so for kicks since its a huge part of medical school, i am posting about my application process. I'd liekt to say after 53 programs I got 2 interviews thus far that are set up. 1 is still pending. All of them are DO so far. MD programs seem to take longer... or so I hope.
Anyway, for those not in medicine you might want to disregard the following.
ERAS is the program/internet site thru which all residency applications happen. This site usually opens in July. I honestly didn't start filling mine out until August because I was focusing on boards. That said here are a few pearls for other students:
1- fill out the 'application' tab AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. This is a tab that you can submit to be verified before you actually send out any applications to residency places. It takes a few days to be verified so get it done early. Once you submit this section tho, you cannot go back and edit. SO make sure you take some time. It took me about a day to fill this part out, while watching TV.
2- After submitting my application tab, I then started to work on the 'documents' tab. This tab includes personal statements, letters of rec and releasing your scores. If you took USMLE, you do have to release them to MD programs. Not DO. This tab always takes longer than you want. So go ahead and release your scores, you won't have to pay for them until you apply to your first program. Also you have to go in an enter your letter writers info and you're required to finalize them as well. This is so you can enter as many letters as you WANTED by the people you WANTED. Then when they actually send the letter to the school, you can finalize the letter. Hope you've been asking for those letters in third year.
3- Your personal statement(PS) is what really takes forever. You never really get it quite the way you want. So give yourself probably a week to get it right (or more). Remember if all you are waiting on is your letters or PS go ahead and submit your application to be verified. So there are 3 unwritten questions you must answer in your PS: why this specialty, why pick you, what do you want to do in the future of the specialty. Lots of ppl fudge that least question and instead answer what they want in a residency program. Its up to you. Be sure you have at least 2 other people edit it before you submit. 1 of your editors MUST be in medicine. You are allowed to upload multiple PS. And you can edit them UNTIL you start submitting applications.
3.5- ** many programs give you the option to upload your picture, and many highly suggest you do it. However you DO NOT have the option to use your school photo. Please go out and get a professional photo done. easy places are like JCPenny. These pictures must be emailed in digital form to your school in lots of advance. So be sure this gets done. I got pictures taken for my VSAS application third year and used the same photo.
4- IF you get frustrated with your PS you can always move on to the 'programs' tab for a few days. This is where you must search, select, and assign documents, PS, letters, photos, scores to each program. and yes you must do this with every program. Eventually you also apply and pay money under this tab. It is here that i recommend you research your programs. You can search by specialty, state and DO vs MD. They also include the residency specific website. Remember that you can select programs before you submit so you might as well get your selected programs pool started.
To apply to programs be sure you have a few criteria. For me it was a trauma level I or II, since I'm ER I wanted 60,000 patient visits per year in the ED minimum, also I wanted programs that had a DO in their program (i found this out by going to each of their websites individually and looking). In the end I applied to 53 programs. This was approx $600. I applied to 11 DO the rest MD.
5- When you apply remember that you will be paying in 'sections' and that your bare minimum # of programs should probably be 10. after that you can decide how many more based on how competitive your specialty is and how competitive of an applicant you are. The general rule is 10 interviews mean you will match somewhere. Sept 15 was the big day this year when MD programs started accepting applications. That was a saturday, I submitted this day and 19 of my programs downloaded applications on saturday. So get them in early. I'd say the first week if you can.
6- Once you start submitting to programs, you are still able to upload NEW letters and assign them to programs so there is no excuse to wait for letters or scores. Its better to get your application in and call them once the new letter or score is available for download. Many programs will wait for all your letters or your scores... and many will offer interviews without waiting. Don't miss out. Also you can always add programs and if you want, ADD PS. For every specialty you apply you'll need a diff PS.
7- Dean's letters come out Oct 1st. No school anywhere is allowed to put them up before Oct 1st. Many programs ask for the letter early, but no program gets them. So don't let them make you feel guilty. Also students are allowed to see their Dean's letter, so keep an eye out for your letter in your email. Don't wait until Oct to submit if you have a chance.
8- last but not least, on the very top right there is the ADTS link, it is here where you can see what documents if any each program has downloaded. This is way you can track to see who has downloaded what. if some program hasn't downloaded, or you haven't heard from them in 2 months- then you can call and make sure they had no problems with your applications.
9- You must pay and register for the match (either DO or MD or both) BEFORE DEC 1st. DON'T MISS THIS DEADLINE or you CAN'T match. If you're not sure, enter both and drop out of one or the other.
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