The NRMP® recently launched a directory of residency programs that showcases over 6000 Match-participating PGY-1 and PGY-2 programs. It’s a searchable database that includes locations, program type, and NRMP program codes.
I fiddled with the directory a bit, and I found it most helpful in 1) narrowing down programs by specialty and geography and 2) providing residency director names and program website links.
The NRMP says it will continue to update the database so it remains current.
Over the years, I’ve cultivated many tips for crafting the best ERAS Experience Section. I’ve included 15 important ones below:
1. Include relevant pre-professional accomplishments from college. If you conducted research, for example, list and describe it. Do not include high school achievements unless they were truly unique (worked at the White House, sang on Broadway, published in Nature ;)).
2. As of last year, you have only 10 slots, so avoid minor activities (like an afternoon health fair).
3. Write in a streamlined fashion. Avoid verbiage. Of note, as of last year, you can choose three most meaningful activities, but you only have 300 characters for each. So while you want to explain why the activity was impactful, you’ll need to keep your writing here especially tight.
4. Use full sentences. It’s a formal application, and you want to make your written materials as readable as possible.
5. Avoid most abbreviations. Ones you think are common might not be familiar to the reader.
6. Avoid contractions; they are too informal for an ERAS.
7. Make sure you spell out your accomplishments clearly. If your reader doesn’t understand an activity, you won’t get “full credit” for what you’ve done. Make no assumptions – not even that the reader has reviewed the experience’s introductory information (position title, location).
8. Write about yourself and your role – not an organization. For example, don’t use the space to discuss Physicians without Borders. Use it to discuss the specifics of your role at Physicians without Borders.
9. Use numbers to be persuasive. Saying that the conference you organized had 500 participants says a lot.
10. Unless your PI won the Nobel, avoid using supervisors’ and/or doctors’ names in your descriptors as they will be meaningless to the majority of your readers.
11. Do your best not to leave the “Medical School Awards” section blank. Even if you have to simply include clerkships in which you obtained honors (or high honors), fill that section out.
12. If you have not already, consider joining your specialty’s national organization and listing it under the “Membership in Honorary/Professional Societies” section. If you are applying in two fields, take this advice, though.
13. Try to end your entries with a sentence about how the experience you just described will help you as a future specialist. Making that connection for the reader furthers your candidacy.
14. As with all good writing, avoid redundant language. Having the word “research” three times in two lines is distracting and demonstrates a lack of originality.
15. Get help. Don’t submit your residency application without having it reviewed by someone with a lot of experience. (I started Insider Medical Admissions in 2007.) You do not want to put forward suboptimal materials for a process that is this important and competitive.
(Please note that there are a few changes to this year’s ERAS. For more information, see this AAMC page.)
Last week (on Wednesday, September 27) program directors began reviewing MyERAS applications and MSPEs. Residency applicants often ask me about the timing of ERAS submissions. These are my thoughts:
1. Yes, getting your ERAS in early helps. As one of my program director friends points out, since the residency application is arguably one of the biggest steps in one’s medical career, getting the application in as early as possible should be a given.
2. On the other hand, if your application is not in its best shape, then waiting a week (meaning this week) is preferable to submitting a suboptimal ERAS that will be tossed into the “do not invite” pile. I would suggest not going past this week, however.
Contact me for help with residency mock interviews.
Below are tips I’ve cultivated over the years for crafting the best ERAS Experience Section. (Please remember that this year’s ERAS is slightly different from past years’. For more information on the changes, click here.)
1. Include relevant pre-professional accomplishments from college. If you conducted research, for example, list and describe it. Do not include high school achievements unless they were truly unique (worked at the White House, sang on Broadway, published in Nature ;)).
2. As of this year, you have only 10 slots, so avoid minor activities (like an afternoon health fair).
3. Write in a streamlined fashion. Avoid verbiage. Of note, as of this year, you can choose three most meaningful activities, but you only have 300 characters for each. So while you want to explain why the activity was impactful, you’ll need to keep your writing here especially tight.
4. Use full sentences. It’s a formal application, and you want to make your written materials as readable as possible.
5. Avoid abbreviations. Ones you think are common might not be familiar to the reader.
6. Avoid contractions; they are too informal for an ERAS.
7. Make sure you spell out your accomplishments clearly. If your reader doesn’t understand an activity, you won’t get “full credit” for what you’ve done. Make no assumptions – not even that the reader has reviewed the experience’s introductory information (position title, location).
8. Write about yourself and your role – not an organization. For example, don’t use the space to discuss Physicians without Borders. Use it to discuss the specifics of your role at Physicians without Borders.
9. Use numbers to be persuasive. Saying that the conference you organized had 500 participants says a lot.
10. Unless your PI won the Nobel, avoid using supervisors’ and/or doctors’ names in your descriptors as they will be meaningless to the majority of your readers.
11. Do your best not to leave the “Medical School Awards” section blank. Even if you have to simply include clerkships in which you obtained honors (or high honors), fill that section out.
12. If you have not already, consider joining your specialty’s national organization and listing it under the “Membership in Honorary/Professional Societies” section. If you are applying in two fields, take this advice, though.
13. Try to end your entries with a sentence about how the experience you just described will help you as a future specialist. Making that connection for the reader furthers your candidacy.
14. As with all good writing, avoid redundant language. Having the word “research” three times in two lines is distracting and demonstrates a lack of originality.
15. Get help. Don’t submit your residency application without having it reviewed by someone with a lot of experience. You do not want to put forward suboptimal materials for a process that is this important and competitive.
Other than implementation of the supplemental ERAS for select specialties, the residency ERAS hasn’t had many modifications over the past decade. However, this year the AAMC overhauled the application in several significant, positive ways:
1. In past years applicants could include as many activities as they wanted, which put a big burden on both candidates and faculty readers. Applicants didn’t know if they should include activities as far back as college (or even high school) and were afraid to leave anything out. Faculty were faced with some applications that were excessively long, chocked full of unimportant information or remote accomplishments.
This year candidates can focus on as many as 10 experience entries – but no more – and can designate three as their most meaningful (like the AMCAS) with a short, additional description for each.
2. Applicants will also be able to choose from more “experience types” than they had in past years and will be asked to provide more descriptive information about their activities.
3. Candidates will have the opportunity to complete an “impactful experiences” section where they can describe any hardships (family, financial, education, etc.).
4. Applicants can communicate their preference for a particular geographic division or for a rural versus urban setting.
5. Candidates applying to specialties and programs who opt in can participate in “program signals” to express particular interest in a residency program.
In general, I find these changes constructive and helpful.
For more information, take a look at this summary from the AAMC. Contact me for personalized ERAS help.
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
