Introduction to the Residency Process

1. Introduction to the Residency Process December 4, 2008 Optional Meeting for the Class of 2010

2. TimelineJanuary 2009-November 2009 January 2009 • Attend Intro to Colleges Meeting(1/15) • Work on Unique Characteristics exercise February • Attend mandatory residency meeting (2/2) • Fill out MSPE questionnaire and upload UC exercise (Due 2/28) • Ask for Letters of Recommendation March • Check out Match results for Class of 2009 (online on March 20th) • Identify potential away elective locations and review their application guidelines

3. Timeline April • Begin work on Personal Statement and CV • Finalize College selection (4/1) • Year 4 scheduling begins 4/20 with Linda and Gezelle • Attend Personal Statement workshops with Allison May • CV should be 90% complete ready to give letter writers • Concerns about evals should addressed with SAO (Meredith, Linda, or Gezelle) June • Attend mandatory MSPE/Application meeting (6/11) • Early Match students schedule meeting with Meredith • Dr. Parker begins MSPE meetings (students notified alphabetically when to schedule a time to meet)

4. Timeline July • Token issued to register on online ERAS-residency application (7/1) • MSPE Meetings with Dr. Parker continue August • Register for NRMP-rank list application (8/15) • Take Step 2 CS • Attend College Foundations • Application photo taken during Foundations • Begin Sub-Internships • MSPE Meetings with Dr. Parker continue September • DGSOM target date for applications to be submitted to ERAS (9/15) • MSPE Meetings with Dr. Parker continue

5. Timeline October • AOA Election (first week in October) • Transcripts uploaded to ERAS • MSPE Meetings with Dr. Parker continue • Student review and sign-off of MSPE begins 10/1 *All MSPES are uploaded no sooner than Nov 1 so review sessions can be schedule up until October 25th. If on an away rotation arrangements will be made-contact Buck* November • MSPEs uploaded to ERAS and mailed to SF Match *November 1st -National Deadline* • Mock interview workshops held in Colleges

6. Components of the Application • The MSPE (sent out nationally on November 1) • Personal Statement(s) • CV • Letters of recommendation (3-4) • Medical School Transcript • Photograph • USMLE Score Report (automatically released by ERAS)

7. Letters of Recommendation • Download ERAS Recommendation form from “Forms Index” on website • You do not need to include your AAMC ID on the form • You do need to waive your right to see the letter by signing this form • Requests for LORs should begin this spring. All requests should be made by September 1 to allow letter writers time to complete them • LORs are submitted to the SAO and uploaded onto ERAS as received as PDFs

8. Suggested types of Letters Early Match (Ophthalmology and Urology) • LOR from either Medicine or Surgery (Yr 3) • Can be used for Preliminary Programs in ERAS Match • 1-2 LORs in specialty of choice (Yr 4) • At least one LOR should be from UCLA, the others can be from Away Electives • LOR from research mentor (if applicable)

9. Suggested types of Letters • Regular/ERAS Match • LOR from either Medicine or Surgery (Yr 3) • Can be used for Preliminary Programs if applicable • At least one LOR in specialty • One should be from UCLA • Should be from Faculty Only (no residents) • 1-2 LORs in Sub-Is or Electives taken in the summer • Good to have a variety of specialties NOTE for Orthopaedics Applicants: 2-3 LORs should be in specialty and should include Away Electives

10. Chairs Letters-What is it and Who Needs One? For applicants applying in: • Internal Medicine • Pediatrics • Orthopaedics • OB/Gyn • Preliminary Medical programs You may be required to submit a Chair’s Letter. Requests for Chair’s Letters should be made no earlier than June 2009

11. Who Writes the MSPE? Dean Parker Background information compiled by the SAO, UCR, and Drew- Supplemental information provided by YOU!

12. Breakdown of the MSPE Elements All Medical Schools follow the AAMC guidelines to format and submit their MSPE. All have the same headings and content and include 6 sections • Unique Characteristics • Academic History • Years 1 and 2 • Evaluations (all clinical clerkships and 1-2 Sub-Is) • Summary • Appendix For review of the guidelines: http://www.aamc.org/members/gsa/mspeguide.pdf

13. The Evaluation Section of MSPE • Evaluations go in verbatim-remember this is an evaluation not a recommendation • The only way to have the comments revised on your MSPE is to have the Clerkship Director submit new comments on ESS. Revised comments must be submitted to the SAO on ESS by October 1, 2009. • Buck and Meredith will not be able to make revisions or alter your evaluations in any way during the MSPE review process • Questions or concerns about evaluations should be discussed with Dr. Parker, Buck, or Meredith before approaching Clerkship Director.

14. Sample Evaluation Reformat Before Edit: Comments from faculty: "Excellent job getting clinical information efficiently and presenting cases in clear logical format. Good rapport with patients." “JoJo Bruin is bright and enthusiastic, and did an excellent job on this rotation. She developed instant rapport with patients, putting them at ease. Her histories were detailed and systematic. She evaluated patients carefully, and formulated excellent differential diagnoses and management plans. Her case presentations were complete and focused. It was a pleasure to work with her!" On her case presentation project she received a score of 20/20 and on her written final examination she received 70%. After Edit: "Excellent job getting clinical information efficiently and presenting cases in a clear logical format. Good rapport with patients." "Joanne is bright and enthusiastic, and did an excellent job on this rotation. She developed instant rapport with patients, putting them at ease. Her histories were detailed and systematic. She evaluated patients carefully, and formulated excellent differential diagnoses and management plans. Her case presentations were complete and focused. It was a pleasure to work with her!"

15. Automatic Edits Made to Evals • Correction of name: You will be referred to by your given first name throughout the MSPE • Gender: Pronouns will be changed to reflect your gender • Spelling and punctuation: All spelling will be corrected, but the nature of composite evaluations is that punctuation may not be 100% accurate. Sentence fragments may be left in.

16. What Is Removed from the Evaluation? • PDA logs • Attendance (Unless it is an issue noted within the narrative of the evaluation.) • Nomination for a LOD (If you received one, it will be noted in bold at the end of the evaluation.) • Exam scores or percentiles • References to graded presentations • Physician/evaluator names • Websites and journal citations • Dates of Clerkships (the MSPE is written in chronological order)

17. How to handle “negative” evals • Keep perspective-comments that seem negative often are not (i.e. “satisfactory” “average” “shy” “good” “quiet”). Someone has to be average! • The MSPE is an accurate reflection of your performance-not a letter of recommendation. • If you are considering requesting a revision talk with the SAO first to strategize.

18. A Negative but Fair Evaluation The following is an example of an evaluation that is an accurate representation of this student’s performance and thus, would not be revised: “Joe lacks a professional attitude. He is a very likeable and very nice guy. However, he didn't display any interest in the rotation. He always seemed anxious to leave early. I didn't feel like I could trust him to complete even simple tasks. I didn't feel like he felt responsibility towards his patients. I tried to speak to him during the rotation, but he didn't seem to take the feedback seriously."

19. Comments Warranting Revision The following are examples of evaluations that likely need to be revised because they contain inappropriate, misinformed, or malicious comments: “Jenny did an average job considering she was pregnant during this rotation” “I only worked with this student for an hour, but he lacked insight and depth of knowledge.” “I didn’t like Joe and would not want to work with him again.”

20. What goes into the MSPE? • 1-2 Paragraphs about your performance in Years 1 and 2. • Does NOT include exam scores • All of Year 3 evaluation comments (verbatim) • Summary of academic progress (including gaps or leaves of absence) • Summary paragraph • Unique characteristics

21. Your Contribution to Your MSPE • Compose a draft for Unique Characteristics • Supply supplemental information via MSPE Questionnaire • Meet with Dr. Parker to discuss content • Personal review and signing off of MSPE

22. Your Draft of Unique Characteristics Should include: • Pertinent and defining information that sets you apart from your competition • 4 paragraphs • 2000 words or less Should generally not include: • Anything you cannot talk about extensively in an interview • Political or religious identifiers • Information that is too personal or too emotional to be discussed extensively in an interview

23. What to Include in Draft of UC Paragraph 1 (background/childhood): • Where were you born and raised? • What do/did your parents do? • Influences or obstacles early in life, if any Paragraph 2 (high school): • Where did you attend? • Describe one significant accomplishment each of these categories • Academic (valedictorian or honors/awards) • Leadership (Class President, team captain) • Community service/Religious//Athletics (describe only what you can talk about extensively in an interview) • Influences or obstacles in high school, if any (ex death of a parent, learning disability, language/cultural/socio/economic barriers)

24. What to Include in Draft of UC Paragraph 3 (college): • Where did you attend? • What was your major/minor • Describe one significant accomplishment each of these categories • Academic (Phi Beta Kappa, magna cum laude) • Leadership (Class President, team captain) • Community service/Religious//Athletics (describe only what you can talk about extensively in an interview) • Research that pertains directly to your career in medicine • Influences or obstacles in college, if any (ex death of a parent, learning disability, language/cultural/socio/economic barriers) Paragraph 4 (medical school): • If dual degree-describe (MBA, MPH, MSTP) • Describe any significant accomplishment each of these categories • Academic (Letters of Distinction) • Leadership (Class Officer, Interest Group Coordinator) • Extra curricular activities related to career choice (Interest Groups, Student Orgs) • Community service/Religious//Athletics (describe only what you can talk about extensively in an interview) • Research • Influences or obstacles in medical school, if any (ex death of a parent, learning disability, language/cultural/socio/economic barriers)

25. How Should I Structure my Time? Year 3 • Continue to excel on Clerkships—earning an LOD is one of the strongest things you can do to increase your competitiveness • Attend Doctoring Lunches with Dean Parker and Meredith throughout 3rd Year • Think about obtaining LORs from required clerkships. You may officially begin to ask for these letters February of Year 3. • Continue to attend career specialty luncheons and lectures • Focus on career exploration and choice • Scheduling for Year 4 and the College selection process begins in January • Meet with Meredith or Buck after Match Day (early April) to assess status of your application, confirm Year 4 schedule-etc June of Year 3 Residency process officially begins

26. What do I until June of Year 3? • Continue to explore career choices • Establish faculty mentor through College • Hang-out with the people in the specialties you are considering—see if you fit in. • Plan away electives and sub-internships “Your future career should fit like a glove!” -Dean Parker

27. Advising in the Third and Fourth Year • Competitiveness/Couples/Early Match: Meredith Szumski mszumski@mednet.ucla.edu • Career Counseling/CV and Personal Statements: Allison Jones Ajones@mednet.ucla.edu • Letters of Recommendation: Buck Ritchey britchey@mednet.ucla.edu • Revisions to evaluations: Buck, Meredith, Gezelle or Linda: 310.206.0434 • ERAS Technical Questions:myeras@aamc.org Remember-you can get residency advice from lots of sources including College Chairs, Drs. Parker and Calmes, mentors, and the following online resources http://www.medstudent.ucla.edu/current/CareerAdvising/ www.nrmp.org http://www.sfmatch.org/ (EARLY MATCH/OPTHALMOLOGY) http://www.auanet.org/content/residency/residency-match.cfm (EARLY MATCH/UROLOGY) http://www.aamc.org/students/eras/start.htm