Application & Eligibility

We welcome applicants who demonstrate a strong commitment to Internal Medicine and the potential to thrive in our residency program. We use a holistic approach to application review, considering academic achievement, clinical experience, personal attributes, and the overall context of each applicant’s journey.

We welcome applications from U.S. and international medical graduates. We prefer applicants who graduated from medical school within the past three years, while recognizing that applicants may take different paths to residency training. Our program sponsors J-1 visas for eligible candidates.

Detailed application requirements and information about our recruitment and review process are provided below.

Application and Recruitment Guidelines

We will only review residency applications submitted through the AAMC ERAS system.

Our Internal Medicine Residency Program uses a holistic approach to applicant review. We consider academic performance, clinical experiences, letters of recommendation, and the qualities each applicant may bring to our residency community.

Our goal is to identify applicants who demonstrate the academic preparation, professionalism, interpersonal skills, clinical potential, resilience, and commitment to learning necessary to thrive in our program.

International medical graduates are evaluated using the same holistic review principles applied to all applicants.

Meeting the criteria below does not guarantee an interview. Likewise, our review process is not based on a single examination score or application metric.

Medical School Graduation

Applicants must be graduates of an accredited U.S. allopathic or osteopathic medical school or hold an equivalent medical degree from an international medical school, such as an MBBS.

Year of graduation may be considered as one component of our holistic review. We recognize that applicants may have taken different paths to residency training and encourage candidates to provide context for significant gaps in education or clinical training when appropriate. We prefer applicants who graduated from medical school less than three years ago. 

USMLE Requirements

Applicants must have passed USMLE Step 1.

Completion of USMLE Step 2 Clinical Knowledge (CK) before application review is strongly preferred. USMLE performance is considered as part of the overall application; however, we do not rely on a strict Step 2 CK score cutoff when determining whom to interview.

An unsuccessful first attempt on Step 1 or Step 2 CK does not automatically exclude an applicant from consideration. Such applications will be evaluated in the context of the applicant’s overall academic and professional record.

For international medical graduates, successful completion of USMLE Step 3 may strengthen an application.

Letters of Recommendation

Applications must include a Medical Student Performance Evaluation MSPE/Dean’s Letter, or its equivalent.

We require three letters of recommendation. All letters should be from physicians in internal medicine, an internal medicine subspecialty, who can meaningfully comment on the applicant’s clinical abilities and readiness for residency training.

Personal Statement

A personal statement is required as part of the application.

Applicants are not expected to write a statement specifically for our program. We value authenticity, self-reflection, and transparency. When applicable, the personal statement may be an appropriate place to provide context regarding interruptions in education, extended training timelines, examination attempts, or other significant aspects of an applicant’s journey.

We strongly value personal statements that reflect the applicant’s own experiences, perspective, and voice. Statements that appear to have been generated primarily by artificial intelligence or other automated writing tools are viewed unfavorably.

International Medical Graduates

International medical graduates must meet all applicable Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) requirements and be eligible for ECFMG certification as required for entry into graduate medical education.

Our program sponsors J-1 visas. We are unable to sponsor or accommodate H-1B visas.

Program Signaling

Because we receive substantially more applications than we can individually review in depth, program signaling plays an important role in determining which applications receive priority review.

Applications from candidates who signal our program are reviewed preferentially.

We generally prioritize application review in the following order:

• Gold signals
• Silver signals
• Applicants without a program signal

Applicants who do not signal our program may be substantially less likely to receive a full application review because of application volume.

A signal, including a gold signal, does not guarantee an interview invitation. Interview decisions are based on both the applicant’s signal and the overall strength and fit of the application.

Program signals are used to help determine which applications receive review and interview consideration. Signal status is not used when constructing our final rank order list.

When applicants have otherwise comparable qualifications and potential for success in our program, demonstrated geographic interest in our region may also be considered during application review.

Interview Process

Interviews are conducted virtually from approximately October through early January. We do not conduct in-person residency interviews.

Pre- and Post- Interview Communication

Applicants do not need to send letters of interest, emails, or other communications before interviews.

Pre-interview correspondence will not provide an advantage in obtaining an interview. Applicants should use ERAS, including the program signaling process, to communicate their interest and submit application materials.

Similarly, applicants are not expected to send thank-you notes or letters of intent following an interview.

Whether an applicant sends post-interview correspondence will have no effect on the program’s rank order list. Similarly, statements indicating that an applicant plans to rank our program highly will not influence how that applicant is ranked.

The program may occasionally communicate with applicants after interviews when appropriate. Such communication should not be interpreted as a commitment regarding placement on the program’s rank list, and applicants are not obligated to respond.

Our program complies with all applicable National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) requirements governing recruitment and post-interview communication.

Second-Look Opportunities

We expect to offer optional second-look opportunities later in the recruitment season, typically in January or February.

Depending on the year, these opportunities may include virtual and/or in-person events designed to allow applicants to meet residents, learn more about our clinical sites, and experience the community.

When offered, second-look events are entirely optional.

Attendance or non-attendance will have no effect on an applicant’s position on our rank order list. Our goal is to provide applicants with additional information that may help them make their own decisions regarding their final rank lists.

Resident Open Houses

Throughout the interview season, we typically host weekly virtual open houses with our chief residents and current residents. These sessions are intended to give applicants an informal opportunity to ask questions, learn more about day-to-day life in the program, and hear directly from the residents about their experiences.

Faculty members do not attend these sessions. Our goal is to provide applicants with a comfortable setting in which they can have candid conversations with current residents and ask questions they may not wish to raise during the formal interview day.

Participation in these sessions is entirely optional and has no bearing on interview selection or placement on our rank order list.

Commitment to a Fair Recruitment Process

Our program is committed to conducting residency recruitment with professionalism, fairness, transparency, and respect for applicants.

We adhere to the NRMP Match Participation Agreement and applicable NRMP policies and principles and incorporate recommendations from organizations including the Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine (AAIM).

Faculty and staff participating in recruitment receive education regarding appropriate recruitment practices, equitable applicant evaluation, interview conduct, and communication with candidates.

Our objective is straightforward: to provide applicants with an honest understanding of our program while using a structured and equitable process to select residents who will thrive within our learning environment.