Preference/Program Signaling (PS) in Emergency Medicine

Emergency medicine (EM) will be participating in preference signaling (aka program signaling) as a pilot in the 2022-2023 residency application cycle through the ERAS Supplemental Application.  EM will NOT be participating in the other two components of the ERAS Supplemental Application (Past Experiences, Geographic Preferences).

Education for Applicants & Advisors

Please visit the Supplemental ERAS application website for comprehensive information regarding PS including important timelines, preparatory resources*, applicant & advisor webinars, FAQs, the list of participating residency programs, and research/data surrounding the ERAS Supplemental Application from the 2021-2022 residency application cycle.

*Please note that you DO NOT need to read/view the sections regarding the Past Experiences & Geographic Preferences components of the ERAS Supplemental Application.  You only need to familiarize yourself with the Program Signaling portions.

Additional EM specific guidance is available through the EM PS Supplemental Applicant/Advisor Guide, the recorded SAEM RAMs webinar & the recorded EMRA Hangout webinar.

Education for Residency Programs

The AAMC is finalizing their residency program guidance surrounding the ERAS Supplemental Application.  We will link the information here as soon as it is available.

For EM specific guidance, please view our recorded CORD Connects Webinar from May 26, 2022.

Research

The PSWG will be working with the AAMC on various research projects surrounding the implementation of PS in EM.  You do not require the approval of ERAS or the PSWG to perform your own research on PS in EM.  However, it would be in everyone’s best interest to work together and not duplicate research efforts, therefore we request you contact Alexis Pelletier-Bui (pelletier-bui-alexis@cooperhealth.edu) with research ideas surrounding PS.  There will be opportunities to work with the PSWG and AAMC on individual projects.  If you bring forth an idea that the AAMC or PSWG already plans to research, we can connect you with the appropriate individuals to combine efforts.  Alternatively, if you bring forth a project that has not already been proposed, we may be able to connect you with the resources/data you may need for your project.

Please read the following AAMC research expectations/regulations regarding PS & the ERAS supplemental application:

You can use the ERAS data from your program for research and survey purposes. When conducting your research, please abide by the following guidelines:

1. Any use of ERAS application data for research is bound by the security and privacy provisions that are agreed to when a program uses ERAS for its application activities.
2. Data that are downloaded from the PDWS for research purposes should be stored on secure computers.
3. Access to identified data should be limited to as few persons as possible.
4. To the extent possible, de-identify the research data set to remove personal identifiers.
5. Be clear in any report of the data that the sample is limited to only applicants to your program/institution and not national representation.
6. These data may not be shared with anyone outside the institution of the ERAS program.
7. No publication or presentation of these data may allow for explicit or passive identification of any individual or medical school.
8. Please provide us with any manuscript for our records.  While AAMC review is not required, researchers often find our review helpful; we are happy to provide feedback upon request.​

PS Working Group

The decision for EM to participate in PS was made by representatives from the Council of Residency Directors in EM (CORD) Application Process Improvement Committee (APIC), CORD Advising Students Committee in EM (ASC-EM), the CORD Board of Directors, Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM) Clerkship Directors in EM (CDEM), SAEM Residents and Medical Students (RAMS), Emergency Medicine Residents’ Association (EMRA), and American Academy of Emergency Medicine Resident and Student Association (AAEM/RSA) [herein referred to as the PS Working Group (PSWG)].  The PSWG has worked together to create EM specific educational materials and will continue to work together to evaluate the PS pilot over the upcoming year.