Happy ERAS day!

Today the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS) opened for the Class of 2013. Thus begins yet another epic application process, this time for residency.

ERAS has five main components:

• Curriculum vitae: General information, education and training, publications, awards and honors, extracurricular and volunteer activities.
• USMLE transcripts: Step 1 and Step 2.
• Personal statements: There aren't any limits to how many personal statements can be written and uploaded, but only one personal statement can be assigned to each program.
• Letters of recommendation: There aren't any limits to how many letters of recommendation can be uploaded, but a maximum of four letters of recommendation can be assigned to each program.
• Program selection: There aren't any limits to how many programs can be selected. Also, multiple specialties can be selected. Then, for each program, the specific personal statement and letters of recommendation are assigned.

I spent an hour or so this morning transferring the information from my CV into the ERAS system. Having maintained my CV on a regular basis over the last few years made this a very simple process.

ERAS is open only to medical students until September 15th, at which point applicants are allowed to submit their application. The few residency program directors I talked with strongly encouraged me to submit my ERAS application on September 15th, rather than waiting, because they like to start sifting through the applicants and offering interview immediately.