Blog Archives

How to Avoid AMCAS Verification Delays

The AAMC recently posted a piece with tips on how to avoid delays in the AMCAS verification process. The link to the article is below, but I’ve created an outline of their recommendations here:

1) Submit all of your official transcripts – including college courses taken during high school. The AAMC notes that transcript issues are the most common cause of verification delays.

2) When completing your application, include alternate names that appear on your official transcripts so AMCAS verifiers can readily match your transcripts with your application.

3) While this is not a requirement, the AAMC recommends you use the Transcript Request Form (TRF) to match paper transcripts to your application. The TRF can be found in the application’s Schools Attended section.

4) When requesting e-transcripts, ensure you provide your accurate AAMC ID and Transcript IDs to avoid problems matching your transcripts with your application.

5) Make sure to fill out your coursework exactly as it is printed on your official transcripts (including abbreviations, grades, and symbols) and in chronological order. Include all courses – even ones you took more than once, you withdrew from, and/or you did not excel in. The AAMC recommends you order a personal copy of your official transcript early so you can complete the coursework section accurately.

6) If you are reapplying, resubmit all of your transcripts and your letters of evaluation, even if nothing has changed since your last application.

7) Proofread your AMCAS(!), as there are limited changes you can make once your application is submitted.

Here is the AAMC article.

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How to Adeptly Complete the AMCAS Other Impactful Experiences Section

Last year the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) gutted the AMCAS Disadvantaged Status section, replacing it with the Other Impactful Experiences, which allows for a broader approach to challenges that can adversely affect an applicant’s life and candidacy. 

In other words, when you’re considering the Other Impactful Experiences essay, consider financial barriers, but also issues like learning disabilities, immigration experiences, caregiving roles, etc. Here is some guidance from the AAMC.

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Emotional PPE

Back in February, I showcased the sobering results of the Medscape Physician Depression and Burnout Report 2024: Of those doctors surveyed, 53% reported burnout and 23% depression. And those disturbingly high statistics had increased from the previous year. 

I recently listened to a Stanford Medcast Episode interview of Ariel Brown PhD called “Physician Distress Miniseries – Emotional Health Support for Health Care Workers.” (You can get CME credit for listening to the podcast and completing the quiz afterward.) According to the session, each year in the United States, one in 10 physicians think about or attempt suicide and around 400 die by suicide. 

At the start of the pandemic, Dr. Brown started a nonprofit with Massachusetts General Hospital Anesthesia Program Director Dr. Daniel Saddawi-Koefka, called The Emotional PPE Project. The organization provides free and confidential psychological counseling for healthcare workers. Here is the website.

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Applying to Residency this Cycle? Don’t Forget the New AAMC Fee Assistance Program for Residency Applicants 

Here’s a quick reminder that the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) is expanding its Fee Assistance Program (FAP) to residency applicants this year.

The good news is that if you were previously approved for the AAMC FAP, you will automatically get a 60% discount on your residency application for this ERAS season.

The bad news is that current medical students are not eligible to apply for the FAP even if they now have financial challenges that they did not have prior to medical school or if they qualified before medical school but declined to apply for the FAP benefits.

The AAMC says they are going to survey “the student affairs community” to understand “if and how” they can further expand the FAP for residency applicants.

Here is more information with some frequently asked questions.

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Try a Residency Bootcamp

I was recently speaking to a medical student with excellent foresight, who was asking me what he could do to prepare himself for residency. I suggested reviewing the basics – perhaps by perusing a favorite clinic handbook – of how to work up common chief complaints like chest pain, shortness of breath, abdominal pain, back pain, among others. It was timely, then, that I read an article about Transition to Residency classes offered at the majority of medical schools. These intensive courses help medical students refresh their knowledge about clinical approaches, so they can hit the ground running when internship starts. 

If a Transition to Residency class is robust and offered at your institution, I would recommend taking it.

Also, when thinking about preparing for residency, I advised the student to consider ways to make life as smooth as possible: When I was in training, I splurged to pay for a laundry service. I never missed the money; instead of spending my downtime at a laundromat or an apartment complex laundry room, I was able to sleep a little more. 

Of course, I had to be frugal during residency, as many others do, but doing one or two things that can make your life better can pay dividends.

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About Dr. Michelle Finkel

Dr. Michelle Finkel

Dr. Finkel is a graduate of Stanford University and Harvard Medical School. On completing her residency at Harvard, she was asked to
stay on as faculty at Harvard Medical School and spent five years teaching at the world-renowned Massachusetts General Hospital.
She was appointed to the Assistant Residency Director position for the Harvard Affiliated
Emergency Medicine Residency where she reviewed countless applications, personal statements and resumes. Read more

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Listen to Dr. Finkel’s interview on the White Coat Investor podcast:

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