Who gets eras fees ? (+ an IMG point of view on match,etc)

[valid username]

Who gets the $26? Do the programs get all of it? Part of it? I hope so, because how else do they afford the labor to read this stuff?

I am as non-traditional as I can be, so the very idea of paying (or submitting a photo) for a job is highly unusual to me. I'm not the only one. If you poll random adults (truly random--not just doctors) you will find most of them consider paying to apply for an internship to be a MAJOR scam red flag. I'm not saying Match is a scam, rather, I am trying to shed some light on just how perplexing this process is for someone who comes to medicine with previous experience outside of medicine.

This prior experience, by the way, explains how *some* qualified applicants end up going to Caribbean schools. If you have only known of internships/jobs that are secured by direct applications your whole life, you have absolutely zero reason to suspect things are different in medicine. There is simply no reason to think that where you got your education is more than one of many factors to be considered. That's how things work in other professions. To an outsider, it is not an unreasonable assumption. To me, the stereotypes I hear and read about IMGs (criminals, lepers, idiots...i could go on) reflect more about the speaker's/writer's inability to empathize with people from different backgrounds than about the IMGs they attempt to vilify.

I am not saying I expect to be treated as an equal. That will never happen; I know now. What I am saying is this: if you find yourself standing next to a prior IMG, consider that person may not be deplorable. Consider that maybe they thought internships in medicine were like internships in engineering, pharmacy, law, journalism, human resources...infinitely long list. Stop assuming that every IMG must have either have a low gpa, low MCAT, is socially inept, or is hiding a criminal background, etc. Chances are pretty good that, if we passed Steps in the same amount of time as you did, we probably started out with similar qualifications but different life experience.

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[Shikima]

Same with paying for MOC. And a lot of other crappy fees that we are charged.

 

[valid username]

Yes, more weird fees. Where does the money go?

 

[OldPsychDoc]

I can promise you--$00 goes to programs.

(Wow--just realizing how AWESOME it would be if we got any kind of per capita payment for applications. I could retire!)

 

[deleted736562]

Yes, it's very unusual in other parts of the world for that to happen. No one should be paying for a job application. Certainly not medical students under a ton of debt.

They do it because they can. It's a consequence of the centralized matching system, which essentially screws the applicants and is set up to benefit the employers and is a violation of antitrust laws (union, the other way around). All of that is considered heresy, simply because somehow residency is considered outside the realm of sensible labor laws.

 

[valid username]

I can promise you--$00 goes to programs.

(Wow--just realizing how AWESOME it would be if we got any kind of per capita payment for applications. I could retire!)

Nooooooo! What the actual fudge??? That is just terrible! You are the ones incurring expenses spending time going through these! I am shocked. I thought you at least got some of it.

 

[OldPsychDoc]

Nooooooo! What the actual fudge??? That is just terrible! You are the ones incurring expenses spending time going through these! I am shocked. I thought you at least got some of it.

It's our job.

 

[NickNaylor]

It's our job.

"Academic volunteerism."

It does take resources to run ERAS' infrastructure, pay staff, etc. so my guess is that every dollar goes to ERAS. Whether or not all of that money is actually needed is a completely reasonable question. But it's not as if having staff on hand to answer questions or running servers is a free service...

 

[valid username]

It does take resources to run ERAS' infrastructure, pay staff, etc. so my guess is that every dollar goes to ERAS.

I understand a lof it of it going to ERAS. I know it isn't free to run. However, I know I am considered a fool for not spending enough on ERAS fees ($1900). My school recommended I spend at least $7500 and up to $13,000. So I am trying to understand how this is justified. Coming up with almost $2000 required serious sacrifices--every program is nearly a tank of gas. I had hoped that the 74 programs I carefully selected after months of research would have some reason to give my application a few minutes. It's very difficult for me to consider contacting them when I know I am asking them to do extra work for free. If i thought they were getting half the money I wouldn't feel as bad about burdening them with an extra email.

 

[OldPsychDoc]

I understand a lof it of it going to ERAS. I know it isn't free to run. However, I know I am considered a fool for not spending enough on ERAS fees ($1900). My school recommended I spend at least $7500 and up to $13,000. So I am trying to understand how this is justified. Coming up with almost $2000 required serious sacrifices--every program is nearly a tank of gas. I had hoped that the 74 programs I carefully selected after months of research would have some reason to give my application a few minutes. It's very difficult for me to consider contacting them when I know I am asking them to do extra work for free. If i thought they were getting half the money I wouldn't feel as bad about burdening them with an extra email.

It's your career. Send the email.
If we're too "burdened" for it, it will just get deleted unread.
But if you're asking for specific consideration for specific reasons...we may think twice, or it may get you pulled out of the haystack of indifferent applications in the first place. If you don't have connections, at this point it's going to be about luck and persistence. And good luck will happen more to the persistent.

 

[valid username]

...sending...