Abstract
•Have applied the principles of disaster planning to assist medical students who fail to match into residency.•Describe how students develop a plan in advance of the match, to achieve the best possible outcome in this difficult situation.
Failing to secure an internship is an extremely stressful event. In this manuscript we describe a process to prepare students for success, should they fail to match. This process involves an assessment of individual vulnerability, implementing mitigation strategies, developing a comprehensive plan in the event of failing to match, that is executed if the student needs to enter the Supplemental Offer Acceptance Program (SOAP) or the “scramble”.