All about USMLE

• LETTER OF RECOMMENDATION:
  • You need to first designate the letter writer in the application. The LORS that you will mail to ECFMG will be uploaded to match with the designated Professor.
  • About the letters of recommendation, a minimum of 4 is required. The number of recommendation letters required by each program varies from 2 – 4, the most common being 3.You can upload as many LORS as you want but can assign only a maximum of 4 to each program.

Format for a LOR:

Name and Designation:                                    Home Address:
                                                         Home Phone:
Address of Medical College / Hospital                    Cell Phone:
                                                         Email ID:
Contact Number in the Hospital
(Letter Head)

(Body of Letter)
Points to be covered:    Communication Skills
                         Bedside Manners
                         Ability to work in a team
                         Pleasant Personality
                         Your academic record
                         Extracurricular activities

                                                         SIGNATURE
                                                         NAME AND DESIGNATION

Try to get LORS from Heads of Departments, Professors and Registrars. Waiver information on these Documents and where to post it to is available at the ECFMG Website under ERAS.

• Personal Statement:

Try to restrict yourself to 1 page in a word document using Font Size 12 in Times New Roman. Points that need to be addressed are:

• Why did you decide on a Medical Career?
• Why did you choose that particular Specialty?
• Why did you choose that particular Program?
• Details about your Medical Education, your opportunities, your strengths, weaknesses and successes.

Try to make it interesting and avoid too many ‘I’s.
ANOTHER FORM OF WORKSHEET FOR PERSONAL STATEMENT:

1. Reasons for specialty selection
2. Skills you possess which are valued by your specialty
3. Relevant clinical and personal experiences
4. Personal interests and life experiences which exemplify your values and priorities
5. Personal and practice goals
6. Qualities you desire in a residency program.

• USMLE Transcript: Eras will transmit your USMLE scores directly the first time you apply. You need to make a choice between automatic transmission and manually selecting the retransmit button for the future. In the former, once your exam result ( Step 3) has been declared they will automatically transmit it to the programs you have applied to. In the latter case you need to click on the retransmit button. The advantage of this is that you can choose not to transmit your result if you fail the exam (God Forbid). However once you retake the exam and click on the retransmit button, both your present (pass) status and your previous failed report will be transmitted.