions. Those program coordinators may contact candidates on the pool list. Secondarily, ORMS will publish a list of unfilled positions on the website . After that, ORMS has no role. It is up to the candidates and residency coordinators to get together. You have a choice in which of the unfilled sites you wish to contact, and you are NOT automatically matched with a random site. You may have your name added to the pool list even after it is distributed as we continually update the pool list in an effort to help all candidates secure residency positions.
9. If, after submitting the Applicant’s Ranking Form, you desire to rank the residency programs differently, you may submit a new Applicant’s Ranking Form. ORMS must receive your revised Ranking Form on or before the close of business (5 PM PT) March 6, 2009. Please do not submit multiple forms that are the same. Doing so may lead to errors in matching as the duplicates have to removed from the database manually.
10. If you decide to accept a residency
position at a non-participating program or know that you do not wish to serve at
the residency sites you selected, please inform ORMS immediately (by e-mail,
fax or telephone) so that your name can be deleted from the database prior to
the match. Your notification of withdrawal
prior to 5 PM PT, March 6, 2009, is essential to make the match a fair process.
A candidate who stays in the match, but does not intend to serve at the matched
program, can have profound effects on those seeking residency positions.
11. The
matching process functions to simultaneously analyze every Coordinator’s
Ranking List with respect to every Applicant’s Ranking Form. A matching algorithm simulates
the situation where coordinators offer positions to applicants and the subsequent
acceptance or rejection of those offers by the applicant.
The result of this match is that each applicant is placed with his/her
most preferred program that does not match with an applicant placed higher on
that program's ranking list. ORMS does not arbitrarily or subjectively assign
applicants to programs. ORMS, as an
agent to both parties, simply computes "agreements to mutually commit"
between the parties based upon the objective algorithm.
Some applicants are tempted to rank their second or third choices above
their first choice because they believe that they have a better chance of
matching with their second or third choices.
Do not use this strategy!
You would actually be decreasing your chances of matching with your most
preferred program and you would be increasing your chances of matching with
your second and third choices. To
reiterate, you should rank programs based only upon your true preferences. It is also important to remember that by ranking a program,
you are indicating your commitment to accepting that program should a match
occur. Do not rank programs that
you do not plan to accept. In other words, if you do not wish to do a
residency at a particular site, do not rank that site on your ranking list.
12. For candidates, unpaid
programs should be ranked on the same Ranking List as the paid programs.
EXAMPLE: A candidate prefers a PAID position at program "A" over
an UNPAID position at program "A." However, the candidate prefers either
position at program "A" over a PAID position at program "B."
Ranking should be done as follows:
#1 Program "A" (PAID)
#2 Program "A" (UNPAID)
#3 Program "B" (PAID)
13. ORMS will
compute the match after the close of business on March 5, 2010.
Official notification of matches will be sent to all parties within seven
days of the match. Applicants who do not match
will be informed of such. The names
of programs which also did not match and the names of unmatched applicants will
be available online at the earliest possible date after the match.
After official notification of non-matched status by ORMS, interested
parties should proceed with independent negotiations. Other than providing
information, ORMS is not involved with any matching activity that occurs after
the official match.
14. During the
interview process, program coordinators and applicants often legitimately discuss
their impressions and their interest in one another.
Neither party is under any obligation to the other based upon perceived
impressions or actual verbal commitments that may transpire during discussions
prior to the actual match by ORMS. The matching process conducted by ORMS is the only binding
agreement between you and the program coordinator, and that process is not
complete until announced by ORMS. No
one should be pressured to commit, either verbally or contractually, to any
program prior to the official match results release to all participants, and such a violation by a
residency coordinator may be subject to review by the staff of ORMS.
A violation of this rule is judged by ORMS to be the responsibility of
the program coordinator who requests such a commitment.
Should you feel undo pressure for such a commitment, please notify ORMS
so that the situation may be rectified.
15. If you
have any questions or concerns regarding the matching process, first contact the
program coordinator. If further information
is required or in the event that you have difficulties that cannot be
resolved by the program coordinator, an
ORMS representative will be available from 9 AM - 5 PM PT, Monday through
Friday for the two weeks preceding the match at 909-267-9795.
Be aware that this number is not operational other than during the
specified times. ORMS monitors
e-mail to orms@orms.org or
chaine@hainews.com on a regular basis throughout the
year.
16. Just a
reminder: you will not be eligible to participate in the match if you fail to
meet any of the above deadlines. Proper
planning is essential!
17. For those of you with Hotmail or other free accounts, your mailbox size may lead to difficulties in ORMS sending you mail during the matching process. ORMS recommends that you use another e-mail account that is not as limited in size. If you decide to use a free mail service, it is your responsibility to make sure there is sufficient space in your mailbox for incoming e-mail. These free mailboxes often do not bounce a message back to the sender; if the mailbox is full, the messages just go into the ethers. Therefore, ORMS does not know the status of these messages. Again, be aware of the volume of mail in your inbox.
Summary
of Application Instructions
1. Contact the coordinators of the programs that interest
you.
(It is recommended that this be done prior to January 15, 2009, in order
for interviews to be scheduled.)
2. Assemble a packet that contains the following:
curriculum vitae,
optometry school transcripts
and
brief statement of interest.
Check with the individual programs for deadlines for submission of these materials. Program deadlines vary!
3. Arrange for three (3) letters of recommendation to be forwarded to each program coordinator.
4. Submit your application and application fee
to ORMS. If you pay by mail, please
include the full name of the applicant in the memo section of the check or money order.
5. After completing the interview process, complete the
Applicant’s
Ranking Form (Matching Form).