Transcript Preparing for Fourth Year and the Match

Preparing for 4th Year
and the Match
 Amber Hull, OMSIV
Summary
 Licensing Exams: timing, preparation, to USMLE or
not to USMLE?
 Scheduling Electives and VSAS
 Roadmap to 4th year
 ERAS: selection of programs and cost
 Interviews, travel and budget
 Preparing the ROL
 Match Day and SOAP
Licensing Exams
 COMLEX Level 1: after second year
 COMLEX Level 2 CE: after third year
 COMLEX Level 2 PE: in Conchahocken, PA
 Register early (fall of 3rd year) for best dates
 COMLEX Level 3: Intern year
 COMLEX is accepted for Licensure in all 50 states
 Board Certification is a separate process: Board
exams are taken at the end of residency
To USMLE or not to USMLE?
 If you plan to complete your residency and fellowship within an
AOA program, USMLE is not required
 If you plan to apply for ACGME programs, check with each
individual program to see if they require Step 1, Step 2 or both
 If you plan to do a fellowship which is NOT offered through the
AOA:
 You can plan to do residency through the ACGME and then apply to
the desired fellowship- USMLE requirements will be program specific
but not necessarily required
 You can do an AOA residency and attempt to enter an ACGME
fellowship as an “exceptionally qualified” applicant-all steps of USMLE
required under the new Common Program Requirements
 **This exception will be specialty dependent- specifics announced
in early 2014.**
Preparing for Licensing
Exams: Level 1
 Study for your classes: lots of pharmacology and pathology on
Level 1/Step 1
 First Aid +/ Doctors in Training, Kaplan, PASS program, Pathoma
 Question Banks: USMLE World, COMBANK, COMQuest
 Make a schedule and allow yourself some time for exercise,
sleep and family
 Schedule Exams a few days apart if you choose to do both
COMLEX Level 2
 Your COM will send you an email when you are eligible to
register (October of 3rd year)
 Cognitive Evaluation (CE)
 Similar format and study resources as for Level 1
 Material tested is less basic science and more clinical
 Performance Evaluation (PE): 12 standardized patients
 6 hour clinical skills exam at the NBOME testing center in PA
 14 min encounter + 9 min SOAP note
 8-10 weeks for scores to be reported
 Ideally, you want passing PE scores at the time that ERAS opens
(September 15th) so try to schedule your COMLEX PE during summer
of 3rd year (May, June, July)
Licensure vs Board
Certification
 You apply for a license through the state in which
you practice- Requires all 3 steps of COMLEX
 Board Certification is specialty specific and
requires completion of residency training
 AOA Board Certification
 American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS)
 Dual Certification is available
 CME will be based on which Board certification is
obtained
 http://osteopathic.org/insideaoa/development/aoa-boardcertification/Pages/default.aspx
 http://www.abms.org/About_ABMS/
Scheduling
Electives vs Core
 Check to see what requirements your school has and make sure
you schedule blocks to fulfill them
 Electives: max number of weeks in a single specialty (ex: 16
weeks max in peds)
 Schedule vacation weeks that allow sufficient time to study for
Level 2 and travel to PA
 You may need to schedule vacation time for interviews and/or
COSGP meetings
Audition Rotations/SubInternships
 Pros
 “Mandatory” for some
osteopathic programs: you are
more likely to be ranked if you
rotate there
 Try out a program
 Prove yourself
 See an area of the country that
you may want to train in
 Some programs offer courtesy
interviews to Sub-Interns
 Adventure!
 Cons
 Not really necessary for
ACGME programs
 Expensive!!
 Double rent vs living out of
suitcases
 People will see your
shortcomings in addition to
your strengths so you have to
perform at your peak at all
times
 Learning a new system (EMR,
hospital layout, etc) every
month is a challenge
Away Electives
 Osteopathic Programs: call the medical student coordinator at
the host site
 Allopathic programs: program specific application process
 Check the website of the program you’re interested in rotating at
 VSAS= Visiting Student Application Service
 Centralized application service: upload required documents and
assign them to specific programs ($15 per application)
 Check application opening dates, required forms (specific
immunization forms)
 Earliest opening date for Applications is February 1 but many
programs take applications beginning in March, April or May for Fall
rotations
Helpful Resources & Ideas
 Vsas.aamc.org
 Try to schedule in August, September and/or October (new
interns in July; interview season is October-January)
 Housing: check with the host site about visiting student housing,
Rotatingroom.com, Airbnb.com, consider rotating in places
where you have generous friends/family with an extra room;-)
 Rental cars are MUCH cheaper if you go through Hotwire.com
or a similar site
 Now is a great time to apply for a credit card which gives you
airline miles if you don’t already have one!
Preparing for
ERAS and the
Match
Registration for the Match
 Registration for NMS and NRMP are separate from ERAS!
 National Matching Service: Osteopathic Match
 $60 Registration fee. Deadline: Nov 1, 2013 to avoid late fee.
 https://www.natmatch.com/aoairp/applregister.html
 National Resident Matching Program: Allopathic Match
 $60 registration fee. Deadline Nov 30 to avoid late fee.
 http://www.nrmp.org
 Match Prism tracking App for iPhone and Android
ERAS: Electronic Residency
Application Service
 Documents: COMLEX/USMLE transcripts, LORs, Personal
Statement(s)- assign these to programs
 Application:
General Info, Licenses (ACLS, etc.), Medical Education
Medical School Honors/Awards
Membership in Honorary/Professional Societies
Education and Prior Training
Experience: Research, work, volunteer
Publications: Peer Reviewed Articles/Abstracts, Other articles, Oral
Presentations
 Languages
 Hobbies and Interests
 Other Awards and Accomplishments
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Programs
 Search and Apply to MD and DO programs
 Assign documents to the programs you apply to
 You can have multiple personal statements
 Most programs require 3 LORs but will take up to 4
 EM may require a SLOR (standard LOR)
 Some programs will require a LOR form the
Department Chair
 Applicant Document Tracking System (ADTS) allows
you to see when your documents are downloaded
 ERAS Application Fees:
 Programs Up to 10 - $92 Programs 11-20 - $9
each Programs 21-30 - $15 each Programs 31 or
more - $26 each
Helpful Resources and Hints
 Start ERAS early! It will take several hours to enter all of
your amazing accomplishments.
 The Personal Statement might be the hardest thing
you write in med school. Revise, Revise Revise!
 Have people proofread your application and Personal
Statement.
 Don’t embellish your CV just to fill space but be sure to
include any presentations you’ve given for your SGA
or COSGP. They count!
 Check each program’s website for application
requirements. Some want your PS to address a specific
topic or have LOR specifications.
 Number of programs you apply to will depend on your
specialty and qualifications.
Researching Programs and
Specialties
 Opportunities.osteopathic.org
 FREIDA: https://login.ama-assn.org/account/login
 Osteopathic GME Match Report:
http://data.aacom.org/aacomas/do_gme_match_report2012.asp
 NRMP Charting Outcomes in the Match:
http://b83c73bcf0e7ca356c80e8560f466940e4ec38ed51af32994bc6.r6.cf1.rackcdn.com/wpcontent/uploads/2013/08/resultsanddata2013.pdf
 NRMP Charting Outcomes in the Match: Specialties Match
http://b83c73bcf0e7ca356c80e8560f466940e4ec38ed51af32994bc6.r6.cf1.rackcdn.com/wpcontent/uploads/2013/06/NRMP-Charting-Outcomes-in-the-MatchSpecialties-Matching-Service-1st-Edition-Published-May-2013.pdf
Interviews and Budgeting
 Most people do between 6-12 interviews
 Interview invitations will start being issued within
days of ERAS opening and continue well into
December. Respond ASAP to get your choice of
dates. Check your spam folder!
 Some programs will pay for your hotel
 Event with residents the night before, Interview
day usually ~8a-2p. Details in program email.
 If you’re doing an elective at a site where you
end up getting lots of interviews, try to schedule
them so that you can drive.
 Use a spreadsheet and/or Google Calendar to
keep track of logistics and program details that
are important to you.
Preparing the Rank Order
List
 ROL opens for Osteopathic Match Participants on Jan 8, 2014due Jan 24, 2014
 ROL opens for Allopathic Match Participants on Jan 15, 2014due February 26, 2014
 Must certify your ROL prior to deadline but can make changes
up until the deadline
 Rank programs in order of your training preferences, not how
you think the programs will rank you.
Match Day and SOAP
(Supplemental Offer and Acceptance
Program)
 Friday before Match week: email notification of SOAP eligibility-does
not mean that you didn’t match!
 Find out WHETHER you have matched on Monday of Match week
 SOAP (the scramble): applicants apply for any unfilled spots through
ERAS
 Find out WHERE you matched on Friday of Match week
 Osteopathic Match: February; Allopathic Match: March
 If you Match in the Osteopathic match you MUST withdraw your
application from the Allopathic Match!
 To participate in the osteopathic scramble, you must have
registered for the NMS Match (even if you don’t rank any programs)
**If you do the Allopathic Match you cant scramble into Osteopathic programs until after the
Allopathic scramble**
Questions?