Showing posts with label ERAS. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ERAS. Show all posts
When should we upload the letters of recommendations.
Common questions asked about uploading Letters of recommendations like :
Who should upload the LORs?
When should the letters be uploaded?
Can we send the letters to ECFMG or ERAS and ask them to upload them?
How long it takes for the uploaded letters to appear in MyERAS system?
How to upload LORs.
LORs can be uploaded either by the writer himself (waived LOR- i.e the applicant don't see the letter) or by the applicant himself (non waived LOR). Either way, the applicant has to buy the ERAS token from his OASIS account June- July not before that otherwise he will be buying the previous season token which will expire shortly thereafter and hence the applicant will lose the money. After the applicant buy the token he will register with ERAS website (the link will be in your OASIS account). Then back to the OASIS the icon for uploading the documents will be ready there for uploading by the applicant however for uploading by the writers then go to ERAS and click on the documents-LOR section and follow the instructions there to print out the request which you will give it to your writer to upload your LOR. The writer will find a special link in the request and he will do his part. In the past ECFMG used to upload the letters for the applicants and writers but nowadays this is no more available. The uploaded letters will take about 2 weeks in average to appear in your ERAS system so make sure you upload them as early as possible to be ready for mid September application surge.
Take a look on thie essential LOR writing guide fro samples and instructions: LOR Guide and Samples
When should we submit our residency application?
You wonder when you should click on submit in your MyERAS application. No wonder that the best time to send the application online through ERAS is September 15th, this means on the first day ERAS "submit" button is enabled whichever comes first. Although you can still apply later at any time and whatever number of times and programs, however, the earliest you apply the more number of interviews you get. Interview spots and dates are limited in each program and the invites will fly like hot cookies. In the past couple of years the invites used to come out in waves because of prematch offers accepting and rejecting, however, after elimination of the prematch from the match most interview invites will be sent between October and November.
Are foreign LORs of any importance?
International medical graduates always have this question about letters of recommendations they get from their clinical instructors overseas. The question usually asked is like: Does the LOR s from India or Pakistan or any other country have weight is the residency application. The big myth is that most IMGs think that their home LORs are less important than their US letters. Actually program directors like to know about your real clinical background beside that you get from USCE rotations. A ratio of 2:2 is the perfect combination we noticed in those successfully matching. Bottom line is USCE is a big positive in your ERAS application but not without your home based letters of recommendations as well.
How to calculate and go around the year of graduation cut off requirement?
What is meant by year of graduation YOG cut off? Why some programs set a YOG gap cut offs? How to calculate the YOG to residency application gap? How to go over this gap?
The YOG cut offs is the number of years gap between the date of graduation printed in your medical diploma (and confirmed in your Dean's letter or MSPE) and the time of opening of the ERAS application on September 15th. The YOG cut off is usually set by some of high tier programs in the purpose of attracting fresh graduates and minimizing the hassle of going over thousands of applications as happen in most community programs. However, these cut offs are not rigid and not worked by on most of the times. Here are the things that you can stress in your personal statement and ERAS application to go over this requirement:
1- If you are doing or recently done with residency can make the program directors go over the YOG requirement.
2- If you are old graduate but clinically active especially if you are applying to the same domain again also helps a lot. Some programs may consider extensive USCE as clinically active.
3- Although connections don't help you in matching but definitely helps you to get interviews and from there it's your duty to prove yourself competent for the position you are applying to. Try to contact your friends in various residency programs and see how they can help you.
To waive or Not to waive rights for Letters of recommendation
This is one of the classical dilemmas IMGs fall into when deciding regarding waiving their right to see their letters of recommendations. There is no straight forward answer on whether to waive or not because every applicant together with every LOR writer is a special situation. Therefore let us go through some facts about this relationship thing:
1- For program directors, in general, waived LORs are considered more legit but not necessary stronger. Waived letter means that the writer took his freedom in writing whatever he feels comfortable with regarding his experience with the applicant.
2- But still PDs know that many LORs are virtually waived, i.e. in fact, the applicant know the content. This happens in two scenarios: first when the writer handle it to the applicant to review it and second, which is more common, when the writer ask the applicant to write it and he or she just sign it. PDs are not dummies, they have experience more than any creature on earth when it comes to LORs.
3- So, in general, US LORs should be preferably waived as this is the nature of professionalism US physicians like to have among themselves.
4- When it comes to LORs obtained from overseas, waiving or not so really doesn't impact its strength, but its content do. You would like not to waive these LORs if you don't really what your home country mentor is trying to express. At many instances, wrong comments or unevenly written phrases might give bad impression. So whenever you have the chance to double check these LOR before sending them it would be in your favor all the time.
5- Take home lesson from our experience with thousands of applicants, waive whatever you feel will be strong enough and don't waive what you might feel hesitancy on the writer side whether in writing or in your personal experience with that doctor.
Types of residency programs
What are the types of residency programs you can apply to through ERAS?
There are 5 types of programs available via the ERAS NRMP match:
- Categorical Residency Programs
- Advanced Residency Programs
- Preliminary Residency Programs
- Transitional year Residency
- Integrated Residency Programs
2- Advanced Residency Program means a program which starts as PGY-2. In this case you will need to match to a PGY-1 residency year at the same time. PGY-1 residency include Preliminary internal medicine, preliminary surgery and transitional year residency. Examples of advanced residency programs include advanced neurology and advanced radiology.
3- Preliminary Residency program means a program which is only 1 year, it means like an internship. It is done usually as a prerequisite for advanced programs. Also some people who have low scores and need hands on experience may apply to preliminary years positions extensively during the match so they can do this 1 year internship then apply again in the next match with stronger profile. There are two types of preliminary year residency: internal medicine and surgery.
4- Transitional year residency is also a PGY-1 only residency but the rotations are not concentrated to one specialty as in IM or surgery but include more electives and specialties. This type of residency is more competitive than the other prelims.
5- Integrated Residency Programs (and Combined residency programs) as in case of plastic surgery where instead of doing first general surgery the applicant will go ahead directly into plastic surgery, you start from the beginning in an integrated plastic/general surgery. Our understanding is that ACGME will be eliminating the combined programs from existence by 2018. Combined program means the applicant finish general surgery residency first then move into plastic surgery residency. Other examples of integrated residencies include cardiothoracic surgery residency.
How many personal statements can I write?
The question is not really how many personal statements you can write but how many personal statements you can upload to ERAS!
Let us consider first the scenario of an applicant applying only to one specialty. You can either do it the easy way and assign the same personal statement for all the programs you are applying to or you can modify the same personal statement to be more personalized for each program you are applying to and hence you can upload as much PSs you want.
Now let us take the scenario of an applicant applying to many specialties. Although you can upload for each specialty its own personal statement and, as stated above, you can modify it to personalize it to different programs, but here you need to be aware of an important thing; if you are applying to an advanced program which require application to PGY-1 spots then you need to use the same PS for both. This means if you also decided to apply to Categorical of that PGY-1 spot in the same program as well then they will be receiving the PS of the advanced program which is not good because it will show that you are interested in another specialty. Hence don't apply to Categorical and Preliminary spots in the same program if you are also applying to advanced programs in the same institution.
Can I apply to Categorical and Preliminary in the same program?
Applying to Categorical and Preliminary spots in the same program is possible and common at no additional fee. However there are certain tips and tricks you should be aware of to avoid a frowning program director.
People apply to both categories in the same program usually because of one of these two scenarios:
A- You are applying to advanced specialties and you need the prelim year as a PGY-1 but you also want to apply to Categorical as backup.
B- You are applying to both of them because you feel your chances to get into residency is slim as a start without much USCE, so you will try to match to either one and if you matched to preliminary year then you will do it as a 1 year hands-on experience for the next year application.
Either way, and this is extremely important, the PD will receive the application to both spots as one ERAS application but he can see you selected both options. This means you can submit only one personal statement for that specific specialty program. So here what you do in this situation:
A- If you decide to apply to Preliminary and Categorical spots in the same program, you have to submit the personal statement of the Categorical specialty not the advanced specialty (for which you are applying for the preliminary spot). And in the interview you don't mention anything about your plans for the prelim spot, but if they ask you then you tell them that you are very interested in their program and you are ready to do a prelim year first to increase your chances with them for the next year. Meantime you will be applying to advanced "other specialties" in other institutions. Don't apply to Categorical and advanced specialties in the same institution if you are applying to preliminary year in their program as well.
B-Otherwise Don't apply to categorical spots in the same program you applying to prelim and advanced, and in this case you have to submit the advanced specialty PS to both prelim and advanced spots. Even if you decide to apply to prelim only in a program then you also still have to upload the advanced specialty PS.