For the 2024–2025 residency-application cycle, applicants may begin submitting their applications through the Association of American Medical Colleges’ MyERAS (Electronic Residency Application Service) platform Sept. 4, 2024. Programs can begin reviewing applications Sept. 25.
Ahead of that date, residency applicants should arm themselves with as much information as possible to help them determine where to apply. Residency program open houses taking place virtually before the application-submission deadline offer medical students another way to ask questions and determine their fit with a program.
The AMA helps medical students master the residency-application process so you can make the right decisions about your career, prepare for a knockout interview, explore residency opportunities—all so you can successfully match.
So, how can medical students get the most out of residency open house events? One residency program director offered insight.
Getting a feel for a program
Virtual residency program open houses became more common during the COVID-19 pandemic. With most specialties continuing to do residency interviews virtually, these open-house events continue to be an opportunity for medical students to learn more.
Leigh Eck, MD, is the internal medicine residency program director at the University of Kansas Medical Center (KUMC). Her institution plans on holding a larger open house highlighting all their residency programs. KUMC’s internal medicine program also plans to hold a smaller open house where potential applicants can learn about the program and speak with resident physicians.
Dr. Eck said the first stop for anyone researching a program is likely to be that program’s website, but there are things that an open house offers that are unique.
“The opportunity to spend more time with programs in a virtual open house may allow students to better understand the values and goals of the program—to ensure that that program is going to meet the needs of the student,” said Dr. Eck, an AMA member.
As applicants embark on the residency-selection process, no online resource contains as much information as FREIDA™, the AMA Residency and Fellowship Database®, which includes more than 13,000 Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education-accredited residency programs, and offers a streamlined user experience.
Dive deeper:
- The top questions to ask before you submit your residency application.
- Applying for residency programs: Fourth-year med students' essential checklist.
Understand the nuts and bolts
Virtual residency program open houses take many forms. If an open house offers attendees the chance to ask residents questions, students should take advantage of that, Dr. Eck said.
“When you're spending time with resident physicians, I’d recommend asking questions about the nuts and bolts of the residency program, so you better understand schedules, duty hours, work-life balance,” she said. “It’s also a chance to get an understanding of camaraderie among resident physicians. Do residents interface outside of work? How much bandwidth do residents have to be engaged in priorities outside of work like relationships and hobbies? Those are the types of questions you’ll want to ask.”
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They aren’t required
Understanding that medical students have limited time and energy, residency programs have made their open-houses events optional.
“I can speak specifically to our program and open house: Your attendance or lack of attendance has no impact on your application process with our program. This is an opportunity not an obligation,” Dr. Eck said. “My hope as a program director is that would be the situation for our students across the board. We do not want to put more obligations on our students through this matching process.”
Dive deeper:
- Meet Your Match: A realistic approach to applying.
- When it comes to submitting residency applications, cast a wide net.
Follow the road to residency
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Can you make an impression?
Dr. Eck highlighted that in any interaction, medical students should behave professionally and courteously. Not following those tenets can make the wrong kind of impression. In terms of making a mark in the positive column, she advised students to show that they are informed and enthusiastic.
Your being there coupled with your application—especially if you signal a program—expresses interest on your behalf.
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Which open houses to attend
It makes little sense to attend a virtual open house at your home program or those with which you have done any away rotations. You know how those institutions operate.
“Certainly, I would attend the open houses for the programs I was most interested in first,” Dr. Eck said. “if I had a specific geographic interest or I had a specific area of focus within my training that was unique to a subset of residency programs, I might focus on attending open houses for those programs.”
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