ERAS Insights

The 2026 ERAS Season is in Full Swing

June 30, 2025

Update from Leadership

Dear Colleagues,

The 2026 Electronic Residency Application Service ® (ERAS®) season is underway! It opened on June 4, and with the July fellowship cycle right around the corner, applicants have begun requesting tokens, and programs are using the Program Director’s WorkStation (PDWS) to register for the season. Our team is busily preparing for July 2, when fellowship applicants can begin submitting applications, and July 16, when programs can begin reviewing them.

For the second year, we are offering the Specialty Spotlight webinar series to give residency applicants the chance to get insight and ask questions from program directors and advisors. So far, more than 10,000 individuals have taken part in nine webinars. Three more webinars are coming in July, and registration and recordings for all of them are available on our website.

Thanks to the AAMC collaboration with Thalamus, one of the most exciting changes for this season is the addition of Cortex at no charge for all ERAS-participating programs. A technology-assisted decision support software, Cortex is designed to streamline and enhance the selection and interview process. The ERAS and Thalamus teams are presenting a virtual learning series to help program teams prepare to use this great product. If you have not registered for one yet, there is still time to sign up on our website.

I am looking forward to sharing updates with you throughout the coming season. And as always, I welcome  your questions or feedback.

Sincerely,

Patrick Fritz
AAMC Senior Director for Residency and Fellowship Services

The PDWS Community is evolving! On July 1, the new Residency and Fellowship Recruitment Community will open as part of the AAMC Virtual Communities Network — a vibrant platform designed to enhance collaboration and engagement with more than 9,000 peers in academic medicine.

The AAMC Virtual Communities Network provides tools such as discussion boards, announcements, and email notifications to keep you informed and connected. You will have a streamlined, customized way to interact with fellow members of your group.

We’ll soon share resources and tools through email and our community spaces to help you make the transition. For any immediate questions or comments, please contact the AAMC Support Center.

Reminder: Register Now for the 2026 ERAS Season

As you are preparing to review applications for the 2026 ERAS recruitment season, please take time to complete several important actions in the PDWS. Once you have logged in to the PDWS, open the Program Management tab and select your program. Please complete these actions from the three sections on the left navigation. Links to helpful job aids are included.

Section	Please Indicate
Application Requirements Job Aid	Away Rotation Requirements Letter of Recommendation Requirements Interview Invitation Release Dates
Program Characteristics Job Aid	Visa Sponsorship (J-1, H-1B, F-1). Answers to research questions to improve program information in the Residency Explorer^™ tool
Program Participation Job Aid	Update program participation status, check program listing details.

Participation in Program Signaling for the 2026 ERAS Season

Programs in participating specialties are automatically opted in to program signals upon registration. If your program does not intend to utilize program signals as a part of your review process, you may opt out in the PDWS via the Program Management tab. July fellowship programs indicated their participation by 5 p.m. on Wednesday, June 18. For September residency programs, please indicate your decision to opt out of participation by 5 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Aug. 20. For December fellowship programs, please opt out of participation by 5 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Oct. 29.

What We’re Hearing About the ERAS Program

ERAS is the backbone of what we do to stay organized during recruitment season!
— Anna Hurst, Program Director, University of Alabama at Birmingham

Holistic Recruitment Starts with Cortex

For the 2025-2026 season, Thalamus Cortex is now available and free to all ERAS-participating programs to streamline holistic application review. Centralize your review, collaborate with faculty, and turn scores into rank lists and long-term insights with ease.

Follow these steps to get your application review process set up in Cortex:

Explore free Cortex training resources
Create your program’s scorecards
Setup your review workflow and utilize the Cortex Sandbox – Coming Soon!

Learn more about Cortex for the 2025–2026 season.

AAMC Webinar Provided Insight on Research During Medical School

How much do research and publications actually impact residency interview invitation decisions? To help students, prospective students, and medical advisors consider the evidence on how research impacts residency applications, the AAMC presented a June 18 webinar that explored common myths about the “research arms race” through data and input from program directors to provide students, especially Y1s and Y2s, as well as advisors with evidence-based insights to help them make informed decisions.

Access the Debunking the Research Arms Race: Navigating Publications in Medical School webinar recording online (register to access the recording).

The Residency Explorer™ Tool Updated with New Data to Support Informed Program Research

The Residency Explorer tool has been updated with the latest data to support medical students and residency applicants preparing for the next application season.

Students using the tool will now find:

Licensing exam data from the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) and the National Board of Osteopathic Medical Examiners (NBOME).
Expanded data on program positions offered and filled, with the latest information from the National Resident Matching Program® (NRMP®).

The Residency Explorer tool is the only tool that combines data directly from the organizations involved in the residency selection process. This means much of the information is validated by the source organizations themselves—as opposed to being self-reported by individual programs—offering applicants a more complete, trusted view as they build their list.

Residency Programs: Please Complete GME Track Program Survey

The Graduate Medical Education (GME) Track Program Survey is now open! Residency program teams are asked to complete the survey by Saturday, July 12 to ensure applicants have the most up to date information in both the Residency Explorer tool and FREIDA™. Their responses power key data in both the Residency Explorer tool and FREIDA, including each program’s public profile, new program highlights, application process details, and interview eligibility criteria. Complete the GME Track Survey to ensure your program is accurately and fully represented. 

Coming Soon: Updated Specialty Profiles in Careers in Medicine® Program

New and improved specialty profiles will be available on the Careers in Medicine® (CiM) platform in early July. These updates are designed to provide clearer, more relevant insights into each specialty — helping students make informed decisions as they explore potential career paths in medicine.

Updating the AAMC VSLO® Platform: Coming This Winter

Work continues toward modernizing the Visiting Student Learning Opportunities™ (VSLO®) platform this winter. The VSLO team is currently developing a training schedule and support materials to provide medical school advising teams with opportunities to familiarize themselves with the new platform ahead of the next away rotation season. Look for more updates and resources on the VSLO Program Updates page.

AAMC Applauds Introduction of Bill to Reduce Physician Shortage

The AAMC has endorsed the introduction of the Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2025. This bipartisan legislation would gradually add 14,000 Medicare-supported medical residency positions over seven years as well as codify the Rural Residency Planning and Development Program. Read more.

AAMC Statement on Senate Reconciliation Bill

AAMC President and CEO David J. Skorton, MD, and AAMC Chief Public Policy Officer Danielle Turnipseed, JD, MHSA, MPP, issued a statement about proposed policies within the budget reconciliation legislation then under debate by the U.S. Senate. “As the Senate moves to consider its budget reconciliation legislation, we again strongly urge policymakers to reject harmful proposals that would cut Medicaid funding, limit access to health insurance marketplace exchanges, and lead to millions of people losing health coverage and access to care. We also encourage policymakers to reject provisions that would limit federal student financial aid for aspiring physicians, particularly at a time with a persistent national physician shortage. This pending bill would have devastating consequences for patients and communities across the country.” Read more.

Advancing AI Across Academic Medicine Resource Collection Seeking New Submissions

The AAMC’s Advancing AI Across Academic Medicine Resource Collection is a repository of timely, freely accessible resources designed to help medical schools, residency programs, and academic health systems effectively integrate AI into their educational environments. The AAMC seeks to enhance and expand this collection and invites submissions of practical resources to advance the responsible use of AI across academic medicine. All submissions are due by Aug. 15 at 11:59 p.m. PT. Learn more.

Events and Resources

The AAMC will be hosting several new webinars for medical schools, programs, and applicants throughout the year for the 2026 residency and fellowship application season. Below are registration details and more information for webinars in July. To see a list of all upcoming webinars, visit our website.

ERAS PDWS Q&A Session
Tuesday, July 22, 1 p.m. ET

Topic:

ERAS - Electronic Residency Application System