Introduction
The Central Application Service for Podiatric Residencies (CASPR) is an Application Service and Matching Program that provides an orderly process to help applicants obtain positions of their choice, and to help programs obtain applicants of their choice.
How It Works
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1. Register for CASPR
Applicants and programs must register online to participate in CASPR .
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2. Apply to Programs
All applications are submitted to programs using the NMS Match System. The NMS Match System provides a centralized system for applicants to send applications to programs, and for programs to organize and evaluate applications submitted by applicants.
Each application includes information and supporting documentation provided by the applicant, official transcripts and academic information from the applicant's college, and at least three letters of reference submitted by individuals designated by the applicant. Applications can be customized for each program and must be submitted by the deadline specified by the program. Programs are able to download a single integrated PDF document for each applicant that includes all application information.
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3. Interview with Programs
Most programs conduct interviews with selected applicants. These interviews may be virtual or in-person at the Centralized Residency Interview Program (CRIP) or at a location of a program’s choosing. AACPM organizes the CRIP event in Frisco, TX, where applicants and programs meet and interview with each other.
No offers are to be made by programs during the interview period. Applicants and programs can evaluate each other fully before the programs must decide on their preferences for applicants, and before applicants must decide on their preferences for programs.
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4. Submit Your Rank Order List of Preferred Placements
After all interviews are completed, each applicant submits a Rank Order List on which the applicant lists their desired programs, in numerical order of the applicant's preference (first choice, second choice, etc.). Similarly, each program submits a Rank Order List for each track it is offering, on which it lists its desirable applicants, in order of preference. Each program also indicates the number of positions the program has available in each track.
All Rank Order List information is submitted online in the NMS Match System and is confidential.
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5. The Matching Algorithm is Run
The Match then places individuals into positions based entirely on the preferences stated in the Rank Order Lists.
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5. Get Your Result
The result of the Match is that each applicant is placed with the most preferred program on the applicant's Rank Order List that ranks the applicant and does not fill all its positions with more preferred applicants. Similarly, each program is matched with the most preferred applicants on its list, up to the number of positions available, who rank the program and who do not receive positions in programs they prefer.
Phases of CASPR
CASPR Match is conducted in two phases.
Match
All registered applicants and programs submit their Rank Order Lists by the Rank Order List deadline. The matching algorithm processes those Rank Order Lists to place applicants into positions. Applicants are informed of whether or not they obtained a position and programs are informed of whether or not they filled all of their positions.
Programs with unfilled positions from the Match will offer those positions to unmatched applicants in MPII. Applicants who matched and programs that filled all their positions in the Match do not participate in MPII.
MPII
Applicants submit applications to programs, and programs evaluate applicants in MPII. All applicants and programs submit their MPII Rank Order Lists by the MPII Rank Order List deadline. A second match is carried out using those Rank Order Lists.
Following the completion of MPII, all applicants are informed of the program where they placed in either the Match or MPII, and programs are notified of the applicants matched to their program.
Post-Match Process
After the results of CASPR are released, a Post-Match Process will be implemented to assist applicants who are still seeking a position to be placed into programs with positions available.
Read more about your involvement in each stage of the process:
Governance
The American Association of Colleges of Podiatric Medicine (AACPM) is responsible for the administration and conduct of CASPR. AACPM is supported by National Matching Services Inc. (NMS) for the implementation of CASPR.
