In your third year, you will gain valuable, real-world experience that will help you finalize your specialty decision. You will also begin preparing your fourth-year elective schedule and residency application.
Use this checklist to track your progress. Note: Some resources on this page are part of the AAMC Careers in Medicine® (CiM) program. Most U.S. and Canadian students have access to CiM. Confirm your access.
| Task | Complete? |
|---|---|
| Review your loan borrowing history and the estimated cost of attendance for year 3. Clinical rotations can include increased costs for living expenses such as transportation and food as your schedule may be shifting to include new routines and responsibilities. Connect with your financial aid office for support and guidance. | |
| Before you start your first clinical rotation, consider the questions in the CiM Residency Preference Exercise (RPE) to help you understand residency program structure and identify gaps in your knowledge; then, create at least one RPE profile. | |
| Use your clinical rotations to explore specialties. | |
| Record your reflections about your experience in each clinical rotation using the CiM Clinical Rotation Evaluation. | |
| Retake the CiM self-assessments MSPI, PVIPS, and PSI to see whether your results change after gaining clinical experience. | |
| Learn what it means to find your specialty fit and how to approach narrowing specialty options to arrive at your top 1‒3 specialties. | |
| Learn how various factors such as lifestyle and education debt/future income can play a role in your specialty choice. | |
| Meet with a trusted advisor to discuss your 1‒3 top specialties. | |
| Review the specialty-specific recommendations for applying to your top 1-3 specialty(ies). | |
| Review the competitiveness for the specialties you’re thinking about most and realistically assess your qualifications. Then, identify any gaps in your application and, if needed, find opportunities to fill those gaps. | |
| Discuss with your advisor whether completing any away rotations/electives supports your smart application strategy. | |
| Work with your advisor to plan your fourth-year schedule, including any away rotations. Approach your schedule to support your current stage of specialty exploration: you’ve either narrowed your search to your top 1-3 specialties or you remain undecided. | |
| If completing away/audition electives, note application process, requirements, and deadlines. | |
| If you’re having trouble deciding on a specialty, complete the CiM Specialty Indecision Scale (SIS) and share the results with your advisor. | |
| After you’ve completed at least two clerkships, complete the CiM Residency Preference Exercise to consider your residency training goals and to start creating your smart residency application strategy. | |
| Learn how to strategically research residency programs, including the timeline, approach, and process. | |
| Start researching residency programs to identify where you might want to complete any away rotations/electives. Explore clinical and research opportunities through the Visiting Student Learning Opportunities™ (VSLO®) program. | |
| Review the residency match list from your medical school, identify where alumni are in training or have trained in the past, and cross-reference with each residency program website to see whether any alumni from your school are listed as faculty. | |
| Share your initial list of programs where you’d like to complete any away rotations/electives with advisors and mentors in the specialty, ask for help in identifying programs that fit your needs, and solidify the list of programs. | |
| Attend the VSLO Student Webinar to learn about the away rotation process from a panel of Host institutions. | |
| Apply to away rotations participating in the VSLO program. Medical and public health students, pursue short-term learning opportunities in locations away from your Home institution. | |
| Review the timeline for the residency application process; note the specific timeline and deadlines for each application and match service you might be using, including the ERAS® application. | |
| Begin to Prepare for Residency with FIRST: Review FIRST resources to learn what to expect when applying to and interviewing for residency positions. | |
| Learn about the residency application and match services you’ll need to use for your chosen specialty(ties). | |
| Once you’ve made your specialty decision, consider who you will ask to write your Letters of Recommendation (LoR) for your residency application. | |
| If using the ERAS program to apply to residency programs, review ERAS Tools and Worksheets for Residency Applicants and prepare to register for the ERAS application. | |
| At the end of your third year, revisit the CiM Residency Preference Exercise to simultaneously solidify your thoughts, create your initial residency application list, and finalize what you want in and from a residency program. | |
| Learn about the components of a residency application as well as the process for acquiring and/or effective practices for developing each of the application materials. | |
| Consider the content of your personal statement, using your CiM Residency Preference Exercise profile(s) to structure your outline to highlight your educational and career goals as well as the program criteria most important to you. Ask trusted mentors and advisors to review your statement and suggest improvements. | |
| Review the instructions for creating, formatting, previewing, reviewing/editing, and assigning your personal statement in the MyERAS® portal. | |
| Contact your chosen LoR authors to confirm their willingness to participate. | |
| Learn about the types of residency positions and how to research programs. | |
| Start researching residency programs. Use the CiM Residency Preference Exercise and the Residency Explorer™ tool to research programs that align with your career and personal goals. | |
| Work with your advisor to finalize your smart residency application strategy. |