Answering Top SOAP® Interview Questions of All Time
With 30 Sample Questions and Answers
Studying SOAP residency interview questions and answers are a great way to prepare for residency interviews held during the Supplemental Offer and Acceptance Program during the Match. Chances are, you’ll be applying to programs that were not top of your residency rank order list and they will have tough questions to ask you in return. Learning what you need to know about SOAP, how these residency interviews work and what kind of questions you can expect will be your ticket to good prep. In this blog, we’ll talk about what the SOAP residency interview is, how to prepare for it and some commonly asked questions you can expect, with some example answers.
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What is the SOAP residency interview?
The Supplemental Offer and Acceptance Program (SOAP) of the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) is held immediately after Match Day, and is designed to pair partially matched or unmatched applicants with unfilled training program positions in the US.
For applicants who do not match or don’t match into their top choice of program or specialty, SOAP is an excellent way to find and secure a training position. You will first have to confirm that you are eligible for SOAP, and you will want to improve your residency app if you’ve gone unmatched.
There are many reasons why an applicant might have gone unmatched, but your chances of success in SOAP are greatly enhanced if you take the time to refresh your ERAS application and prep for the SOAP residency interview.
SOAP does conduct interviews, and the SOAP residency interview is conducted much the same way as residency interviews during the match. However, you may be asked some hard to answer questions about your application or your unmatched status, so be ready for some residency interview questions that may surprise you.
Other than a slight variation in the questions you may be asked, you can expect your SOAP residency interview to look much the same as any residency interview. However, the stakes may be higher here if you’ve gone unmatched or need to secure a position, so it may be worth it to invest in some residency interview coaching or tutoring to help you prepare. It could be that your application is strong, but your interview skills weren’t as competitive as other candidates.
Because SOAP is your second chance to nab a residency training position—unless you are waiting to reapply in next year’s match—its imperative that you start preparing. You can start preparing even well before Match Day, even if you think your chances of going matched are good. Some candidates apply to extremely competitive specialties, and they won’t know the outcome of their application until Match Day. By then, SOAP will already be starting, and you’ll have very little time to prepare.
Then, from there, start your ‘tell me about yourself’ answer. Our system gives you a clear algorithm on how to nail that question. Definitely finish by emphasizing how excited you would be to match at their program.
All of your hard-work comes down to this. First, we want to thank you for working with us for your residency match journey and using the RIQ Strategy. We hope we have been able to help you and we’re here to support you all the way to the finish line. Here’s a rundown of what to expect and do for Match Week. On Monday March 14th – 11 am EST you can login to your NRMP profile and see IF you have matched.
“this was a challenging, competitive year. I feel that I am a strong candidate with excellent credentials. I can say that I am truly passionate about
We recommend you prepare ahead of time! Go to the NRMP website this weekend to understand how the process works in detail.http://www.nrmp.org/residency/soap/soap-for-applicants-and-schools/ The date and time schedule for SOAP matching: http://www.nrmp.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Match-Week-and-SOAP-Schedule.pdf We won’t rehash it here because the NRMP gives a great overview with videos – watch them all. Basically, unfilled programs will offer positions to their most preferred candidates from March 14th to March 17th. Candidates have a 2 hour window to accept the offer in a series of 5 rounds. It is in your best interest to wait and see which offers you get at the end of the round before accepting prior to the 2 hour deadline instead of the first offer you get in any single round. Steps to do before SOAP:
If you did not match, DO NOT lose hope. The SOAP process is another opportunity for you to find a spot in training. Here is our algorithm.
Take stock of your letters of recommendation to determine if one or more letters affected your chances of securing interviews. Among the common mistakes that we see is not submitting a letter written by a physician in your chosen specialty, submitting too few letters from physicians in your chosen specialty (specialties differ in how many letters they prefer), and submitting generic or brief letters of recommendation. A note to IMGs: U.S. residency programs prefer letters written by physicians who have supervised you during clinical experiences in the U.S.
Review NRMP Match statistics from previous years to get an idea of what you’re likely to encounter with respect to different specialties. You can also read our post about SOAP results from the 2018 NRMP Match.
This will require you to reflect on your past experiences with different specialties. Is there another specialty that you would enjoy? For example, if you fail to match into orthopedic surgery, can you see yourself in a career in general surgery? If that’s the case, you may wish to create a plan to apply for either categorical or preliminary surgery residency programs.
Knowing that you’re at risk will allow you to prepare an effective plan in advance of Match week. This plan can then be executed if your worst fears are realized.
If you’ll be applying to other specialties in SOAP, don’t expect to make a favorable impression by just making cosmetic changes to your original statement. Your statement must be specialty-specific, and it must clearly indicate to readers that you’re committed to this specialty.
FAQ
Can I get soap offer without interview?
What questions do they ask in residency interview?
- Can you tell me a little bit about yourself?
- What made you want to become a doctor?
- Why did you choose this specialty?
- Why did you choose to apply to this program?
- Can you tell me about volunteer work you did?
- What do you see happening for you beyond your residency?
What are soap interviews like?
What is SOAP API interview questions?
- What are SOAP Web services? …
- How does SOAP work? …
- When to use SOAP API? …
- How do users utilize the facilities provided by SOAP? …
- What is the major obstacle users faced when using SOAP? …
- What are the various approaches available for developing SOAP-based web services?
