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Updating the MyERAS Application
Revised and Reorganized Experiences Section
Updates to Collection of Geographic Information
Addition of Program Signals
What will change for the 2024 MyERAS Application?
Updating the MyERAS Application
From 2020-2023, the AAMC collaborated with a variety of specialties, programs, medical schools, and advisors to develop the supplemental ERAS application. Based on findings from that work, the AAMC is improving the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS) for applicants, programs, and medical school users. As we move into the 2023-24 application cycle, research findings from the successful supplemental ERAS application are being used to update the ERAS platforms—including the MyERAS application.
We will integrate new components into the MyERAS application—including an updated experiences section, geographic preferences for both residency and fellowship applicants, and program signaling for residency applicants. Learn more by reviewing the 2024 ERAS application events and resources.
Residency and fellowship applicants will be able to:
- Describe their most meaningful experiences.
- Indicate their geographic preferences.
Residency applicants applying to selected specialties and programs will be able to:
- Signal participating programs about their interests (residency applicants only).
Programs can use the new content to:
- Facilitate a more holistic review and improve the overall application screening process.
- Identify applicants who are genuinely interested in their programs and whose interests and experiences align with their programs’ setting, mission, and goals.
Revised and Reorganized Experiences Section
- Applicants will be able to focus on as many as 10 experience entries that communicate who they are and what is most important to them.
- Applicants can designate and describe up to three experiences they identify as the most meaningful with a short description.
- New experience types will be available to choose from along with more descriptive information about each entry.
- Applicants can easily showcase the mission-focused characteristics of the experience to support holistic review of their application by selecting the setting, focus area, and key characteristic.
Impactful Experiences
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Applicants can describe any challenges or hardships that influenced their journey to residency. This could include experiences related to family background, financial background, community setting, educational experiences, and/or general life experiences. This question is intended for applicants who have overcome major challenges or obstacles.
Updates to Collection of Geographic Information
- Applicants will have the opportunity to communicate their preference or lack of preference for a particular geographic division and urban or rural settings.
- All location information across the application will be captured using standardized fields.
Addition of Program Signals
- Residency applicants applying to specialties and programs who opt to participate in program signals will have the opportunity to express interest in the residency program at the time of application.
For more detailed information please review The MyERAS Application and Program Signaling for 2023-24.
What will change for the 2024 MyERAS Application?
Compare the content in the experiences section of the MyERAS application in the 2023 cycle (which ended May 31, 2023) to the revised and reorganized experiences section in the 2024 ERAS cycle.
| MyERAS Application for 2023 Cycle | MyERAS Application for the 2024 Cycle |
|---|---|
| Undefined number of experiences. | Up to 10 experiences. |
| Not available. | Enables applicants to self-select their top three most meaningful experiences (of up to 10 experiences). |
| Collected limited descriptive information about each experience entry (e.g., position, organization, timeframe, location). | Collects more descriptive information about each experience entry (e.g., position, organization, timeframe, location) as well as frequency of participation options (e.g., one time, daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, annually). |
| Not available. | Allows applicants to better define the experience type (e.g., volunteer, work, professional organization, hobby). This helps programs to easily identify and review specific experiences that align with their mission(s). |
| Not available. | Offers additional multiple-entry questions to capture mission-focused characteristics of each experience entry: focus area, key characteristic, and setting (e.g., rural, suburban, urban). This helps programs complete holistic review. |
| Undefined Experiences Description field. | Includes short descriptions focused on critical information for programs: roles, responsibilities, and context for all experiences entries. |
Compare changes to collection of geographic information:
| MyERAS Application for 2023 Cycle | MyERAS Application 2024 Changes |
|---|---|
| Hometown captured in a free text, non-standardized format. | Uses standardized fields to collect all location information across the application (country, state, city, postal code, and setting) including hometown and addresses for experiences and education. |
| Not available. | Provides applicants with the option to share their geographic preferences with programs. The new questions will capture applicants’ preferences for different regions of the U.S. and their setting preferences. |