Emergency Medicine

Emergency Medicine

This online repository houses relevant resources and contact information for students seeking career advice. We encourage you to review the career-related materials provided (e.g. Specialty Webinar, Interview Questions, Research, etc.) as you seek support in your journey through medical school.

If you have further questions that are not addressed on this page, please feel free to contact a Specialty Faculty Mentor for further guidance.

Match Preparation and Charting Outcomes Heading link

You are more than your Step Scores! Use the NRMP page to look at the qualifications of applicants who have successfully applied to your specialty.

Emergency Med-Internal Med

Should applicants do away rotations?

We recommend at least 2 EM rotations. The strength of the EM standard letter of evaluation (SLOE)* is greater from institutions with dual-training programs.

*Emergency Medicine uses a specific letter of recommendation called the SLOE.

Research

Research is encouraged but not required.

Recommendation

  • Number of letters recommended – 1 SLOE minimum; recommend 2 SLOEs and one IM letter
  • Chair’s letter/SLOE/special letter required? SLOE for the EM portion of the assessment
  • Number of letters from within specialty? As above
  • Number of letters from away rotations/institutions? Suggested but not required
  • Do you require the MSPE before offering interviews? No

Personal Statements

We strongly recommend a personal statement that includes some description of the motivation for dual training.

Application Timing

  • When do programs in your specialty generally begin reviewing applications? ERAS opening day through the end of September
  • When do programs in your specialty begin offering interviews? Generally in October
  • When does your program generally offer interviews? ERAS opening day
  • Do you require the MSPE before offering interviews? Once application is in, will invite
  • Interview Advice

Recommend scheduling multiple dual-training interviews as it is a very competitive field if that truly is your desired course of education. We understand that students interview with categorical programs as well and to not hold that against the student. Beadvised that the dual-training program directors and the categorical program directors do communicate.

Post-Interview Advice

While thank you cards are nice, thank you emails are more environmentally conscientious. We will respond to all inquiries after the interview and to not expect to be told of our position in your rank list. In general, we do not reach back out to the students after their interview unless there is a question or issue to clarify. We fell that it puts the student in an uncomfortable position to have to respond to a call from the program director directly.

Shadowing Opportunities:

Reach out to the Dual Trained faculty as above for availability. We all participate in Junior Student Shadowing experiences.

For further guidance, contact our specialty faculty liaison:

Adam Rodos, MD

Should applicants do away rotations?

Yes. We recommend that students do at least 1 away rotation. For many, 1 away rotation is sufficient. At the same time, each student’s situation should be handled and managed individually. There are some circumstances in which a student would be recommended to get a 2nd away rotation (couples match, interruption in your training, lower scores, poor grades, professionalism concerns, etc)

Research

Doing research during medical school is excellent for your development as a physician and for your application in EM. EM specific research is particularly helpful during the application process. We encourage students to get involved with research earlier in the process, if possible. The rigors of M3/M4 make research a much more lofty endeavor, thus starting research in M1/M2 is more likely to be a fruitful experience. Those who do no research can absolutely match in EM. The majority of those who match have completed no research, so it is by no means required, but an opportunity to boost your application if interested.

Recommendation

  • Number of letters recommended – 4 letters: 2 EM, 2 non-EM
  • Chair’s letter/SLOE/special letter required? Yes. ½ of the programs around the country will interview with 1 SLOE, the other ½ recommend 2 SLOE’s. We recommend 2 (1 home, 1 away)
  • Number of letters from within specialty? 2 EM, 2 non-EM
  • Number of letters from away rotations/institutions? 1 away SLOE
  • Do you require the MSPE before offering interviews? No
  • We recommend that you fill your ERAS application with 4 letters. Remember, once  a letter has been uploaded and put into your ERAS application, it cannot be removed, so choose wisely. We recommend 2 EM SLOE’s (1 home, 1 away). 2 other non-EM letters should round out your application and make you globally very competitive.

Personal Statements

Keep the personal statement to 1 page. Make sure the personal statement is personal. Tell us why you are a good fit for EM and what you enjoy about the specialty. We feel that the personal statement should also mention any controversial elements of your application. This is a great place to narrate anything you may think is a “red flag” within your application. We are happy to discuss this further prior to uploading to ERAS.

Application Timing

  • When do programs in your specialty generally begin reviewing applications? September 20-October 1
  • When do programs in your specialty begin offering interviews? Any time between September 15-October 15 will be when the first pass of interview offers go out around the country.
  • When does your program generally offer interviews? October 1st
  • Do you require the MSPE before offering interviews? No
  • The EM application and interview season generally occurs in three stages:
  • Stage 1: ERAS opens September 15. The first pass of interview offers tend to come out between September 15-October 15. Each student will have different goals with regard to the number of interviews with which they feel comfortable. If you reach that goal by October 15th, your application is in tremendous shape, and you very likely will be matching in EM.
  • Stage 2: October 15-November 15. The 2nd stage of the application process will still allow for interview offers. This occurs primarily as highly credentialed students begin to turn down interview offers from the first pass of interview invitations. This is a good opportunity to boost your number of interviews into the double-digit range.
  • Stage 3: November 15-January 1. Interview offers may still become available in the 3rd stage of the process. This occurs primarily as students begin dropping interview offers they initially accepted early in the application process. This sometimes occurs due to cost of travel, fatigue from attending multiple interviews, or because students begin to feel comfortable with the number of interviews they have and the locations at which they have already interviewed. If you do not have the number of interviews with which you feel comfortable by Thanksgiving, your application may be in trouble.

Interview Advice

Outside the general interview advice, we recommend that students spend some time researching the location and program at which you are interviewing. Take the initiative to come up with some questions about the program, as this is the best way for faculty to gage your actual interest. We would also recommend that you keep a log with you on your travels. Utilize this log to write any comments or gut feelings directly after the interview. This log will serve you well later in the process when creating your rank list.

Post-Interview Advice

We recommend that you trust your gut in determining if you should send an email, write a thank-you letter, take a 2nd look visit or make a call. In our experience, most students make contact with the program after the interview to ease their own anxieties about the process as a whole. From the program perspective, we feel it unnecessary to make contact after the interview. We are happy to field thank-you emails, but do not make ranking decisions based on someone’s interest in a 2nd look, whether they sent an email, made a call or sent a card.

With regard to telling programs where you are ranking them, our advice is to always be honest! If you are really going to rank a program #1, there is no harm in sharing that with them. Please, do not make yourself a liar by telling multiple programs that you are ranking them #1. Always tell the truth, always trust your gut, and always feel free to contact your EM leadership here at UI COMP if you have a questions. Rarely will you make a mistake if you follow these golden rules.

For further guidance, contact our specialty faculty liaison:

uicompcareer@uic.edu

Helpful Resources Heading link

  1. The NRMP publishes a survey of Applicants each year. This report presents the results of selected items from the 2022 NRMP Applicant Survey. The report documents factors that applicants weigh in selecting programs (1) at which to interview and (2) to rank in the Main Residency Match. It can be found HERE.
  2. The NRMP Publishes a survey of Residency Program Directors. This report examines the factors program directors use to select applicants to interview and rank. Data are reported for 22 specialties and the transitional year in the Main Residency Match. It can be found HERE.
  3. Looking for residency programs?  The AAMC interactive, Careers in Medicine Website is where you should be! LINK
  4. Having difficulty deciphering this information?  Contact your Student Affairs Career Advisor on your campus!!!

Below you will find resources to help you get started when applying for residency.