OSR Liaison Update - Electronic Residency Application Service Advisory Committee (ERAS)

October 2009

The overwhelming majority of Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS) users, from program directors to students, agree that ERAS has improved and streamlined the residency application process. Program directors are pleased with both the increased number and quality of applicants applying to their programs. Students are thankful that they no longer are required to send out individualized packets to each residency program to which they apply. By instituting this centralized database, the road to residency has been made much less cumbersome. By no means is the system flawless but most would agree that the current system wins out over the chaotic processes of the past.

In an effort to better serve its constituents, ERAS has taken on the monumental task of re-engineering the system on which medical students and program directors have come to depend. Through an exhaustive internal evaluation and cooperative survey of stakeholders, a group within the organization has been designated to overhaul the system. The goals to be achieved over the next several years include: development of an on-line submission process for letter writers, a web-based system for student affairs officers and program directors, and an overall improvement in user friendliness and functionality. Student feedback has been solicited and welcomed and many of their concerns will be addressed in the reengineered product. The majority of these issues center around the design of the system. Problems with formatting when uploading documents and the lack of a spell checker were major student concerns that will be addressed in the new system. In addition, features that facilitate the process by which an applicant assigns documents to programs will also be improved. Finally, tracking the progress of applications is another area that will be addressed.

Furthermore, strong efforts are being made to enhance both the user friendliness and adaptability of the new system. The ERAS IT staff are employing a program in which prototypical personas are created to represent various stake-holders, i.e. students, Dean's offices, and program directors. These personas will then be used to evaluate the functionality, capability, and needs of the new system from various points of view. The new system will also expand ERAS to be used in the Managed Scramble. Unmatched applicants who have registered with ERAS and participated in the National Residency Match Program (NRMP) will be permitted to use the system during the scramble to secure a residency spot. The exact date of implementation of this new system is yet to be determined.

However, ERAS did not think that all student concerns merited a change. Many students expressed concern about the lack of flexibility and limited number of categories in the Curriculum Vitae (CV) section of ERAS. However, program directors maintain that they would like to have all applications remain in the same format. The program directors also feel that broadening the number of categories would be cumbersome and would detract from rather than add to the applications. Therefore, this CV section will not be changed. For the vast majority of students, there is only one shot at the Match. With this in mind, every measure must be taken to ensure success when the re-engineered product is unveiled. Business analysts, information technicians, and members of the medical community have been hard at work putting together the improved ERAS product. However, overhauling and implementing a revised ERAS system is no simple task. Coordinating all the parties and systems involved creates the potential for many technical difficulties. Therefore, the newly engineered product will be released incrementally over the next several years. This is to ensure that the transition is as seamless as possible.

Those individuals charged with re-engineering the ERAS system are excited by the task ahead. Great strides lie ahead for the Electronic Residency Application Service.

David Halpin
OSR ERAS Liaison
University of Maryland School of Medicine
dhalp001@umaryland.edu

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