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Career Development
Residency: Residency Application Made
Ridiculously Simple
For The Class of 2004
Suzanne Rose, M.D., M.S.Ed.
Associate Dean for Undergraduate Medical Education
- June: Work on your Medical Student
Performance Evaluation (MSPE) template which will be available in questionnaire
format on Web-Ed. This is a crucial step in the preparation of your MSPE!
The “Green Book,” Graduate Medical Education Directory,
which outlines the content of each specialty, certification requirements,
and
lists all approved programs by field is useful for evaluating programs.
The other great resource is FREIDA which you can access on the Web
at:
http://www.ama-assn.org/cgi-bin/freida/freida.cgi/
Early Match students should access the Web site: http://www.sfmatch.org/
(Urology has its own match and home page: http://www.auanet.org/students_residents/
residency_match/index.cfm?categoryid=8)
ERAS will be available the end of June. You should apply early.
- August: Applicant registration opens for the NRMP. Registration
will be an online process: completing form, agreeing to Terms
and
Conditions, and paying. The NRMP Web site is:
http://www.nrmp.org/
Important Dates
August 15, 2003 – Applicant
Registration Opens
December 1, 2003 – Applicant Registration Deadline
January 15, 2004 – Rank Order List Opens
February 25, 2004 – Rank Order Lists Close (NO EXCEPTIONS)
March 18, 2004 - Match Day
- Summer: Speak to us in the Dean’s office and to faculty advisors
about career choices. Faculty members who will have valuable advice
are chairmen, program directors, senior clinicians, and favorite
teachers. Each chair has identified a resource person in that department
who
will be knowledgeable about programs and available for advising
students. See the Web site: http://www.mssm.edu/studentaffairs/dept_advising.shtml
- In evaluating programs you should consider location, type of program,
and your competitive ability to be successful in attaining that residency.
- Jun-Aug: Write a Curriculum Vitae (Resume). Note: Even if you send a resume
to a program, answer all questions on their application. Do
not answer any questions on the application with “see resume.” CVs
will not be uploaded as part of the application. The program will make
up a CV based on the application information directly from ERAS, if desired.
Your CV will be used to give to letter writers and to take with you to
interviews.
- Jun-Aug: Write a personal statement. Keep it brief (less than
1 page); You should include a brief biography (“Where I Came From”)
and reasons for interest in field (“Where I’m Going”).
If you have writer’s block, speak to a faculty member. Have a
friend read it over; show it to your advisor or to one of the Deans.
Do not
forget to use the spell checker. Keep it neat.
- Jun-Sep: Letters of recommendation:
Request 3-4 letters from faculty whom you know (check the requirements
for any given program). Ask if
they can write positive letters. Provide your curriculum vitae when
you request the letter. Strong letters from senior faculty are most
helpful
but strong letters from junior faculty are more helpful than weak or
neutral letters from senior faculty. A department chairman’s letter
is most positive if you receive Honors in the clerkship or sub-internship.
Ask faculty in the summer. ERAS will provide you with a cover sheet and
will explain to the letter writer about the letter. You should waive
your right to read the letter. Of course, it your prerogative to do as
you wish but not signing the letter could be viewed as a “red flag.” It
is OK for the letters to be sent earlier than the rest of the application.
Your goal is for the letters to be sent around October 1st. Each Department
is prepared to write a letter on your behalf. The Chair may write the
letter on his/her own or may co-sign a letter that your mentor writes
or that the designated advisor from the department writes.
Non-ERAS:
ERAS will be used by most residency programs this year. If you applying
to a non-ERAS program, follow directions and application procedures
established by the programs.
ERAS:
All ERAS applicants will have the letters forwarded to the Registrar’s
Office.
-
Aug-Sep: Consider your wardrobe: you may wish to buy a suit:
blue or dark gray, conservative clothes suggest the image of
a "Successful
Young Professional." Consider the December/January weather. Most
residency programs ask for photos; shoot a roll or better yet use a professional
service. Dress well from the shoulders up.
- Aug-Oct: Apply to the programs that seem interesting and desirable
(YES and MAYBE). Do not hesitate to apply to programs that are competitive.
Most medical students underestimate their own competitive edge. Do
not forget to apply to several programs that can serve as “back-ups” in
case you do not match at the more competitive programs. General rule:
apply early, interview late. A complete application includes the transcript,
MSPE, letters of recommendation, and anything else they ask for. Residency
programs then decide whom to invite for an interview.
- Oct-Nov: Prepare
for your interviews:
- Arrange your schedule so that you have 3 or
4 weeks in December or January for going to interviews (Nov-Dec
for early match programs).
- Schedule the interviews with time to
breathe and relax between them. You do not want to interview
too early. Be courteous to
the person on
the other end of the telephone.
- Use the “Mount Sinai Hospital
Housestaff Directory” to
find residents who know the institution you are about to visit.
- Have an interesting case in mind in case they ask. Have 3
questions for them in mind. Formulate questions about the program
based on
your educational objectives.
- Review research you have done
to be able to discuss it competently.
- Nov-Jan: Interview: Dress neatly; be on time;
project a professional image. Important information to learn about
each program:
- Hospital type (university, municipal, community, veterans),
affiliations
and rotations; is hospital struggling to fill its beds?
- Patient
population: mix of socioeconomic class, ethnicity, range of
diseases.
- Problems with program accreditation; is there a pyramid?
Are there employment pre-requisites such as blood test results?
- Faculty: full time vs. part time, board certified, availability
and freedom of access.
- Rotations: schedule, proposed changes,
elective time, on-call time
- Educational program: teaching rounds
(how many days per week; who runs them); conferences (frequency,
quality;
specialty; CPC,
grand rounds,
x-ray); evaluation of residents by attendings, vice versa;
patient responsibility: ward, private, office practice;
patient load:
active participant as primary
physician with supervision vs. passive observer; opportunity
for patient follow-up; continuity clinics.
- Residents:
medical schools attended; interpersonal relationships - with
other residents and with attendings;
meet and question
several residents,
absolutely essential; most honest information source;
at least 1 resident not pre-arranged by Director; pay
attention
to comments
about education,
lifestyle; ask what they consider both positive and
negative opportunities
after residency completion for fellowships, practice
at that institution and elsewhere, research, pass rates
on
specialty
boards on first
attempt. Make your own judgment: ARE THESE PEOPLE HAPPY?
Seek out the MSSM alumni
and ask!
- Medical school affiliation: do medical students
rotate on clerkship (usually indication of good program);
teaching
role
of housestaff
to medical students; attitude of housestaff towards
having students on service.
- Nursing: quantity, quality,
professional interactions
- Consultation services (subspecialties,
other specialties): full time directors, board certified; didactic
teaching as well as patient
consultations
- Library: reflects commitment
of institution to education.
- And, oh yes: Salary, housing -
but don't ask about this to your interviewer. This information
can be
learned from
contacts you may
have at the school,
former Mount Sinai graduates and is usually
provided to you in
a group session during the interview process.
- After the Interview:
- Make detailed notes after each interview,
especially the names of all people who you spoke to at length;
note good and bad aspects
of the program. You will visit many programs and they all start
to look
alike, so make your notes right after the interview.
- Avoid succumbing
to pressure tactics for early commitment; tactfully deflect pressure
to sign contracts. It is NOT allowed.
View promises
of acceptance and high ranking with skepticism.
- Many program directors
believe in thank you letters. They can’t
hurt. They should be neat (typed is best or neatly handwritten),
short, and pertinent to the content of the interview.
- Jan: Make
your Rank Order List of programs. All ranking will be on the
web. Your list should contain 3 categories of programs:
- Very
desirable but very competitive (several programs);
- Likely and
desirable (most of the programs on the list);
- Almost guaranteed,
but also acceptable safety programs (several programs, more for
competitive fields).
Order the programs only by preference, not
by speculation about whether programs will rank you high or low.
No student
can be bypassed by lower ranked student
candidate on a hospital’s Rank Order List. Consider
ranking all programs that you are willing to attend to reduce
the likelihood
of not
matching;
this is especially important in competitive specialties.
Do not rank programs where
you have not interviewed; they will not list you. Do not
rank programs that you will not want to attend; if matched,
you
must attend,
even if this is
NOT your first choice. Consult with advisors and deans for
questions on ranking.
- Jan: The Office for Student Affairs will send
each of you instructions on how to enter your lists onto a computer,
through a program called
ROLIC (Rank Order List Input and Confirmation system). This is done
via the Web.
- The computer does the rest. Match Day: March 18,
2004!
SUGGESTED RESOURCES “Getting Into A Residency; A Guide For Medical Students” Kenneth
V. Iverson, M.D. 1996: Galen Press, Tucson. Available also in the Mount
Sinai Bookstore.
Student’s Guide to Appraisal & Selection of Housestaff Training
Programs Raff & Aaron, Eds; AMSA publication, AMSA Communications
Network Box 131/1450 Lee Road, Chantilly, Virginia 22021
1997 Directory of Family Practice Programs Call American Academy of
Family Practice (800-821-2512) for information
“So You Want To Be A Surgeon” K.
Johansen, M.D. and D. Heimbach, M.D. Department of Surgery, University
of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, Washington 98195 National Resident Matching Program Directory
National Resident Matching Program
2540 N Street, NW, Suite 201, Washington, DC 20037-1141
Telephone: (202) 828-0676
Canadian Intern Matching Program
151 Slater Street
Ottawa, Canada K1P5N1
Ophthalmology Matching Program
Neurology Matching Program Program Coordinator
Otolaryngology Matching Program P.O. Box 7999
Neurosurgery Matching Program San Francisco, CA 94120
Radiation Oncology
Tel: (415) 923-3907
Contact
Program Coordinator
P.O.Box 7999
San Francisco, CA 94120
Dermatology Matching Program
Nat’l. Resident Matching Program
2450 N Street, NW, Suite 201
Washington, DC 20037-1141
Contact
Program Coordinator
Accredited Urology Training Programs
Tel: (713) 665-7500 or (800) 282-7077
AUA Office
of Education
6750 West Loop South, Suite 900
Bellaire, TX 77401-4114
Contact
AUA Residency Matching Program |
