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Applications and ERAS Putting Together a Residency Application
Information and Addresses for Residency
Programs A list of these programs is printed annually in the AMAs Graduate Medical Education Directory (informally known as the "Green Book"). The Directory also includes information on residency program requirements and board certification requirements as well as medical licensure, the National Residency Matching Program (NRMP). You can find a copy of the "Green Book" in Student Affairs, S-245. FREIDA lists detailed information for those programs that provide updated data to the AMA and request an expanded listing in FREIDA. These data have been collected from surveys of Graduate Medical Education Programs and teaching institutions on a voluntary basis. The current version of FREIDA reflects data collected on the Annual Survey of Graduate Medical Education Programs each fall. FREIDA Online also provides summary statistics about each specialty and subspecialty. If you search by specialty, you can get summary information on residents, faculty, work hours, and work environment for that specialty. FREIDA displays current information about the physician marketplace, and displays the results from AMA surveys of recent GME graduates about their employment-seeking experiences. In addition, data are provided about the work environment as reported by physicians in the work force for two years. By defining and prioritizing various selection criteria you can select several programs or key in on a specific program for viewing. A majority of the programs list web site and e-mail addresses. You are most likely to find application requirements at the programs web site. Also note that many programs will not update their web site for 2002 applicants until July. If the previous years information is on-line it will serve to give you a rough time line, but check back often for updated information.
What You Need to Know About Each Program
When putting together your application be complete and be early. Remember that you are applying for a job. You must treat your application with utmost professionalism. Ninety-nine percent of UCSF students participating in the year 2002 Match will use ERAS, the Electronic Residency Application Service, for at least part of their residency application. If you are applying to an Early Match specialty, you will likely use ERAS for your internship year. Paper Applications: Although a specialty may participate in ERAS, not necessarily all programs within that specialty will participate. To check if a program is participating in ERAS, view the list of participating programs at http://www.aamc.org/eras. Programs not participating in ERAS use paper applications. Check each program’s Web site for details regarding their application requirements. Complete all parts of your application carefully and produce your materials on a laser printer or a high-quality clean print typewriter. The application will be the first thing placed in your file and will remain on top of the other materials. Be sure that you fill out a program’s application completely. Read the fine print on each application and make a list of the requirements for each program. Remember, the physical elements of an application are often used to choose between two equally qualified candidates. Some programs may require the Universal Application
for Residency ERAS Application: Programs that use ERAS do not have a paper application. The ERAS Web site contains a Common Application Form (CAF). Based on the same principle as the Universal Application for Residency, the CAF is a one-size-fits-all approach to the application process. The CAF limits you on space, so you must utilize the same restraint in putting together your application as you would with a C.V. Many CAF fields are limited to 250 characters of text. That’s about 3 good sentences. Be sure you complete the application very carefully. Since you have saved some time by only having to fill out one application, you should print a copy of the application for your advisor to look over.
You should track your transcript online at http://saawww.ucsf.edu/admission/transcript.html and should report any discrepancies to the Registrar immediately: don’t wait until September or October! Remember also that the reporting of grades to the Registrar is not related to the issuance of a clerkship evaluation. Simply because you have received your evaluation does not necessarily mean that the department has reported your grade to the registrar. Transcripts for ERAS: The Registrar’s Office (MU-200) will provide each student one transcript free of charge as part of their residency application. This free transcript is generated and sent to the Office of Curricular Affairs during the week of October 8. It will include all grades filed with the Registrar at that time. If all of your program deadlines fall on October 12 or later, you do not need to order a transcript. If you have ERAS or Early Match program deadlines that fall before October 12, you will need to order and pay $5 for an official UCSF transcript from the Registrar’s Office. Copies for ERAS programs should be sent to the Office of Curricular Affairs; c/o ERAS, Box 0410. Transcripts for the Early Match should be sent directly to SF Match. You can order your transcript in advance and indicate the release date pending the addition of a particular grade. When determining the best time to release your transcript remember that your dean’s letter will contain grades through Summer Block II (ending August 26, 2001). Though we will include all Fall Block I evaluations received by October 19, 2001, it is your responsibility to ensure that those evaluations get to the Office of Curricular Affairs on time. The Office of Curricular Affairs usually receives transcripts within one business day of their release date. Be sure your transcript is transmitted in time to meet your program deadlines. The Office of Curricular Affairs requires 5 business days to insure that materials reach their destination on time. If you need to send an updated transcript later you can do so, but you will need to notify the program via e-mail that a new transcript was transmitted. According to the Federal Family Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) it is illegal for UCSF to transmit any transcripts other than our own. You may be asked by programs to send undergraduate transcripts through ERAS. These programs have been advised by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) that these documents cannot be sent through ERAS and that the programs must accept official paper copies directly from the institution that holds the transcript. This policy is posted on the ERAS web site at http://www.aamc.org/eras. Therefore, in order to send non-UCSF transcripts, you must contact the schools you have attended and order official copies of your transcript to be directly mailed to the programs that require them. Joint Medical Program Students: JMP students who use ERAS and would like for programs to see their original UC Berkeley transcript will have to provide the transcript to programs in paper form. We will not be able to scan in the Berkeley transcript in addition to your UCSF transcript. The UCSF-UCB JMP connection does not affect our inability to transmit or represent the transcript of UCB. In addition, we must have a consistent policy regarding these transcripts and some students do not want programs to have their grades or gpa information. We cannot send the transcript for some students and not for others. If you want to use your UCB transcript as part of your application I suggest that you e-mail the program and briefly explain the JMP connection to UCSF and that you would like to forward a copy of your UCB transcript to them because the UCSF transcript does not reflect the breadth of your experience. If you receive a favorable reply, then simply order copies for the UCB Registrar and have them sent to the programs where you are applying.
Most programs ask for three letters of support in addition to the dean’s letter. In general we recommend that letters of support be written by senior faculty members with whom you have worked in clinical or research settings. A letter from a faculty member in the program you are applying to is often the most significant. In addition, many programs require a letter of support from the chair of the corresponding department on our campus. Few chairs know all students; however, they expect to write such letters and have available the necessary information concerning your performance on their service and will often conduct an interview with you. Don’t hesitate to request a letter from a department chair if your application requests it. Remember: Your letter writers will need at least one month advance notice of deadlines. All ERAS materials, including letters of recommendation, should be submitted to the Office of Curricular Affairs no later than October 12, 2001. Please check with your advisor regarding the specifics of letters of recommendation for your specialty. The UCSF departments that write “Chair” letters do it in various ways. In some departments the chair signs all of the letters while other departments have your core clerkship site director write and sign the letter on behalf of the chair. Type the name of the person writing your chair letter into the ERAS Application under “Letters of Recommendation.” Type the word “Chair” after the person’s name, such as “Rick Haber (Chair).” This information is not sent to the program, but is vital to the Office of Curricular Affairs when trying to match the actual letters with the list of letter writers you provide on your ERAS application. Non-ERAS programs: If you are applying to non-ERAS programs, provide your letter writers with a list of the program addresses and, where possible, include the name of the program director—your letter writers may be acquainted with the individual. Also provide them with a copy of your C.V. and personal statement. Letters intended for ERAS should be mailed to the Office of Curricular Affairs; c/o ERAS; Box 0410; University of California, San Francisco; San Francisco, CA 94143-0410. These letters should include the ERAS Letter of Recommendation cover sheet and “Waive your Right” form. Waive your Right: You should waive your right to see a letter of recommendation. The ERAS Web site has an instruction sheet and privacy waiver that you should print and give to your letter writer. On the waiver you select whether or not you waive your right to see the letter of recommendation and then you sign it. The waiver instructs the writer to include a sentence in their letter regarding your decision. Many program directors see a student’s decision not to waive their right to see a letter as a red flag. All letters for ERAS applications are sent to the Office of Curricular Affairs for direct transmission to ERAS. The Office of Curricular Affairs cannot review letters and pick the best ones for you to send. Nor can we release these letters to you in any form at any time. They are the property of the letter writer and not the Dean’s Office. The best way to insure that your letter writers write a good letter of recommendation for you is in the way you ask for the letter. By asking faculty, “Do you feel you know me well enough to write me a good letter of recommendation for a residency position in _______,” you have given them a graceful way out if they cannot write a strong letter for you. Preparing Envelopes for Paper Application Letter Writers: Address a set of envelopes for each letter writer. If you apply to 10 programs, you’ll give 10 addressed envelopes along with your list of programs to each letter writer. Letter of Recommendation Check List: Put together Letter of Recommendation
Packets for easy distribution to your letter writers.
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