Category: Application Tips

Away rotations are on everyone’s mind lately, but how many should you do to be competitive? Dr. Kevin King at UT San Antonio and Dr. Dara Kass at NYU share their thoughts on just how many away rotations you need, really.

Also check out FemInEM, a website dedicated to women in Emergency Medicine.

At the CORD Academic Assembly earlier this year, we caught up with Dr. Adam Kellogg, recent chair of the CORD EM Student Advising Task Force (SATF) and author on the amazing EM Advisor blog. He was kind enough to share his insights on what makes a competitive applicant, how to choose programs, and other topics related to applying to EM.

The SATF resources mentioned in this episode can be found in one of our earlier blog posts here.

By now, you’ve probably heard of the term “SLOE,” and perhaps you’ve even been told how critical it is to your residency application.

So what is a SLOE, exactly?

To help us explain all things SLOE-related, we turned to Dr. Sarah Ronan, Assistant Residency Director at the University of Cincinnati.

In this episode, we discuss some of the ins and outs of applying to away EM rotations using the Visiting Student Application Service.

For more information on VSAS, contact your medical school and visit the AAMC website Applying for Away Electives with VSAS.

*Note: this episode was originally recorded back in Jan/Feb, and VSAS season is now open!

For all you M3s out there, now is the time to start getting ready for the EM residency application season!

To do list:

• Find and meet with an advisor, preferably someone trained in EM and familiar with the EM residency application process
• Start looking into residency programs and take note of program-specific application requirements
• Consider doing an away EM rotation in addition to your home rotation and contact schools to apply for a spot
• Discuss with your advisor when it’s best for you to take Step 2 and aim for a higher score than on Step 1
• Consider where you’ll need to get letters of recommendation or SLOEs (usually at least 2 from EM faculty + maybe one or two from outside of EM)
• Keep working on getting those honors/A+’s on your M3 rotations!
• Start writing your CV and personal statement

Links and References

SAEM Residency and Clerkship Directories

CDEM Emergency Medicine Clerkship Primer 

EMRA Medical Student Survival Guide and other Advising Resources

1. Crane JT, Ferraro CM. Selection criteria for emergency medicine residency applicants. Acad Emerg Med. 2000;7:54-60.

2. Lotfipour S, Luu R, Hayden SR, Vaca F, Hoonpongsimanont W, Langdorf M. Becoming an emergency medicine resident: a practical guide for medical students. J Emerg Med. 2008;35(3):339-44.

3. Green M, Jones P, Thomas JX. Selection criteria for residency: results of a national program directors survey. Acad Med. 2009;84(3):362-7.

4. Breyer MJ, Sadosty A, Biros M. Factors Affecting Candidate Placement on an Emergency Medicine Residency Program’s Rank Order List. West J Emerg Med. 2012;13(6):458-62.

5. Hayden SR, Hayden M, Gamst A. What characteristics of applicants to emergency medicine residency programs predict future success as an emergency medicine resident?. Acad Emerg Med. 2005;12(3):206-10.

Photo  Charles Smith via Compfight