Common acronyms you might encounter while applying
- AAMC - Association of American Medical Colleges, the organization that oversees medical schools and teaching hospitals, and runs ERAS
- CAF - Common Application Form, the ERAS version of a résumé or CV
- CARMS - Canadian Resident Matching Service, the Canadian version of ERAS
- COMLEX - Comprehensive Osteopathic Medical Licensing Examination, a series of exams to assess your knowledge and acumen - it's the osteopathic USMLE
- ECFMG - Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates, which certifies international applicants who want to train in the United States, and processes many of your supporting documents as your designated "Dean's Office"
- EFDO - the ERAS Fellowships Documents Office, which transmits applicant information exclusively for fellowship programs
- ERAS - Electronic Residency Application Service, the website you'll use to develop your application, select where to apply, pay to transmit all documents to residency programs, schedule interviews, communicate with programs, and more
- FREIDA - Fellowship and Residency Electronic Interactive Database, a free online resource containing information on thousands of accredited graduate medical education programs
- FSMB - Federation of State Medical Boards, which oversees registration and scheduling for USMLE Step 3
- IMG - International Medical Graduate (this term can apply to international citizens who attended medical school overseas, as well as to Americans and Canadians who attended medical school in places like Mexico or the Caribbean)
- LOR - Letter of Recommendation; you'll need three or four of them, mostly from United States doctors (this document will be processed by the ECFMG if you're an IMG)
- MSPE - Medical Student Performance Evaluation (previously known as a "dean's letter"), an application document that summarizes your time in medical school with details like your noteworthy characteristics and evaluations of your rotations
- NBOME - National Board of Osteopathic Medical Examiners, which licenses osteopaths
- NRMP - National Resident Matching Program, which allows both applicants and residency programs to rank order their choices based on who interviewed; it also handles SOAP for unmatched applicants
- SOAP - Supplemental Offer and Acceptance Program, the time period just before Match Day when unmatched applicants try to "scramble" into a still-open position
- USCE - United States clinical experience, a term used to describe completing a rotation, externship, or observership in this country (if you're an IMG, be aware that most program directors will only interview applicants who have hands-on experience here!)
- USMLE - United States Medical Licensing Examination, which has three Steps to assess your knowledge and acumen. Step 2 has two components:
- CK - Clinical Knowledge, a multiple-choice, computer-based examination
- CS - Clinical Skills, which utilizes patient encounters to evaluate your skills (note - the CS exam was suspended in 2020)