Another year is upon us! As we move into 2024, I wanted to pause and reflect on 2023 and share my excitement over what is on the horizon for the ERAS® program. The ERAS program was developed by you, and our recent successes are a tribute to the work we are doing together every day.
We continue to focus on data, analytics, and research to improve your experience and the transition to residency for learners, advisors, programs, and specialties. We look forward to sharing more innovations in the coming months and continuing to engage with you to learn how we can better work together to improve the transition to residency.
We updated the MyERAS® system to enable applicants to signal their interest to programs and share geographic and setting preferences, and we simplified the experiences section. We’re thrilled about how these updates worked for the community.
We have developed a useful new tool to support our medical school colleagues: Dean’s Office WorkStation (DWS) Analytics for Schools. Through this resource, deans, faculty, and advisors can harness the power of ERAS data to develop useful reports to monitor trends and support cohorts or individuals through the residency application process.
The AAMC expanded its successful Fee Assistance Program to include ERAS residency applicants. Beginning in the 2025 ERAS season, eligible applicants will automatically receive a 60% discount on up to 50 ERAS applications — a significant savings for thousands of future physicians.
ERAS Program Management replaced ERAS Account Maintenance. Now, program teams can update information and prepare for the new season from the Program Director’s WorkStation (PDWS).
We started the year strong with our recently announced new fee structure for the 2025 ERAS residency application season. As I noted in my message to our community, this change represents one of the important steps we are taking to address cost concerns among residency applicants.
We’ll roll out a full integration of Thalamus Core for interview scheduling. Programs will find a full set of user-friendly tools, and applicants will have easy access to invitations and the ability to quickly respond.
Our collaboration with Thalamus will ensure schools have more efficient and comprehensive interview data to advise applicants.
We’ll strengthen institutions’ ability to use our rich and deep data resources when we incorporate ERAS Analytics for Institutions into Thalamus Cerebellum.
We’llexpand DWS Analytics for Schools with more tools to enable advisors to support students in their journey from medical school to residency.
We’ll provide more research into program signaling and geographic preferences. Data will be shared with specialties, programs, and medical schools to improve the transition to residency.
We’ll make additional improvements in the MyERAS system to further support holistic review.
We’re planning a full 2024 travel schedule, and we’d appreciate the opportunity to participate at your upcoming events to engage with the members of your specialty, institution, or interest group.
Alongside our partners, we’re strengthening the Residency ExplorerTM research tool. Applicants will find even better resources to help them explore programs and specialties.
Finally, thank you for your continuing participation in the ERAS program. Just as your contributions make the ERAS program stronger, so does our position as a vital part of the AAMC. It's a unique connection that extends throughout the medical education journey — from the premed years through medical school and beyond. We know that some specialties and individual programs are considering other application systems. Please know that you — and every specialty — will always be welcome in the ERAS and AAMC communities. We are listening to the continuing feedback from programs, applicants, and schools, and we have accelerated improvements to ERAS systems while giving you greater access to AAMC data and research.
We are excited to roll out the innovations for the 2025 application season! The ERAS program was developed by, with, and for the whole community. We are accountable to you. And we maintain our focus on the future for you — and partner with you — to nurture the physician workforce of tomorrow.
As always, I welcome your thoughts and ideas on what we can do to further strengthen the ERAS program for learners, programs, institutions, and medical schools.
Sincerely,
Patrick Fritz
Senior Director
Admissions and Selection Application Services
Need Help? Contact the AAMC Support Center (202-862-6249) Monday – Friday, 8 a.m. – 6 p.m. ET