The Medical Student Team at the Department of Emergency Medicine will support you throughout your application process. Each year, we hold scheduled information sessions for students at determined intervals. Additionally, we meet with all Phase 2 and Phase 3 students individually to help them prepare for their fourth year and the Match.
Planning Phase 3
We hold our first group advising session in October prior to Phase 3 lotteries. This first advising session covers Planning for Phase 3.
Phase 3 planning starts with setting up your schedule. In addition to your normal Phase 3 requirements (like your two acting internships or your selectives), you will have to complete one home Phase 3 EM elective at the Madison campus and one away rotation in Emergency Medicine. Your home rotation will be completed in May, June, or July, and your away rotation needs to be completed by September 30.
Away Rotations
We hold our second group advising session in January (as you are just starting your dedicated step 1 study time). This session covers Away Rotations.
Your away rotation also needs to occur at a site associated with a residency program. When applying for away rotations, remember to apply sooner rather than later. During the winter (or early spring) of your third year, you should begin thinking about where you may want to apply for away rotations. Some programs begin taking applications for summer fourth-year rotations as early as January. Consider contacting the clerkship coordinator at institutions you are interested in to learn more about that program’s clerkship application process and deadline. Many programs have all of the information you will need to apply listed on their program’s website, though most will require that you apply using Visiting Student Learning Opportunities (VSLO), the online away application service from the AAMC.
It is important that you request a Standardized Letter of Evaluation (SLOE) from each fourth-year Emergency Medicine rotation that you do, including home and away(s). Usually, these rotations are expecting you to ask for it! Learn more about SLOEs here. This is why your rotation needs to be at a site associated with a residency program; to ensure you receive a quality SLOE.
Your away rotation serve many purposes:
- Provides a second evaluation of your EM clinical performance (SLOE)
- Serves as a month-long interview for a specific residency program. Remember that all fourth-year EM rotations are “audition” rotations, meaning that they give you a chance to show your skills to faculty at residency programs you may be interested in and they allow you to assess whether or not the program is a good fit for you.
- They allow you to experience a different program type. You may find value in exploring a county hospital or a community hospital which are typically very different environments than what you are used to at your medical school. This may give you a better idea about what types of residency programs you want to apply for.
If you have any questions or concerns about choosing fourth-year rotations to apply to, don’t hesitate to reach out to our team or to the medical student team at your home institution. You can also check out SLOE FAQs for Medical Students on the CORD (Council of Residency Directors in Emergency Medicine) website.
Rotation Success
Our third group advising session will cover how to succeed on your home and away rotations. Additionally, you will meet with our team multiple times individually to discuss how to assess your own strengths, opportunities, and candidacy. We will have multiple individual meetings during and after your home rotation to prepare for your EM application.
Applying to Residency
Our fourth-year group advising session takes place every summer as you begin to apply for residency. We will discuss general principles for the application and interviews, and host practice interviews.
Residency applications are submitted though the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS). Application materials should be ready to be submitted in early September so that the later part of the month can be focused on solidifying which programs you will apply to. Final ERAS submission must be completed no later than September 27. Programs typically begin sending interview invitations early to mid-October.
Before you submit your application, proofread your materials (use multiple proofreaders) carefully and make sure all information is accurate and truthful.
For application instructions specific to the Emergency Medicine Residency Program at the University of Wisconsin, please visit the application section of our residency program website.
Materials needed for a completed ERAS application include:
- 1 SLOE from an EM rotation (two are ideal)
- 1-2 non-SLOE letters of recommendation
- Medical Student Performance Evaluation (MSPE)
- Official medical school transcript
- Personal statement
- USMLE transcript (Step 1 pass or Step 2 score)
- Current CV
Tips for Applying to Residency
Writing Your Personal Statement
What to include or avoid when writing your personal statement...
Standardized Letters of Evaluation
Explains the types of SLOEs and how to request them...
Ranking & The Match Process
Students applying to residencies in Emergency Medicine are entered into the National Residency Matching Program (NRMP). The NRMP collects rank order lists from both the applicants and the participating residency programs and then a computer algorithm matches students with programs based on their rankings. The Match is a binding agreement, meaning that once you have matched at a program, you must go to the institution that you matched with.
How many programs should you rank?
Usually, students rank all the programs at which they are interviewed. We recommend doing 12-16 interviews. Thus, we recommend that you rank at least 12 programs, because…
- If you rank 10 programs you have a ~92% probability of matching
- If you rank 12 programs you have a ~95% probability of matching
- The mean number of contiguous ranked programs for matched applicants: 15
- The number of unmatched applicants: 554
