The purpose of your MyERAS Application (often called the ERAS CV) is to highlight your experiences in a way that’s attractive to programs. This isn’t achieved through an endless series of bullet points or short, 1st person paragraphs. Instead, you’ll need to craft detailed, impactful, and strategic entries. To do so, we’ll consider the ERAS CV from a rhetorical perspective grounded in audience analysis (i.e., how program directors read).
Below, we’ll explain the main components of the MyERAS Application along with best practices. They may go against advice you’ve read elsewhere, but they are all backed by years of experience–and successful matches!
Before we dive in…did you know applicants cannot upload PDF CVs into the ERAS system? Instead, you’ll fill in a series of fields within ERAS, adding details for each experience (dates, location, title, responsibilities, etc.). The output is a document that’s uniform in formatting for everyone, making it easy for programs to evaluate.
Take a moment and think about the last part of the previous sentence: make it easy for programs to evaluate your CV. To get it right, we can look toward research about the way people read.
A series of studies by Dr. Ziming Liu and others discovered that the majority of readers rely on skimming when they first encounter a piece of writing. Think about it…when you have to read something, is your first instinct to read straight through? Or do you skim/scroll a bit through the document to “get a feel” for what’s to come–and whether or not you want to continue reading?
When we skim, our brains are actively trying to identify key pieces of information. Poor formatting, overly complex phrasing, and “walls” of text make it difficult to do this. And when something you have to do is unnecessarily difficult, you enjoy it less.
Submitting a CV that’s difficult to skim is likely to annoy program directors, who will then review your CV in a less-than-ideal mind frame. At worst, they’ll decide your CV isn’t interesting enough to bother reading it more closely. Keep in mind these decisions aren’t calculated, it’s just how the brain processes text.
Now that we’ve established a framework for how your CV is likely to be read, here are best practices you can rely on to build an easy-to-read CV.
There aren’t a lot of formatting options for this section of ERAS. Nonetheless, you can take advantage of white space, indenting, and bullet points to ensure a smooth reading experience.
White space is used in 2 ways: to visually separate text and to offer the eyes a rest.
Indenting is a visual cue denoting a higher level of detail.
Bullets indicate where new ideas begin.
Take a look at these 2 experience descriptions:
The one on the left requires a slower reading to ascertain what’s being conveyed.
The one on the right is easy to skim and assess.
We recommend never using 1st-person, narrative paragraphs in the CV. They are even harder to skim than a list of bullets:
When it comes to creating bullet points, aim for concrete word choices and straightforward phrasing. This maximizes readability and impact.
Here are a few examples:
USMLE Peer Tutor
Wordy: Offered ongoing guidance and encouragement while fostering student growth and success in their journey towards achieving exam success.
Concise: Shared effective study strategies for USMLE exams and offered encouragement.
Hands-on Internship
Wordy: Evaluated, diagnosed, and provided treatment across various departments, adapting to the unique care requirements, whether it be in follow-up clinics, outpatient settings, inpatient care, or the emergency department.
Concise: Evaluated, diagnosed, and provided tailored treatment modalities in outpatient, inpatient, and emergency settings.
Vice President: Student Interest Group
Wordy: Periodically conducted surveys to gather students’ opinions on various topics and presented their feedback during curriculum committee meetings.
Concise: Conducted student surveys to gather opinions and presented results during curriculum committee meetings.
Here are 2 last tips for the experiences section:
The supplemental information sections in the MyERAS Application emerged from a separate “Supplemental Application” document. It was tested across a number of specialties for 2 match cycles (2021 & 2022), and the feedback was positive. Now, the best elements from the Supplemental Application are embedded in the main application, and research and AAMC data confirms they are important to programs.
In this section, you’ll consider your 10 experiences and select 3 of them as “most meaningful.” These will be the first 3 experiences presented on your CV—so your choices are quite important.
The biggest mistake applicants make here is writing entries discussing what they learned or did. The ERAS instructions for this section are clear: “The [meaningful experiences] should not describe what you did in the experience or list a set of skills that you developed or demonstrated.” Instead, write your meaningful experience sections based on how the experience made you feel, how it influenced your path, and/or the impact it had on your values.
Ineffective meaningful experience entry: I learned how to triage incoming patients and pay attention to non-verbal cues. Additionally, working alongside a multidisciplinary team strengthened my communication skills.
Effective meaningful experience entry: Encountering undereducated and uninsured patients was a poignant reminder of the disparities in healthcare. It prompted me to authentically engage with patients and their families and instilled a deep sense of empathy.
The geographic preference section offers three options:
Statistically, applicants who select geographic preferences receive more interview invitations than those who don’t.
The strongest responses in this section highlight a unique and/or notable connection to the area: close family ties, previous experience living in the area, hometowns, etc.
If you don’t have a reason to choose any specific regions, plot out your programs on a map to see where they are most concentrated and base your selections on that. Your explanation can include things like the region’s climate being similar to “home,” family/friends who frequently visit the area, a longstanding desire to live in the region, etc.
The settings preferences section offers five options ranging from strong preference for urban to strong preference for rural with the midline response being “No preference.”
This section offers five options:
Choosing “No preference” is the smartest choice for anyone applying broadly. If you are applying primarily to programs in just one setting, though, indicating your preference makes sense.
Your explanation in either case should be genuine and speak to your experiences, goals, or values. Avoid vague responses and include details where possible.
This one should be named “Hardship Experience,” because that’s what it’s for. If you’ve gone through something difficult that’s directly impacted your journey toward matching, this is the place to discuss it.
This section can be used to explain an attempt, a gap, or any other irregularity in your application—as long as a hardship is involved. It can also be used to describe a difficult upbringing, dealing with loss, helping care for a sick family member, etc.
Tip: This section is optional, and programs don’t expect all applicants to complete it. Not everyone has experienced a relevant hardship, and some who have would rather not share.
Creating your experience entries takes time. Plan for several dedicated sessions of writing, and start with a “brain dump” to capture as many ideas as possible. From there, focus on 1 entry at a time and revise until your content is detailed yet easy to skim and assess.
Not sure how to select and present your 10 ERAS experiences? Read here.
For additional tips on creating a strong ERAS Application, explore Class Act ERAS Consulting’s comprehensive guide here.
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The purpose of your MyERAS Application (often called the ERAS CV) is to highlight your experiences in a way that’s attractive to programs. This isn’t
