Almost all residency programs (and many fellowship programs) require applicants to submit their completed application through the Electronic Residency Application Service, also known as ERAS. ERAS does not, however, allow applicants to submit their curriculum vitae or CV as part of this application. Instead, ERAS requires all applicants to transfer information from their CV to the ERAS Application Form. It is the ERAS Application Form that is then sent to programs for review along with the rest of your application.
Once the application is received, program directors will read the ERAS Application closely and carefully. It will be used to assess the quality of your written communication skills. Many applicants do not fully appreciate how much emphasis programs place on their communication skills as evidenced in the ERAS application; effective communication has been shown to directly affect the quality of care given to patients.
Therefore, it is imperative that all information in your ERAS Application be well communicated and error-free.
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AVOID ERRORS THAT APPLICANTS MAKE
In our experience, errors are surprisingly common in the ERAS Application. Although spelling and grammatical errors are frequently seen, equally common—and particularly dangerous—are other types of errors. Chief among these errors is the use of language or words that makes an applicant's experiences and accomplishments seem unimpressive or generic. The words that you use in your description need to make a powerful impact and leave an impression on application reviewers.
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"Approximately 14% of applicants are granted an interview and only 8% of the entire applicant pool will be hired by any given hospital," writes the American Medical Association. "Therefore, it is imperative that applicants make themselves stand out in their applications."
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Errors in the ERAS application can prevent applicants from securing interviews. Even when interviews are secured, errors in the ERAS Application can lead an interviewer to downgrade an applicant's overall score. "Details matter. Anesthesiology is a detailed-oriented specialty and small errors can be quite important," writes Dr. Catherine Kuhn, Program Director of the Duke University Anesthesiology Program in reference to the ERAS application. A lack of attention to detail, using language or words that fail to make an impact, and overlooking rrors can lower your position on the program's rank order list and affect your chances of matching.
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"Many faculty members believe, deep in their souls, that the care with which you treat your ERAS application (a pretty important document) corresponds with the care you will treat your residency and your patients," writes Dr. David Overton, Program Director of the Emergency Medicine Residency at Michigan State University Kalamazoo Center for Medical Studies.
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We have considerable experience reviewing ERAS Applications and can make sure that your application is polished, professional, and powerful.
How It Works
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Step 1: Purchase the Service from our online store.
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Step 2: Our team will set up a kick-off meeting to understand your background and goals, and to discuss the process.
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Step 3: After we have reviewed your application, we will send you a list of questions to answer about each of your experiences. Your answers to these questions will help us ensure that all key content important to residency programs will be found in the description fields of your experiences.
Step 4: Editing will be done by Dr. Samir Desai and our team of writing experts trained at such institutions as Rice University, University of Michigan, University of California San Diego, and Harvard.
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Step 5: Revisions as needed until you are satisfied.
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Please note that this service does not include ERAS Supplemental Application Review and Editing. We will have a separate service for the supplemental application. More information about this service will be available in early August after full details of the supplemental are released.