ERAS and NRMP...help!

[jane2]

Sorry for the very stupid question, but I'm not really sure about what the difference is between these 2, and am also a bit confused about the timelines involved.

IMGs who wish to apply for residency always need to apply to both ERAS and NRMP, correct?

My understanding is thus far that ERAS is a sort of information collecting service which collects your resume, letters of reference, personal statement and so on. Do you give them any information about where you are applying to?

I also understand that you apply through NRMP to the specific programs you want to join, and rank them, right?

Do you rank the programs before or after you go for interview? I had assumed it was before but I read on internationaldoc.com that it is after your interviews that you have to make a rank list.

Are NRMP and ERAS somehow linked together? Because it seems to be the case that the places you apply to download your info from what you sent to ERAS, is this correct?

I'm a bit confused and would appreciate some information, thanks!

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[jane2]

Ps I'm an IMG and am still pre-med so I'm not as stupid as I might seem, I don't really need to know yet, but am just doing some research!

 

[Selznick]

Ps I'm an IMG and am still pre-med so I'm not as stupid as I might seem, I don't really need to know yet, but am just doing some research!

 

[jane2]

What does that mean ?!

 

[robotsonic]

You've got it pretty much correct about ERAS and NRMP. ERAS has all of your information (transcript, LORs, CV, USMLE scores, personal statement, etc). You also submit a list of the programs you are applying to, so that ERAS can make all of your information available to those programs. NRMP is responsible for the actual match - you submit your ranked list of programs and the programs submit their lists of applicants, and it determines the match. So yes, you have to sign up for ERAS and NRMP; they are not the same.

You rank the programs in February, after you have done all of the interviews. The programs also rank candidates after all interviews are complete.

But you really don't need to worry about this yet, if you are still pre-med. It will all be clear once you have to do it.

 

[jane2]

Thanks robotsonic, I appreciate your response.

I do know that I don't really need to know now, but since I'll be applying as an IMG, I want to know about the process so that I can decide whether it's worthwhile me aiming on doing this. My university in the UK won't give me any help with the process (either now or nearer the time), so I figured that since it is probably quite a straightforward question for someone in the US, I may as well ask!

Thanks.