Career Advising FAQ’s
Choosing a specialty is a multi-faceted process that incorporates your interests, skills, and values. The FSU College of Medicine encourages students to utilize the AAMC’s Careers in Medicine (CiM) toolkit to begin career exploration. The Careers in Medicine toolkit includes information about specialties as well as surveys students can take to help them narrow their focus and identify values and interests.
Students are also encouraged to strengthen self-knowledge about their interests and skills through shadowing, volunteering, and other clinical experiences. Lastly, your faculty advisor or other mentors can help you process the information you’ve gathered as you narrow your career choices.
There are a variety of avenues for students to explore medical specialties:
- The AAMC Careers in Medicine toolkit provides specialty-specific information about length of training, Step 1 pass rate, and average Step 2 scores, median salary and more.
- Beginning in the preclinical years, students can attend Evening Rounds, Zoom sessions that allow students to hear from clinicians and ask questions.
- Students have access to specialty-based clinicians to ask their career advising questions. The link to specialty-based clinicians can be found on the individual specialty pages of this site.
- FSU College of Medicine has 41 Registered Student Organizations (RSO), many of which are targeted to a specific specialty.
Students should begin this conversation by speaking to their Faculty Advisor. These advisors have access to Careers in Medicine and are ready to assist students in career exploration.
Preclinical students can also reach out to the Associate Dean of Student Affairs or the Assistant Dean of Student Affairs to discuss their unique situation.
Clinical students can also meet with their Regional Campus Dean for career guidance.
Competitiveness is a multi-faceted variable. Academic Performance (Pre-clerkship & Clerkship Grades; USMLE Performance) Strong letters of recommendation, and a Well-Written Personal Statement all increase your competitiveness. For some specialties, especially those with limited spots nationally or those in academic centers, having research will increase your competitiveness. There are a number of tools that can be used to compare metrics.
- NRMP Charting Outcomes in the Match – Characteristics of MD Seniors
- NRMP Program Director’s Survey (biennial)
- Program Directors Association Guides for Residency Applications
- AAMC Residency Explorer Tool
- Careers in Medicine Specialty Profiles
- In the third year, students will be given access to the Texas Seeking Transparency in Application to Residency (STAR) Database, which includes candidates’ self-reported information about the Match.
- Faculty advisors and specialty-specific faculty members are available to help students evaluate competitiveness.
In the third year of medical school, students will attend a required session that reviews the elements of the residency application, including the approach to the personal statement. Advisors and Regional Campus Deans are also available to offer support and feedback.
Research requirements are specialty dependent. Students are encouraged to review data from previous match cycles, and to discuss their research plans with their advisor. Students are also encouraged to attend Evening Rounds sessions to speak directly to program directors on this topic. Students interested in starting research should contact the Program Director for Medical Student Research at the FSU College of Medicine https://med.fsu.edu/researchDivision/SRO_Medical to discuss options.
Below are tools that will be helpful in determining research impact.
- NRMP Charting Outcomes in the Match – Characteristics of MD Seniors
- NRMP Program Director’s Survey (biennial)
- Program Directors Association Guides for Residency Applications
- In the third year, students will be given access to the Texas Seeking Transparency in Application to Residency (STAR) Database, which includes candidates’ self-reported information about the Match.
Visiting Student Learning Opportunities (VSLO) is an application service offered by the AAMC for elective opportunities.
Away rotations are primarily scheduled through VSLO during the spring of the M3 year, to occur in the M4 year. Regional campus faculty and staff will provide guidance for navigating VSLO.
No, away rotations are not part of FSU College of Medicine’s graduation requirements. Students must be considered to be in good academic standing in order to be approved to participate in away rotations.
More information about away rotations can be found on the AMA website.
The AAMC offers a database of resources that includes some financial support opportunities.
AAMC Visiting Scholars Resource Database – look for indication of financial support.
Some specialties and programs also offer scholarships to students for away rotations. Student Affairs will alert students to these opportunities when we receive them. It would also benefit students to stay involved in national and state professional societies of their desired specialty.
The Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS) is the AAMC’s centralized system used to apply to residency and fellowship programs.
For more information: https://students-residents.aamc.org/applying-residencies-eras/about-eras-system
The ERAS application checklist can be found at https://students-residents.aamc.org/media/9721/download
The ERAS portal typically opens in early September for students to submit application materials. Residency programs typically get access to review applications in late September.
The number of away rotations a student may take is dependent on multiple factors, including the number of elective weeks available to them in their fourth year.
The FSU College of Medicine Student Handbook notes the following about electives:
“Up to 24 weeks (minimum 16 weeks) in the fourth year will be devoted to student electives in which students will be able to choose among select rotations, including subspecialty rotations. Twelve weeks must be spent in FSU COM-sponsored electives at any of the College of Medicine sites. The remaining weeks can be spent in elective studies at any accredited medical school or approved clinical setting in the United States. In select cases, consideration may be given to limited international electives with prior approval."
Interview timing varies by specialty and program. Although the National Residency Match Program (NRMP) is the main matching program for most specialties, It is important to note that there are multiple match programs.
The NRMP main matching program interviews are typically held between October and January each year. Details of other match programs can be found on their websites, linked below.
Information about ERAS residency application fees can be found at
Program signals are a tool that allows a student to indicate interest in particular programs. According to the AAMC, program directors ranked Program Signals in the top 5 of application components. Not all specialties utilize signaling, although the number is increasing each year. Likewise, there are a variety of signaling types. Given the changing landscape for signaling each year, students are encouraged to discuss with their advisor and/or their Regional Campus Dean for the most up-to-date information.
AAMC Overview of Signaling
See the brief video below from the NRMP about how the Match Algorithm works.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yieyXPdsdsk
Students who do not match can participate in the NRMP’s Supplemental Offer and Acceptance Program (SOAP). This system works to offer unfilled positions to unmatched or partially matched applicants. Students are notified of their Match status on the Monday of Match Week. Students who do not receive a Match via the NRMP algorithm have the option of participating in SOAP during the remaining days of Match Week. Students participating in SOAP will receive guidance and support from their regional campus faculty and staff as they apply for unfilled positions.
The FSU CoM Match rate for the most recent years is 99%. The details of our Match for recent cohorts can be found at the link below.