The Education Program is designed to educate ERAS users about behaviors considered fraudulent or unethical; to discourage such activity; and to encourage reporting of these activities where warranted. Examples of irregularities and activities targeted for investigation include, but are not limited to:
- Omission of education extension
- Omission of previous graduate medical education (GME) training
- Submission of fraudulent publication citations
- Submission of fraudulent letters of recommendation (LoRs)
- Plagiarism of personal statements
As part of our education plan, we share audience specific information about the Integrity Promotion Program.
ERAS Applicants
The ERAS Investigations Program information outlines the steps in the process and delineates specific infractions that can trigger an investigation and the consequences of a positive finding.
An increasingly common issue with applications is personal statement plagiarism. Here are a few of the Web sites that applicants have used to obtain text for personal statements:
Medical Schools
Each year ERAS sends reminders to the ERAS School contact at U.S. medical schools explaining the ERAS Integrity Promotion Program and encouraging distribution to applicants.
Designated Dean’s Office staff is obligated to report any fraudulent or unethical behavior to ERAS for investigation.
ERAS Programs
ERAS disseminates information about the Integrity Promotion Program at specialty meetings and in distributed literature to programs participating in ERAS. ERAS also sends periodic correspondence directly through the PDWS software to inform programs of Web sites that applicants frequent for plagiarism material and other relevant information.
If you are aware of any activity by an applicant that might be considered irregular behavior, please contact ERAS Investigations at erasinvestigations@aamc.org.