Lesson 17: The Whole Residency Application
It's important to have an overarching concept and consider how each application component contributes to this concept. To grasp the application in all its complexity, we encourage you to think about the application as a whole. While this guide will focus on each component of the application, it will also push you to think about how the parts of your CV complement the personal statement. No part of the application acts independently. As you build a personal narrative, each component builds upon the previous.
The residency program committee will read each section in relation to the others with two questions in mind. First, is this person qualified? And second, does this person truly want to pursue the field they indicate? Everything you write should be in the service of assuring the reader these things. In the process of writing, you may encounter self-doubt and insecurity. As with any life-altering decision, these misgivings are healthy and normal, so long as your enthusiasm outweighs your doubts most of the time.
In order to focus on the details, however, you must have a clear understanding of what the application looks like and how you can craft your application to answer the two overarching questions reviewers use.
The application is a lengthy process and shouldn’t be taken lightly. It’s for people who truly want to pursue their specific specialty, who have thought about this for years, who have made sure to seek experiences that confirm their desires. This guide will complement the long, hard work of deciding to pursue a particular specialty. It will not replace the hours of contemplation and experiences, through shadowing and research, you should undertake before considering applying.
However, to be competitive, you must have a compelling narrative that ties these interests and experiences together.
The ERAS
The American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC) runs the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS). Similar to the Common Application for undergraduate admissions, the ERAS allows you to apply to and rank multiple programs with a single application. This centralized application consists of:
Application or curriculum vitae (CV)
Letters of recommendation
Personal statement
Medical school transcripts
Medical Student Performance Evaluation (MSPE)
Licensing exam transcript
The form of the residency application is similar to that of medical school admissions. Just like with medical school, the residency application reviewers are mostly practicing doctors and current residents. The people whose main day-to-day writing activities include recording vital signs or scrawling diabetes prescriptions using pre-formulated medical shorthand are the same ones reading your application. While many of these people come from undergraduate pursuing majors as varied as art history or anthropology, many are far removed from those days.
Consequently, just like the medical school application, the form of the essays will not be scrutinized as deeply as if it were an undergraduate admissions application. The ambitious creative risks employed by overachieving prospective undergraduates—the essay about napkins in haiku form, the rap about the 1054 supernova observed by Chinese astronomers—are not going to necessarily shift the needle in the way they would for an undergraduate application.
Rather, vivid personal descriptions that highlight your motivations to pursue the will have a more significant influence on your essays' effectiveness. Concise, cogent writing is key. What are the experiences that made you want to become a gynecologist? How did those experiences do that? Even the most seemingly boring experience can be the grounds for a good story, when told right.
