For eligible unmatched applicants to residency programs, the Supplemental Offer and Acceptance Program (SOAP) can be a chance to land a residency position that went unfilled.
In 2026, SOAP will take place March 16–19 and, as has been the case in recent residency-application cycles, there will be a fourth round of SOAP this year.
SOAP is a service of the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP). Data obtained from the NRMP offers insight into which specialties offered positions and which applicant types found success through the SOAP process during the 2025 Match cycle.
In 2025, 2,318 post-graduate year 1 (PGY-1) positions were filled through SOAP, a slight dip from 2024 when 2,399 positions were filled through the process.
FREIDA™, the AMA Residency & Fellowship Database® (registration required), enables unmatched students to research residencies from more than 13,000 programs both during and following SOAP. Access is free, but extra benefits—such as a dashboard that helps users save, rank and keep notes on each program—are available to AMA members.
Categorical positions in SOAP
Categorical positions—full-length residency training positions—made up roughly 60% of PGY-1 positions offered or filled through the SOAP process last year; the remainder of entry-level positions were PGY-1 only.
The specialties with the most positions filled through SOAP were:
- Family medicine—753.
- Surgery-preliminary (PGY-1 only)—534.
- Internal medicine (categorical)—347.
- Pediatrics (categorical)—139.
- Emergency medicine—64.
Another 223 positions filled through SOAP were for transitional (PGY-1 only) spots. About 40% of filled SOAP positions were PGY-1 only—meaning that those applicants would have to match with an advanced postgraduate year 2 (PGY-2) position during SOAP or participate in the Match the following year for a PGY-2 position.
Those residents will begin their training by spending a year in a more general discipline before entering their chosen specialty in year two of residency.
There are relatively few PGY-2 positions typically available in SOAP.
Getting bad news on Monday of Match Week is stressful. Learn more with the AMA to help navigate the Supplemental Offer and Acceptance Program. One key tip: Preparation is everything.
Applicant types
Most years, the applicant breakdown in SOAP leans heavily toward international medical graduates (IMGs), and 2025 was no different.
The most common applicant participant by type included:
- Non-U.S. citizen IMGs—6,956.
- U.S. citizen IMGs—2,666.
- Senior students at U.S. allopathic medical schools—2,074.
- Previous graduates of U.S. allopathic medical schools—997.
- Senior students from U.S. osteopathic medical schools—892.
- Previous graduates of U.S. osteopathic medical schools—374.
Looking at position fill rates by applicant type, U.S. MD seniors made up 39.8% of all positions filled through SOAP, U.S. DO seniors represented 22.2%, and IMGs collectively accounted for 27.1% of SOAP placements, filling 629 positions. At the end of SOAP in 2025, 203 positions were left unfilled.
The AMA Road to Residency series provides medical students, international medical graduates and others with guidance on preparing for residency application, acing your residency interview, putting together your rank-order list and more.
