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Residents must apply through ERAS (The Electronic Residency Application Service)
Summary of Policies on Resident Selection
Applications to the Diagnostic Radiology Residency Training Program are made using the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS). The Chair of the Department’s Residency Selection Committee (currently, Barry H. Gross, M.D.) reviews all applications and selects about 100 applicants, that he or she considers to be most outstanding, for an interview. There are no absolute criteria utilized to eliminate applicants from consideration. Instead, the Chair scrutinizes each application for outstanding performance in any of several areas (academic performance, test scores, personality traits, community service). Special consideration is given to women and minorities, as well as to University of Michigan medical students.
Two or three faculty members on the Residency Selection Committee then carefully review all written documents for each applicant who is selected for an interview. These include a completed ERAS application form, curriculum vitae, personal statement, medical school transcript, Dean’s letter, and at least two letters of recommendation. All applications are assessed in 5 categories, which attempt to evaluate cognitive and non-cognitive skills.
The “cognitive” categories include:
1. Educational background--quality of college and medical school attended
2. Scholarship--grades, class rank, membership in AOA, National Board of Medical Examiners or United States Medical Licensing Examination scores,
3. Intellectual curiosity--research and volunteer activity.
The “non-cognitive” categories include:
4. Interpersonal skills
5. Responsibility and maturity
Applicants are graded in each of the 5 areas on a scale of 0 to 5 (with five being the best score). Individual scores are multiplied by factors of 1 (for intellectual curiosity), 2 (for educational background, interpersonal skills, and responsibility/maturity), and 3 (for scholarship), thereby more heavily weighting those areas considered to be most important, and the weighted scores summed. The highest possible applicant score is 50. Subjective modifications of this score are then made by each of the evaluating faculty after their 20-30 minute interview of the applicant.
At the conclusion of all interviews, all applicant scores for each Resident Selection Committee faculty member are averaged in order to normalize scores for each faculty member. Each individual candidate score is then expressed in terms of standard deviations from that faculty member’s mean. This process is performed in order to equalize variations in scoring between faculty members, as some tend to be consistently higher or lower scorers. The adjusted scores are then summed to give a final score for each applicant. The applicants are listed in order from highest to lowest scores, thus establishing a tentative rank order.
A meeting is subsequently held at which time Residency Selection Committee members may make further subjective modifications to the rank order list, providing that these changes are agreed upon by all members of the Committee. Reasons for such adjustments include concerns raised at the time of the interview which are shared by all members of the Residency Selection Committee, subsequent direct communication between faculty at the applicant’s medical school and a Residency Selection Committee member, and any additional consideration that is to be given to women and minorities.
