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Timeline for Senior Year Class of 2008

REQUIREMENTSFOR SENIOR YEAR / GRADUATION

1. Complete a CMS core clerkship as aMedicine or Pediatrics Sub-intern

Seniors are required to complete a CMScore clerkship as a Medicine or Pediatrics Sub-intern (4 weeks) sometime duringthe 50 weeks of their fourth year.Seniors have the opportunity to decide when they will do this clerkshipduring the senior track lottery. There are a limited number of Pediatric Subinternships available and they are optional for studentswho have declared Pediatrics as their career choice. Only in extreme personal emergency will therebe consideration for a change in a chosen track, and then the Student AffairsDean must give permission for a change. NOTE: During the MSI or PSI rotation, students WILLNOT be excused for residency interviews and should plan accordingly.

2. Complete a total of 32 weeks ofelectives

CMS requires that each senior studentalso complete a total of 32 weeks of electives to meet graduationrequirements. Fourteen (14) of the 32weeks must be from the intramural electives offered by CMS. (See Senior Intramural Elective Directoryonline at http://66.99.255.23/curriculum/database/senior.asp) Eight (8) of the 32 weeks may be non-clinicalcredit.

3. Grade/evaluation for student'sperformance in elective

The Registrar's Office must receive anofficial grade/evaluation of the student's performance for each elective(intramural and extramural). Thestudent's grade will be determined by the institution providing the evaluation,which may be A, B, C, F or Pass/Fail and that grade will be recorded on theofficial transcript. In order to receivecredit for an elective, the student must receive a passing grade on theevaluation. Evaluations for allthirty-two weeks of Senior Electives must be received by the Registrar's Officeat least two weeks prior to Commencement Day in order that the student receivehis/her degree at Commencement.

4. Student evaluation form

To obtain credit for an elective, thestudent will be required to evaluate the elective experience. The elective evaluation form, found online athttp://66.99.255.23/curriculum/database/senior.asp should be filled out andsubmitted as soon as the elective is completed.The Medical School Curriculum Office will insure appropriate departmentsare notified about the quality of the electives pertaining to theirspecialty. Completion of the CMSelective evaluation form for each elective is mandatory.

5. USMLERequirement

All CMS students are required to takeboth Step 1 and both parts (written and clinical skills) of Step 2 of theUSMLEto graduate. USMLE Step I and Step II CKmust be passed for graduation.

6. Senior schedule

All senior students must file a senior schedule with OSA by December,2007. It is the student's responsibilityto keep this schedule updated throughout the year.

7. Current address

All senior students must record a current address in the Registrar'sOffice.

8. Register

All senior students must register for all quarters of their senioryear. This may be done by mail or inperson through the Registrar's Office (847) 578-3229.

BOTTOM LINE FOR GRADUATION

Senior yearrequirements:

• 4 weeks of Medicine orPediatrics Subinternship
• 32 weeks of electives – (14 ofthe 32 weeks must be intramural CMS electives)
• 36 weeks total for senior yearrequirements
• Pass USMLE Step 2 CK and sitfor USMLE Step 2 CS

All required 3rd year clerkships that must be done by an out-of phase student during senior year must be completed (clinical work and written examination) no later than December 31, 2007.

A student progressing on schedule might expect to have fourteen weeks of time between the end of his/her regular junior clerkships (if all clerkships are taken consecutively), and the day of Commencement Ceremonies for the purpose of vacation, self-study, visits to residency program sites, illness or similar purpose, provided that extra time is not needed to complete the requirements of any clerkship and/or elective.

CMS Class of 2008 Senior Tracks

CHOOSING A SPECIALTY

Choosing a medical specialty isthe most difficult decision you will make in your career. This handbook includes websites, suggestedreadings and references that may help you in this critical decision, and weadvise that you make use of additional resources at CMS. Your clinical advisor and other faculty maybe able to provide you with information about certain specialties, and we inStudent Affairs, are prepared to assist you through career counseling. The Careers in Medicine Program (CiM), http://www.aamc.org/students/cim/start.htm presented by the AAMC, will introduce you to a structured decision-makingprocess designed to facilitate choosing a specialty and alleviate some of theanxiety associated with this decision.The use of elective time to explore various specialty options can also beextremely helpful, particularly for those specialties to which you feel yourexposure was minimal. Another source ofinformation regarding the types of residencies available and the length oftraining can be accessed at http://www.aafp.org/x20271.xml

Once you have chosen a specialtythe next decision is where to apply forresidency training. Many studentschoose one preferred geographical location and apply to all programs in thisarea; others choose to investigate the best programs in their chosen specialtyand apply regardless of location.Obviously, there are many personal factors influencing thisdecision. OSA recommends that youinvestigate at least 15 programs, regardless of specialty, and in the case ofvery competitive specialties, that number should be doubled.

To aid in this process, the AMAoffers each student (at a minimal cost), the "Green Book", an official listingof all residency programs in the U.S. Acopy of the Green Book will be available to order through the Office for StudentAffairs in late April and is most useful.This information can also be accessed on line athttp://www.ama-assn.org/freida.

More and more residency programsare providing their information on Web pages and will ask you to access all oftheir information in that way. In somecases, their applications are also online.However, it may be necessary for you to write to some residency programsin which you are interested to request specific information, including theprogram's application form. Uponreceiving the information, examine the application and brochure carefully fordeadline dates, and note what credentials that particular program requires.

Residency applications can be processed anytimefrom August to January 1st (the deadline varies with individual programs). We advise completing your ERAS and/orpaperwork well before the deadline. Manyprograms recommend receipt of all credentials by November 1st, at the time of the MSPE release, and most programs willnot arrange an interview until all credentials have been reviewed.

While each student's senior yearschedule will vary according to the electives they have chosen, the OSA suggeststhat you anticipate a cumulative two-week period for application processingtime. This time should be spentcompleting your personal statement, compiling the list of your programs,completing the ERAS application with your pertinent information for theelectronic application process, and, if necessary, filling out the residencyprogram paper applications.

There is no absolute rulegoverning how many residencyprograms one should apply to. Moststudents apply to 20 - 30 programs; some students apply to many more. If one receives interview requests fromapproximately 50% of the programs applied to, then we believe the student isrealistic in his/her choices.

Whether you will be doing ERAS orpaper applications, you will be compiling basically the same information for theresidency programs, just in different formats.

Programs may request thefollowing:

• programapplication
• MSPE
• letters ofrecommendation
• curriculumvitae
• personalstatement
• CMS transcripts
• USMLE Scores
• undergraduate transcripts
• photographs

USMLE Requirements

General

• All CMS studentsare required to pass Step 1 and and Step 2Clinical Knowledge (CK) and take Step 2 Clinical Skills (CS) of USMLE(United States Medical Licensure Examination) to graduate.

• Per USMLE policy,students may take any of the Step exams no more than three times within a12-month period. For Step 1 and Step 2CK, you may retake the examination no earlier than the first day of the monththat begins at least 60 days after your previous test date; for Step 2 CS, youmay retake the examination no sooner than 60 days after your lastattempt.

• Students who areunsuccessful on three attempts of Step 1 or Step 2 CK will be considered fordismissal.

• Please consultthe following web sites for additional information about the USMLE Stepexams:

• www.nbme.org

• www.usmle.org

• http://prometric.com (exam sites, scheduling,etc.)

• http://csess.ecfmg.org/calendarRO.asp(Step 2 CS scheduling)

Step 1

• Students must take USMLE Step 1 beforebeginning M3 clinical clerkships. Astudent who fails the examination may complete the clerkship in which s/he wasenrolled at the time of notification of failure, but must withdraw from furtherclinical activity until s/he has retaken Step 1. Students who fail Step 1 on a second attemptwill not be allowed to enroll in any clerkship until they have passed theexamination.

Step 2

• It is strongly recommended that youtake Step 2 CK by December 31 andStep 2 CS by March 1 of your M4year. This will allow you to postresults during the Rank Order period (mid-January to mid-February) –increasingly important to residency programs -- as well as provide ample time toretake the examinations in time to graduate, should it be necessary.

• Current Step 2 CSdata indicates that it has been administered to over 27,000 examinees, with a 3%failure rate for US medical school graduates.Step 2 CS is considered a valid and reliable examination by residencyprogram directors and it may affect their decision to interview and/or rankapplicants.

• To receive yourdiploma at Commencement, you must be able to verify that you passed Step 2 CKand took Step 2 CS at least two weeksprior to the ceremony. Note thatthe turnaround time for results of Step 2 CK is typically 4 weeks after the examis taken and is currently approximately 8 weeks for Step 2 CS. Please schedule your test datesaccordingly.

• M4’s who have notposted a passing score on Step 2 CK by the week of the NRMP Match and who do notsuccessfully match will be significantly less likely to secure a position duringthe Scramble process. Program directorsare reluctant to select students who may not fulfill CMS graduation requirementsand may consequently be ineligible to start a residencyprogram.

• A student whodoes not pass Step 2 CK prior to graduation may remain a student of ChicagoMedical School, paying applicable tuition and receiving appropriate benefits,such as student health insurance, subject to approval by the Student Evaluation,Promotions, and Awards Committee. Astudent who does not complete Step 2 requirements by one year from theoriginal/scheduled date of graduation will be recommended fordismissal.

Important Web Sites For the Class of 2008

http://www.aamc.org/careersinmedicine Careers in Medicine is a four-phase(year), school-administered course designed to assist students in understandingtheir options for choosing a specialty and selecting and applying to a residencyprogram in order to meet their career objectives. The website provides the basics of theprogram in an interactive format.

The Office for Student Affairs at CMS has integrated theAAMC program into our already existing Career Planning programs for ourstudents. You are encouraged to use thiswebsite for personal self-assessment activities as they pertain to yourneeds. Contact Sherrie Wheeler in CMSStudent Affairs to receive your personal access code.

http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/2997.html

FREIDA Online is a database containinginformation on approximately 7,500 graduate medical education programsaccredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME)and 200 combined specialty programs. By defining and prioritizing variousselection criteria, you can select several programs or focus on a specificprogram for viewing. The new version ofFREIDA Online provides summary statistics about each specialty andsubspecialty.

www.careermd.com

Career Insights MD, publishedannually by Career Publications, Inc.

www.cmss.org

Choosing a Medical Specialty by theCouncil of Medical Specialty Societies, a non-profit association whose membersare 17 national specialty organizations representing more than 330,000 doctorsnationwide.

https://services.aamc.org/Publications/index.cfm?fuseaction=Product.displayForm&prd_id=146&prv_id=172&cfid=1&cftoken=869F400D-2434-477F-AE409D0BD21AF251

Roadmap to Residency: From Applicationto the Match and Beyond

https://services.aamc.org/Publications/index.cfm?fuseaction=Product.displayForm&prd_id=159&prv_id=189&cfid=1&cftoken=869F400D-2434-477F-AE409D0BD21AF251

Charting Outcomes in theMatch

www.facs.org/residencysearch/index.html

A medicalstudent guide to finding and matching with the best possible surgery residency. So YouWant To Be A Surgeon, the little red book” is nowonline.

http://fmignet.aafp.org

Strolling Through the Match – amedical student’s guide. Thewhat, where, when, why and how of residency selection.

http://www.aamc.org/students/medstudents/electives/start.htm

TheExtramural Electives Compendium contains essential information formedical students about elective opportunities at Liaison Committee on MedicalEducation (LCME)-accredited medical schools in the United States and Canada.

http://66.99.255.23/curriculum/database/senior.asp

CMSsenior electives – intramural edition

www.aamc.org/eras

ERAS, the Electronic ResidencyApplication Service from the Association of American Medical Colleges, is theservice which transmits residency applications, letters of recommendation,Dean's Letters, transcripts, and other supporting credentials from medicalschools to residency program directors using the Internet.

http://www.nrmp.org

The NRMP website is used to registeronline for the National Residency Matching Program. Registration begins in late summer, throughNovember. All CMS students are requiredto register for NRMP. Following theinterview process, applicants and residency programs evaluate and rank oneanother, and then a computerized process pairs applicants with programs based onthe ranked preferences for the official Match.

www.sfmatch.org

The SanFrancisco Matching Program assists applicants interested in thespecialties of Ophthalmology, Otolaryngology, Neurology and Neurosurgery.

www.auanet.org

The American Urological Association (AUA)Residency Match for Urology is administered by the AUA Office ofEducation.

www.nbme.org

National Board of MedicalEducation

Additional SuggestedReferences and Reading

Getting Into A Residency - A Guide forMedical Students

Kenneth V. Iserson, MD, Galen Press Ltd.

How to Choose a Medical Specialty, Anita D.Taylor

Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders, Co.

Graduate Medical EducationDirectory, American Medical Association

Journal of Medical Education, Association of American Medical Colleges monthly publication.

Of interest tostudents are frequent articles on factors which influence career selection andthe annual publication of the National Resident Matching Program results, i.e.,final statistics from the match from each specialty, usually in June-August ofeach year.

Journal of the American MedicalAssociation, weekly publication.

Of particularinterest is the annual issue on medical education published in Septembercontaining the most recent statistics on residents and residency positions foreach specialty. Also of interest is theannual "Contempo" issue, usually published in latefall or early winter which contains reflections on trends in each specialty byrespected leaders in each field.

The NewPhysician, American Medical Student Association, bimonthlypublication. Frequent articles on specialty selection. Free to medical student members of AMSA.

Physician Characteristics andDistribution in the US,

AmericanMedical Association, annual publication

Resumés and Personal Statements for HealthProfessionals

James W. Tysinger, PhD

Gallen PressLtd.