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Five ERAS Platform Quirks to Heed

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On September 7th, ERAS will open for submission, so it’s time to get moving on your written materials. Let’s briefly cover five quirks of the ERAS platform to help you get through the drafting process. The ERAS platform…

1) Does not support italics. While journal articles and some phrases (e.g. “summa cum laude”) should be italicized, don’t be surprised when you can’t.
2) Prompts you for a supervisor for each activity. In some cases, you simply may not have one, but whenever you can, name someone. A name validates the experience.
3) Prompts you for average hours per week for each activity. It can be difficult to calculate this number for certain experiences, especially those that are intermittent, but it’s worth making your best estimate rather than leaving the question blank.
4) Offers space to include a “reason for leaving” for each activity. Don’t skip this section, but keep your answers brief.
5) Limits you to 1020 characters for experiences, 510 for the interruption in the medical training section, and 510 for each of the awards sections. Be aware of these limits as you write, so you are not furiously cutting later.  

For tips on how to craft your ERAS, check out these 15 ERAS tips.

Contact me for help with this weird, wild process.

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Charting Outcomes in the Match 2022 is Out

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The NRMP recently published their Charting Outcomes information for 2022; data I keep bookmarked and which I would recommend applicants review. The reports (for MDs and DOs) separate results into specialties and include extremely helpful information, including what mean board scores, number of contiguous ranks, and number of research experiences were for those who successfully matched – and those who did not.

It’s important to make sure you are in the range for your intended field and to compare the competitiveness of different specialties if you are seeking to apply in two fields.

Here is the MD report and the DO one.

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Don’t Accept Helicopter Parenting

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Check out this bizarre (and sad) article from the New York Times about helicopter parenting, and note that two of the anecdotes are physician related. (Can you imagine interviewing for an attending position with your dad present?)

Along those lines, I’d recommend the New York Times best seller How to Raise an Adult by Julie Lythcott-Haimes for any parents who read this blog. (Disclaimer: Julie was one of my frosh resident assistants at Stanford.) Julie gave a great interview on Fresh Air last year. 

My policy at Insider is to work exclusively with applicants (not parents or spouses) to maintain confidentiality, avoid redundancy, and ensure candidates assume primary responsibility for their work. It’s been a winning strategy. 

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Inaccuracies in Medical Student Grades Translate into a Residency Application Strategy

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Here’s an oldie-but-goodie New York Times piece by Dr. Pauline Chen on medical student grade inaccuracies. In reading the article, medical students should reflect on how important the quality and content of their letters of recommendation are for residency applications, especially in the setting of medical school grades that may be inflated or faulty. The 2020 NRMP Program Director Survey (which is the most current version) supports the importance of letters, as well, with statistics. Make sure your letters are very strong; remember that mediocre letters should not be a part of your residency package.

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NRMP Match

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Congrats to all those who successfully matched the week before last! The NRMP just published statistics from this year’s Main Match:

Of interest, there were 42,549 applicants who submitted certified rank order lists in this year’s Main Match, and 34,075 of those matched to PGY-1 positions (80.1%). This was a 1.6% increase over last year.

The NRMP also reports that out of 39,205 total positions offered, 36,943 filled (94.2%), and of 36,277 first-year positions offered, 34,075 (93.9%) filled. These rates were similar to last year’s. Of 6,087 total certified programs, 5,367 filled (88.2%), which was a decrease from last year, per the NRMP.

For more numbers, take a look at this NRMP press release.  

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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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