The Residency Application

Oh the joy of applying to Residency…a lovely process encapsulating your hard piece of work during med schoolhouse into a cookie-cutter application that will receive a quick glance from admissions committees. Outrageous fun. Let's begin.

Similar to medical schoolhouse applications during undergrad, applying to Residency mostly occurs during the summer between your 3rd and quaternary year of med school. Although the application (run through a service called ERAS, the Electronic Residency Application Service) cannot exist submitted till mid-September of your fourth year, everyone starts gathering the necessary documents around May, when ERAS opens.

Basic timeline for the application season:

  • ERAS opens May

  • ERAS submitted mid-September

  • Interviews from October through February (varies by specialty)

  • Rank Guild Lists for the Lucifer submitted cease of February (elaboration beneath)

  • The Lucifer – 3rd calendar week of March

ERAS allows you to consummate one standardized application to submit to whichever Residency programs you choose, rather than completing separate applications for each program (if that was the case, I'd whorl into fetal position and cry). It consists of standard demographic information, relevant Experiences (work, volunteer, inquiry activities), honors and awards, memberships in professional person societies, your transcript (uploaded straight by your medical school), messages of recommendation (uploaded directly by your LOR writers), your personal argument, and of course – a professional photograph.

                                        Less nose-picking for the real picture

                                        Less nose-picking for the real film

As I alluded to in a higher place, it's imperative to go a head get-go on the process. I personally think the best way to do this is to START WITH THE LORs. I'll explain why: you want to requite your writers adequate fourth dimension to compose some serious praise on your behalf. For that to become reality, yous must supply them with the right information early (like I said above: your CV, Step score, and Personal Argument). Past doing this, your CV will be consummate early on and you'll accept a solid draft of your Personal Argument. I asked my LOR writers towards the terminate of May, supplying them with that info. Naturally, I modified my CV and Personal Argument countless times betwixt that and when I submitted my application in mid-September. But this mode my writers had something to get off of, and I too had an early on foundation to build upon.

Before diving in, I remember it'due south very of import to keep this in mind when filling out the awarding: WRITE EVERY SINGLE Give-and-take AS IF Information technology Will BE SCRUTINIZED . Realistically, about admissions committees volition only quickly rifle through your awarding (they simply don't have time to thoroughly evaluate near a thousand apps). Merely you also never know what office will take hold of someone'south middle. This is the near of import application of your life. Don't cutting corners and be lazy. Write descriptively simply be concise. Double and triple cheque for spelling errors. Have other people review and critique your application. I asked my friends (both in and out of med school), family, and mentors to go over my application tons of times. Outside perspective lends keen communication.

The ERAS application is fairly intuitive and the AAMC website has helpful tips and descriptions of each section. The three parts that I'll expand on are:

  1. EXPERIENCES Department

  2. PUBLICATIONS SECTION

  3. PERSONAL STATEMENT.

The Experiences Section of ERAS is structured similar to the medical schoolhouse applications you've already washed. Y'all give each experience a championship, select the category (piece of work, enquiry, volunteer), country your role, the dates of interest, hours per week, and so use a limited-character text box to describe it. You can as well provide reasoning for leaving/terminating said experience if you think it's applicable. There are iii questions to enquire in this department:

  1. How many total experiences should I include?

  2. What types of experiences are relevant to my Residency awarding?

  3. How should I draw each experience?

Let's tackle these in plough.

There's no upper or lower limit to the number of experiences. You shouldn't feel the need to hit whatsoever magic number. Personally, I put 12 total experiences on my app: iii work, five volunteer, and 4 research. What y'all don't desire to do is leave whatsoever category blank (for example, having cypher to list in the "research" section). The vast majority of applicants will have something for each section, so yous should as well. Simply don't add nonsense. Which leads us to the second question…

Each experience listed should convey something noteworthy about what y'all did during medical school, or depict something unique most you and your personality/interests. No fluff stuff serving as filler. As a personal chestnut, I played intramural Dodgeball at Baylor simply didn't include it on my app. Although fun, it but added cypher to raise my entreatment as an applicant to Orthopaedic Surgery. Nevertheless, if I was the student body Chair for Intramural Sports, helped organize multiple tournaments, arranged prizes, etc., so I would included it because information technology clearly demonstrates my involvement in leisure sports and power as an organizer.

                                                                      &nbs…

                                                                                  If you were this committed to Dodgeball....put it on your app

The last item is how to describe the activities you're including. This is very of import. Y'all want to give a succinct description of what the activity was (some things will simply not be intuitive from the title). Then you need to draw exactly WHAT YOUR Part WAS and WHAT Y'all LEARNED FROM Information technology – why did information technology matter to yous? If yous did beefcake tutoring, don't just say that you were a tutor. Everyone on the admissions commission of course knows what anatomy tutoring entails. So give them more. Why did you practise it? Why did it matter? How much involvement did y'all really have? I was an anatomy tutor, and hither's how I worded it (category – work experience):

Tutoring program organized by Baylor College of Medicine where select 2nd twelvemonth medical students teach supplementary beefcake lessons to 1st year students throughout the elapsing of the beefcake curriculum. Responsibilities included: leading cadaveric dissections, displaying and labeling pro-sections, didactics anatomical relationships, and creating and distributing helpful worksheets and online learning tools. I institute this to be a very rewarding feel because it allowed me to teach directly relevant cloth that many students discover hard, and it likewise forced me to report beefcake over again and refine my own noesis.

Another question that comes upward is whether or not to include political/religious activities, as these can be polarizing topics. While at Baylor Higher of Medicine, I founded the Muslim Medical Association for the purposes of creating networking opportunities among Muslim healthcare professionals, increasing general awareness of Islam, and participating in volunteer and customs activities. I was initially unsure whether or not to include it on my application, precisely because it may be polarizing for people who are ignorant or apartment out racist/bigoted. However, I realized that it was something I was proud of and truly believed to be important. And if someone doesn't offering me an interview considering I am a Muslim…then I'thousand better off not going to that program. If y'all are contemplating potentially including something similar, talk to your Deans and mentors nigh information technology for advice (that's what I did). But ultimately, don't compromise on your integrity and ethics. This is how I worded information technology (category – volunteer feel):

Started this campus organization at Baylor College of Medicine with the goal of participating in community service and increasing sensation and understanding of Islam. Since our formation we take participated in vaccine drives, run information booths at health fairs, bundled interfaith dialogues, organized feast dinners with over 100 guests ranging from medical students, residents, kinesthesia and professors, and local customs members of all unlike faiths. We live in a diverse community, and I believe spreading knowledge and data is vital to establishing mutual agreement and respect for all people, something that tin aid us in our professions and in our daily lives.

The last category is inquiry experiences. Keep in listen that this is TOTALLY Split up from the "Publications Section" (which includes works that are already published, submitted, in process, abstracts, posters, oral presentations, etc.). You can mention your publications or presentations in the description for the research category, only the purpose of this is unlike. Yous want to show why you chose certain areas for your research, how you got involved, what precise roles and responsibilities you causeless. If you wrote and were awarded a grant, mention it because that's something not many students have successfully done. Aforementioned thing if you received a research scholarship, summer research fellowship, wrote an IRB, etc. These are uncommon and impressive, and definitely merit mention. Ane enquiry experience I included was a joint project that I led between the Center for Infinite Medicine and Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at Baylor. We used a novel device to create non-thermal plasma from argon gas and assess whether it could direct mesenchymal stem jail cell differentiation towards the osteoblastic lineage. Hither's how I described it (category – research experience):

Research projection assessing power of cold atmospheric argon plasma to convert human mesenchymal stem cells into osteoblasts. I approached professors in departments of Space Medicine (Dr XXXX) and Orthopaedic Surgery (Dr XXXX) with the project idea, drafted a grant proposal, and was awarded a inquiry grant through the Center for Space Medicine. I recruited three other medical students and 2 postal service-doctoral fellows to assistance with laboratory piece of work and experimental blueprint, which entailed exposing stem cells to argon plasma and several controls over four weeks and running serial assays to assess for osteoblastic conversion. Currently, we are in the procedure of analyzing our results in order to submit the manuscript.

                                             Blasting my finger with argon plasma....for science!

                                             Blasting my finger with argon plasma....for science!

At present allow'south talk near the Publications Section.

Similar I mentioned previously, this section includes annihilation that has been published, presented, accepted, or fifty-fifty submitted. The section has drib-downwards menus for filling in all the categories such every bit Manuscript Title, Journal or Conference Name, Location, Date, Authors, and Status (published, accepted, submitted, etc). Include absolutely everything you've done (information technology's a numbers game…number, numbers, numbers!). Papers in peer-reviewed journals, abstracts, posters, oral presentations at conferences, book chapters, and even not-peer reviewed publications (such equally an article you wrote for Huffington Mail service's Blog). You can also include things from higher. I did one research projection in college. I traveled to Republic of costa rica and studied foliage-cutter ants, and presented a poster at TCU'south annual symposium. And you better believe that I included it.

I had a far above-average number of items in the Publications section (close to 20). As I've stated in a higher place, this in no way implies twenty different projects. Yep right. Yous simply accept to maximize every projection yous do by not only vying for publications but also getting as many presentations and abstracts as possible. Submit abstracts to all the conferences in your area. Some Residency programs place a far greater accent on research than others, so give yourself the best chance by getting involved in things that involvement you (and don't forget to set up expectations, similar I described in the Big Four section).

Lastly, the Personal Argument (PS).

In that location is no definitive prompt or style for this. You simply write a narrative detailing why you lot want to do XYZ specialty. The most common manner that students opt for is opening with a bright patient experience showing why they want to exercise XYZ. And so they further describe what they like nearly the field, why they'd be a good fit, the blazon of programme they're looking for, and where they see their future in the field. This is the most common format because it addresses all the primary points you lot demand to convey. Hither are the five main areas to hit in your PS:

  1. DO NOT exceed 1 page (no one wants to read a novel)

  2. Why did you lot choose this specialty?

  3. What characteristics make y'all a good candidate for this specialty?

  4. What type of Residency program (aka what training style) do y'all desire?

  5. What is your future in the field (aka what will you contribute to the field)?

Rather than verbosely explicating each bespeak, hither's the directly transcript of my PS:

Beaming smile. Colorful clothing. Constant giggling. The immature girl standing before me barely resembled the solemn patient with scoliosis I evaluated before surgery. I was shocked. The mechanical corrections nosotros made to her beefcake and posture had really transformed her into a more confident, vibrant version of herself. I couldn't believe how remarkable a change our direct hands-on work had on this picayune girl. As an Orthopedic Surgeon I will bring this same satisfaction and joy into my patients' lives past combining surgical skill, love of patient care, and a desire to larn and meliorate constantly.

While working with Dr. [redacted] and Dr. [redacted], I was immediately absorbed by Orthopedics. I lost track of time and work became fun when I used my hands to gauge range of movement, employ casts, and reduce fractures. Even subsequently a long night of ER trauma consults, coming in the next morn to operate on anatomy that can exist seen, felt, and manipulated in three-dimensional space was fantastic. From seeing kids with cerebral palsy in dispensary to operating on older patients with degenerative affliction, I loved the patient multifariousness in Orthopedics. The evolving technology of improved arthroplasty implants and 3D printed models for periacetabular osteotomies will benefit my patients and ensure constant growth throughout my career.

On a personal level, Orthopedics allows me to practise something I cherish: empower others through teaching. Leading after-school science classes for 5th graders, mentoring undergrads eager for med schoolhouse acceptance, tutoring anatomy to first year med students, educating patients on proper intendance for a sprained ankle – educational activity non only inspires others only too solidifies my ain knowledge. I am excited to go along this as an Orthopedic Surgeon, educating medical students, residents, and my patients.

In improver to edifying others, I have always endeavored to improve myself. I enjoy the pursuit of mastery of a physical skill, and I trained in martial arts since I was eleven. From hurling kicks in Tae Kwon Do to manipulating joints in wrestling and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, I learned from every situation and opponent, making adjustments to hone my skills and better myself. Additionally, my childhood fascination with outer infinite drew me to enroll in Baylor's Space Medicine Track, exposing me to the many physiologic changes in microgravity impacting spaceflight and astronaut health. Existence a proficient Orthopedic Surgeon volition e'er be my primary goal; but I hope to keep my enquiry on multi-function devices such equally the cold argon plasma torch that have medical applications for wound and fracture healing on world and in resources-express realms such every bit infinite. I will apply this tenacity for learning to master musculoskeletal anatomy and body mechanics throughout my career equally an Orthopedic Surgeon.

I want to see the grin of my young patient with scoliosis mirrored brilliantly on the faces of all my patients. To practise this I seek a residency program that emphasizes hands-on operative experience, pushing me to my limits as a surgeon. I have never shied away from hard work or long hours to become the task done; I promise to do this in a collegial environment where I take pleasure in the work itself and genuinely savour the esprit of my colleagues. I program to subspecialize, and I seek a program that will guide me as a surgeon and educator who delivers the best possible intendance to my patients.

My PS is far from existence inducted into whatsoever literary Hall of Fame. Just it's very direct. I hit on all the primary points while including unique activities and personality traits about myself, as they chronicle to condign an Orthopaedic Surgeon. I open up with a patient experience that drew me to Orthopaedics, and and so further elaborate on what I enjoy about the field. A skilful test I used for this was to switch every mention of "Orthopaedic Surgery" in my PS with some other field, such equally "Urology". If the PS still made sense and applied to Urology as well…then it was also general and I needed to be more specific to Ortho. One of my practiced friends gave me this piece of advice and information technology helped immensely to focus my writing.

Moving to the adjacent point, I use concrete examples to illustrate my dear of teaching, self-betterment and perseverance, and delivery to research and advancing science in my career. Finally, I make clear that I'm seeking a programme where I go a lot of operative fourth dimension and work hard while having fun. This is especially important for Orthopaedics, every bit there are two broad and different categories of programs beyond the country. Generally, there is a distinction in nearly specialties between workhorse, high volume programs ("blue collar") and lower volume, academic inquiry powerhouses ("white collar"). In that location are merits and negatives to both. Y'all just accept to decide what's right for you (more on this below).

                                                                    A good star…

                                                                    A good starting point

A common question that arises is whether you should write several versions of your PS, each geared towards particular types of programs and/or regions (in ERAS you lot tin can upload multiple PSs and select which ones go to which programs). For case, you may write one version talking most how you lot honey hard work and high volume environments because you learn best by "actively doing" rather than "education and reading". Simultaneously, you write another version stating that you value academic support from the programme to pursue your vast research interests considering y'all want to exercise in a large bookish middle. These two versions are in relative contention with one another. Is that somewhat disingenuous? Debatable.

Your goal at this point is to Friction match into Residency. Period. Thus, you need every bit many interview offers as possible. If yous believe that writing multiple tailored PS versions will help you exercise that, by all means go for information technology. You accept to do what's best for yous. And since many other students will do this anyways, don't hesitate if you lot call up it'll help. Personally, I did non do this. I wrote only one version of my PS, which you've read above. Although my PS directly conveyed my want for a more than "blue neckband" plan, I also discussed my involvement in research (and had a lot of information technology in my application). I believed that my application demonstrated that I'd be a stiff candidate in both program types.

Last annotation on your PS: PROOFREAD the hell out of it. I wrote close to ten drafts before finalizing. I asked many people to proofread it (med school friends, faculty mentors, family and friends outside of medicine). I requested all my proofreaders to be brutally honest and tear my PS apart. No punches pulled (I wanted my self-esteem to hit a new low after their critiques haha). I ultimately asked them to answer iii questions upon reading it:

  1. Does the PS clearly convey why I want to be an Orthopaedic Surgeon?

  2. Does the PS evidence rather than tell my unique characteristics?

  3. Would you lot want to interview this person?

I received dandy advice from everyone who proofread my PS. I highly recommend that you enquire people from diverse backgrounds. If you lot solely rely on yourself or med school people, you lot're doing yourself a disservice. When you're so honed in on something you tin can lose perspective near the "big motion-picture show". Trust the people that know and dearest yous.