The AAMC-Thalamus Strategic Collaboration

The AAMC and Thalamus are accelerating innovation across the transition to residency and fellowship.

Thanks to the AAMC-Thalamus collaboration, Electronic Residency Application Service^® (ERAS^®) programs have access to Thalamus Core for real-time interview scheduling and management, Itinerary Wizard^™ for itinerary building, and Cerebellum^™ for data and analytics to measure recruitment outcomes. 

Together, the AAMC and Thalamus leverage their data, technology, and expertise to transform the medical residency and fellowship recruitment processes for applicants and programs by increasing transparency, supporting equity through holistic review, and improving the learner experience by consolidating the fragmented interview management process.  

• Thalamus Products Available to ERAS Programs
• Helpful Tips for the 2025 ERAS Application Season 
  • For Programs 
    • Thalamus Resources for Programs 
  • For Applicants and Advisors 
    • Thalamus Resources for Applicants 
• Important Reminders 
• FAQs for the AAMC-Thalamus Strategic Collaboration

All ERAS residency and fellowship programs receive complimentary access to: 

• Thalamus Core, interview management 
• Itinerary Wizard, itinerary builder 
• Cerebellum, data and analytics dashboard 

For an additional fee, programs may also elect to purchase Thalamus Video, Thalamus’s virtual interview platform, and Cortex, Thalamus’s technology-assisted holistic application review and screening platform.  

• Cortex, tech-assisted holistic application review* 
• Thalamus Video, video interview platform 

*Cortex will also be complimentary to ALL ERAS programs beginning in the 2026 ERAS season.

For Programs 

Fellowship and residency programs are now using the AAMC-Thalamus integration. This means: 

• Programs use an application programming interface (API) to streamline data and document transfer between the ERAS Program Director’s WorkStation (PDWS) and Thalamus products. 
• Programs may use single sign-on (SSO), meaning ERAS PDWS users can log in to all Thalamus products using their AAMC credentials (in addition to their Thalamus-specific username and password). 

How to opt in and get your program started with Thalamus: 

1. Opt in via the Program Management tab in the Program Director's WorkStation (PDWS).  
2. Onboard: The program contact who completed step one will receive an onboarding email within 72 hours. This means your account is ready.  
3. Sign in to Thalamus to set up your Program Profile, users, and calendar.  
4. Review the Thalamus User Guides and Thalamus Training resources for additional support.  

Thalamus Resources for Programs 

• Download the Getting Started with Thalamus Checklist and Thalamus Roadmap to reference throughout the 2025 ERAS season. 
• Watch the Getting Started with Thalamus Course Video to guide you through the steps to get started. 
• Review the Program Setup and Introduction Course Video before setting up your program in Thalamus. 

For Applicants and Advisors 

The AAMC-Thalamus collaboration improves residency and fellowship applicants’ ability to quickly and easily respond to interview invitations from interested programs. To prepare for the interview season, applicants must set up a Thalamus account and download the Thalamus mobile app (available in the Apple iOS and Google Play stores). This will allow them to easily view and respond to invitations. 

Thalamus Resources for Applicants 

• Download the Thalamus General Applicant Getting Started Reference Sheet.  
• Sign up for a free, live Thalamus training course for applicants. This 45-minute course includes a Q&A session and real-time support.  
• Watch a recorded training course. The 25-minute session contains much of the same information as the live session, and it is available for viewing when it’s most convenient for you. 
• View a short video on how to navigate the MySchedule page in Thalamus.  
• Visit Thalamus University Online Academy, Thalamus’s new virtual learning module platform, featuring on-demand training and content, all available 24-/7 for programs and applicants.  
• Search the step-by-step applicant guide for specific how-to articles.  

• The ERAS Interview Scheduler tool has been replaced by Thalamus Core, which offers real-time interview scheduling. 
• Itinerary Wizard reduces the program coordinator’s scheduling workload by streamlining and automating the creation of faculty and applicant interview schedules, including generating virtual interview links and building interviews based on faculty availability, as well as applicant and program preferences. 
• ERAS Analytics for Institutions has been replaced (as of Oct. 30) by the Cerebellum Data & Analytics Dashboard, which uses data to provide insights that help your institution and/or program meet your recruitment goals and allows you to compare recruitment performance and outcomes to other programs in your specialty year over year. 
• For any Thalamus product support or information, please visit the Thalamus website or connect with their 24-7 technical care team.

These frequently asked questions provide strategic and operational details about the AAMC-Thalamus collaboration, as well as outline how it helps the GME community.