The ways to contact programs during the scramble are through ERAS, phone, fax, or email. If you were not able to fax or scramble within the first half hour, I would not waste time with these methods and stick to phone calls. The reason is that fax machines run out of paper and email boxes get full so you will be wasting your time. The best strategy to undertake is to have a friend or family member fax and email on your behalf while you make phone calls. There will also be situations where programs will contact you and therefore make sure your profile on ERAS is up to date.
1. ERAS – The NRMP allows you to send your application to an additional 30 programs. There is no option to pay money to send your application to more than 30 programs. I would advise not to use all 30 immediately and save about five just in case a program you contact later in the day asks you to send your application through ERAS. In addition you can re-apply to 15 programs you have already applied to through the regular match. On the unfilled list an asterisk (*) will denote if a program is accepting application through ERAS.
2. Phone – Some programs take phone calls during the scramble. Usually you will talk to a secretary or a resident. They will have screening questions ready. Depending on the programs criteria, they may be interested. It is important to note that the criteria during the scramble are a little more stringent than the ones to apply during the regular match. The usual questions are:
a. What are your scores, attempts?
b. Are you ECFMG Certified?
c. Do you have US Clinical Experience?
d. Do you need a visa?
e. When did you graduate?
3. Fax – There are two ways to fax. One is to use a normal fax machine and the other method is to use online fax services such as eFax. Find out how eFax delivers faxes right to your email inbox. Try it free – instant activation. It is important to note that you need to be quick with faxes as fax machines run out of paper. Have a cover letter on top with the rest of the documents after this as described above.
4. Email – This is another method and I advise you to be quick, as email boxes tend to become full. Also in the subject line put in your strong points like Scramble: 90s/ECFMG Certified/Green Card. Also put all the positive points as a cover letter in the body of the email. Then attach the rest of the documents to your email. If you are sending an email to multiple programs remember to bcc the email addresses. Another strategy to be the first to email programs would be to prepare emails in advance with all the programs email addresses in the bcc. Who cares if the emails are sent to programs who are not in the scramble. But if you are not comfortable doing this, you can wait until the list comes out. Also when you mass email, remember some of the popular email sites have a limit on the number of email addresses you can send the emails to (usually about 20). Therefore, make sure you split them up so you do not go over the limit. Just to make it clear do not send the emails prior to the noon eastern time on March 18th as this is considered a violation.