The advising information on this blog has been updated to reflect what we knew about the process before the COVID-19 pandemic turned everything upside down. As the changes to the process for the 2021 Emergency Medicine Match start to become clear we are going to start sharing that information.
There are major updates on the timing of the application cycle and how interviews are likely to be conducted.
First, ERAS is making this announcement:
"ERAS has determined that on Wednesday, October 21, 2020, residency programs will gain access to applications and MSPEs will be released to residency programs. These date changes are reflected on the ERAS 2021 Residency Application Timeline."
This is a significant delay from previous years when ERAS opened to programs on September 15 and the MSPE arrived on October 1. The clear benefit of this change is that there will be another full month of rotations that can generate letters of recommendation (SLOE's) that will arrive in time for the initial application review by programs. That review will start in earnest that last week of October. The beginning of interviews will likely be pushed back several weeks as well, though this will vary by program.
On the subject of interviews, the AAMC just released a recommendation that all interviewing should be conducted virtually. This is NOT a binding directive, at least not yet. It would be reasonable to expect that at least some interviews in this upcoming application season will be done over video chat.
While the rationale for this recommendation is clearly to reduce the health risks associated with travel, there is the additional benefit of eliminating travel costs for the applicant. Given how much money is spent on the application and interview process, it is quite possible that the adoption of video-interviewing will be a lasting change in the interview process.
What we do not yet know is the impact these changes, and those that follow, will have on applicant and program behavior. As more information becomes available we will provide further updates. For now, applicants should continue to work on getting 2 EM rotations, knowing that clerkships ending in mid-October will now yield SLOE's that programs will be able to review.
There are major updates on the timing of the application cycle and how interviews are likely to be conducted.
First, ERAS is making this announcement:
"ERAS has determined that on Wednesday, October 21, 2020, residency programs will gain access to applications and MSPEs will be released to residency programs. These date changes are reflected on the ERAS 2021 Residency Application Timeline."
This is a significant delay from previous years when ERAS opened to programs on September 15 and the MSPE arrived on October 1. The clear benefit of this change is that there will be another full month of rotations that can generate letters of recommendation (SLOE's) that will arrive in time for the initial application review by programs. That review will start in earnest that last week of October. The beginning of interviews will likely be pushed back several weeks as well, though this will vary by program.
On the subject of interviews, the AAMC just released a recommendation that all interviewing should be conducted virtually. This is NOT a binding directive, at least not yet. It would be reasonable to expect that at least some interviews in this upcoming application season will be done over video chat.
While the rationale for this recommendation is clearly to reduce the health risks associated with travel, there is the additional benefit of eliminating travel costs for the applicant. Given how much money is spent on the application and interview process, it is quite possible that the adoption of video-interviewing will be a lasting change in the interview process.
What we do not yet know is the impact these changes, and those that follow, will have on applicant and program behavior. As more information becomes available we will provide further updates. For now, applicants should continue to work on getting 2 EM rotations, knowing that clerkships ending in mid-October will now yield SLOE's that programs will be able to review.
Given the different deadline changes, if we have a low to average step 2 score, do you think a step 2 score released on Nov. 2-4 is too late and will get us filtered out from the initial screening?
ReplyDeleteIf you mean a low/average step 1, then your step 2 score will not matter for "filtering". Very few programs use the step 2 to filter. Where it is most valuable is with a low/average step 1 - then a step 2 score can reassure the program willing to look at everything (which is most).
DeleteNov. 2 is still going to be fairly early this season and anything coming in then, whether scores or letters, can significantly impact interview offers.
Recently heard that programs prefer ERAS descriptions of experiences to be in paragraph format instead of bullet points; do you have a general preference and is there a consensus and what format should students use? Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI am not sure where this advice is coming from and had not heard it until this year. I don't think programs really care whether it is bullets or paragraph form. concise and clear is what matters - whichever format helps you do that should be okay.
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