In the
1940s, the lack of an appropriate appointment system for medical internships had
led to a chaotic situation. In 1951, the decision was made to institute a centralized
matching system for the PGY-1 year. This system evolved into what is now the National
Residency Matching Program (NRMP) a service of the Association of American Medical
Colleges. In the 1970s, a similar
situation evolved for specialties starting at the PGY-2 level, and the Association
of University Professors of Ophthalmology took the lead in 1977 by establishing
the Ophthalmology Matching program, developed and directed by Dr. Colenbrander
of San Francisco. Ophthalmology was soon joined by Otolaryngology, Neurology,
Neurosurgery and Plastic Surgery in matching and became sponsors of the San Francisco
Matching Program (SFMatch).
SFMatch
specialties combined represent only 8% of all positions offered for training in
graduate medical education by volume, but they were the first to conduct PGY-2
matching. Subsequently, all other specialties have committed to matching programs
under the umbrella of the NRMP (the Urology match is conducted separately by American
Urological Association). SFMatch has occasionally been referred to as the "surgical
specialty" or "Colenbrander" match. More recently it has been referred
to as the "early" match, because the residency matches are conducted
each January, two months before the NRMP main match in March.
In
the 1980s, the service was expanded to include Fellowship Matches, first for various
sub-specialties in Ophthalmology and later for several other specialties. In addition,
a Central Application Service for Ophthalmology was created and expanded to include
the other PGY-2 specialties. In 1998, Dr. Colenbrander's operation was transferred
to Academy Management Services in San Francisco, a subsidiary organization of
the American Academy of Ophthalmology.