Finding a Residency:

Since the advent of the NRMP and the ERAS, applying to residency programs has never been easier for medical students. However, what many students fail to realize is that applying to these programs is just one of the steps in finding a residency. Being matched successfully with your desired residency can be difficult, and there are several tasks that must be done before you can be sure that you have found the perfect residency.

Choosing a Specialty

There are 24 official specialty boards recognized by the American Board of Medical Specialties. These specialties are Allergy and Immunology, Anesthesiology, Colon and Rectal Surgery, Dermatology, Emergency Medicine, Family Practice, Internal Medicine, Medical Genetics, Neurological Surgery, Nuclear Medicine, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Ophthalmology, Orthopedic Surgery, Otolaryngology, Pathology, Pediatrics, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Plastic Surgery, Preventive Medicine, Psychiatry and Neurology, Radiology, Surgery, Thoracic Surgery, and Urology. In addition, each specialty may have as many as ten sub-specialties!

This means that medical students will have to decide between 60 different specific fields of medicine. You will have to carefully weigh many factors to determine which specialties are best suited to you, including whether to be primary, secondary, tertiary, or supportive care, which specialty will challenge you intellectually, which will offer the lifestyle and income that you desire, what level of patient contact you want, what type of patients you want to treat, and how likely your chances of success are. These factors are discussed in a more detailed fashion in our “Choosing a Specialty” article.

Getting your Application Together

The important parts of your application are as follows:

• Profile – Basic, one page personal information sheet
• Common Application Form (CAF) – Standardized electronic resume
• USMLE transcript – Just submit your USMLE scores and choose whether or not you want to retransmit automatically updated transcripts when they are available. Prudent students will choose to review their Step 2 scores before submission, just in case.
• Dean’s Letter – Generic letter about you. It is approaching irrelevancy as a requirement.
• Medical School Transcript – Your school should upload this to ERAS for you.
• Photograph – Yes, they want to know what you look like, but they won’t see it until after you have already been granted an interview.
• Letters of Recommendation (LOR) – Many mentors may ask you to write the letter for them and submit it to them for their approval or signature. This is something that you need to have prepared, because you don’t want to get stuck writing your own letter of recommendation at the eleventh hour.

The Final Touches – a cover letter, your CV and a personal statement

Your resume (also known as a CV – curriculum vitae) may seem unnecessary, but keep in mind that the CAF is an impersonal electronic document. Bringing a well-written resume to an interview is essential so that they can have something in their hands that will make a good impression. Obviously, if the residency program you’re applying to doesn’t accept ERAS -- and some of the more competitive specialties like neurology and otolaryngology don’t -- then a stellar CV is even more important. Don’t rely on your own judgment when it comes to your resume, either. At the very least, have a colleague or family member review it for you. If you know someone who is involved with either drafting resumes or reviewing them professionally, have them look it over and offer suggestions. They are likely to know the tricks of the trade that are necessary to get your CV noticed.

A cover letter is completely optional, but it can be a good supplement to the profile. You can explain anything that may need explaining, or express your interest on a more personal note. Here is a rule of thumb: Optional does not mean Ignore. You should make an effort to incorporate those optional elements into your presentation, as they are very likely to give you an edge over someone who hasn't put forth the added effort. A cover letter is the second most difficult document that you’ll ever have to write, and you should always try to have someone professional work with you on it.

The most difficult document is the personal statement. Personal statements have caused thousands of students across the world in every discipline to gnash their teeth and pull their hair out. It needs to be personal, but not overly intimate. Inspirational, but not clichéd. Confident, but not arrogant. This is a delicate balance, and since the personal statement is also one of the most important documents in your search for a residency, you have to do everything you can to make sure it is as well-written and brilliant as possible. Many students will work closely with writers to make sure that their feelings and motivations are presented in a way that will portray them in the best light. This is one area in which you cannot afford to be complacent.

Now What?

Once you have carefully chosen your specialty, assembled your documents and crafted a brilliant resume, cover letter, and personal statement, don’t rest just yet. When you apply, whether it is through ERAS, manually or by some other means, make your job search as broad as you can. You should apply to programs that you are genuinely interested in, but don’t be afraid to cast a wide net and apply to others, too. DO NOT flood the application pool randomly – that is a way to eliminate the effectiveness of ERAS. But if you apply to a large group of programs that interest you, and your materials are as well-written as possible, you have a much better chance of being pleasantly surprised during the interview process and, finally, on Match Day.

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