Cutting Through the Noise: Radiation Oncology Applicant and Program Director Response to Signaling During Match 2025

Geographic and program signals allow applicants to denote preferred regions and institutions for residency training. For the 2025 Match, program signals were introduced for radiation oncology (RO). We describe the experiences of RO applicants and program directors (PDs) with these novel program signals and geographic signals.

Anonymous REDCap surveys were distributed to RO applicants and PDs after Match Day 2025. Consented participants answered questions on their perspectives and behaviors surrounding signals.

All surveyed applicants (71, 100%) used the newly offered program signals. Many applicants (46, 65%) and PDs (25, 63%) were aware of the RO professional society guidelines regarding signaling home and away rotations. Most informed applicants did not signal their home (16/23, 70%) or all away (21/37, 57%) rotations, despite awareness of guidelines. Likewise, informed PDs advised internally (17/24, 71%) and externally rotating applicants to not signal (14/24, 58%), also against guideline recommendations. Geographic signals continued to be widely used by RO applicants (59/71, 83%), and most PDs reported using geographic signals during the selection process (30/40, 75%). Interview invitation (P = .16) and matching (P = .26) to a program within a division of a geographic signal did not differ by applicant type.

Program signals were universally used by surveyed RO applicants for the Match 2025, with most employing all tokens. Surveyed RO PDs reported signals influenced stages of residency recruitment, including interview invitations and ranking. Our data show that program and geographic signals may influence interview invites, but their impact on final match outcomes remains unclear. There was notably poor alignment of applicant and RO PD behaviors with the best practices regarding program signals as described by governing bodies, which should be addressed in future match cycles.