As a medical student on the verge of submitting your residency application, your next destination is finally in sight. But before you arrive, it’s essential to make sure each component of your application is airtight.
For the 2025–2026 physician residency-application cycle, residency programs can begin accessing applications the third week of September. Ahead of that date, program directors and a medical school dean shared a list of submission safeguards. Following these tips can help applicants avoid missteps and maximize your chances of Match Day elation come March.
Triple-check everything
You’re going to want to have an outside set of eyes proofread aspects of your application that are in your control. That includes your own personal statement and the text you list in the experiences field of an application platform such as MyERAS and ResidencyCAS.
After an outside set of eyes takes a look, give it a final once-over yourself. In addition to content, make sure everything is where it’s supposed to be—this is especially true of any file attachments.
An AMA member, Mark Meyer, MD, is senior associate dean for student affairs at the University of Kansas School of Medicine.
“Attention to detail is essential,” Dr. Meyer said during an episode of the “AMA Making the Rounds” podcast in which he pointed out that program directors will spot—and care about—the little things.
“If you see a grammatical error, it just makes you think how is this individual potentially going to be paying attention to detail when they’re on call, they’re fatigued and stressed.”
The University of Kansas School of Medicine is a member of the AMA UME Curricular Enrichment Program, which provides on-demand education through a micro-learning approach to help medical students distinguish themselves for residency and succeed in medicine. Educators can assign specific elements such as health care business fundamentals and developing leadership skills and receive reports on student progress, track via a dashboard, send reminder emails and customize reports. Schedule an introductory call now.
Maximize signals, geographic preferences
While most specialties still process applications through the MyERAS platform, the unique features available to applicants vary by specialty. Program signaling can be a determining factor in earning an interview in certain specialties, particularly those that grant applicants a high number of signals.
While used across fewer specialties, preliminary data collected by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) during the 2024–2025 Match cycle found that “in general, interview-invitation rates are higher for applications with aligned geographic preferences, followed by no geographic preference, and unaligned geographic preferences. The effect is smaller than what is observed for program signals.”
Simply put: Not using every single signal or geographic preference is leaving money on the table.
The AMA has joined with the Organization of Program Directors Association and the AAMC in launching the “Program Directors Association Guide for Residency Applicants.” The resource is a series of documents that include specialty-specific guidance to boost transparency and help program directors and medical students navigate the process.
Context is king
Where possible—specifically in the experiences section and in personal statements—explain the roles you played in organizations and extracurriculars. You might also want to explain the organization, if it’s one that is unique to your medical school. If you were involved in an organization that might come up on a letter of recommendation, be sure letter writers understand your involvement.
In a panel on the Match during the 2025 AMA Annual Meeting in Chicago, Sanjay Desai, MD, highlighted the importance of not assuming people reviewing your application will understand your work if it’s not clearly articulated.
“When you’re in school, it feels as if everybody understands what I’m talking about,” Dr. Desai said. “But it’s not clear to others. Make sure it’s clear to a reader who doesn’t understand your school, because that will convey the importance of it in a different way.”
Understand specialty norms
At some point during the process of constructing your application, it’s wise to get insight from a faculty member or expert on your preferred specialty. If you haven’t done so in the days leading up to submission, it might be wise to double-check that the packet you are submitting aligns with what is expected.
One example is making sure you have the appropriate list of letter writers. In some specialties, such as obstetrics and gynecology, there is an expectation that at least one of your recommendations will come from the ob-gyn chair at your medical school. Other specialties, particularly those that emphasize away rotations, might expect a letter from a faculty member at an institution outside of your own.
Don’t overdo it
Across all aspects of the application, program directors are looking for quality. Emphasizing quantity by listing experiences that weren’t important to your path or writing a novella of a personal statement—the general recommendation is that it should be no more than one page—will not make you look more qualified.
The same goes for letters of recommendation, according to John Andrews, MD, the AMA’s vice president for graduate medical education innovations.
“If someone asks you for three letters, give them three letters,” Dr. Andrews said. “Don't send them six, because that raises a lot of questions about why you've done that.”
Adhere to deadlines
When it comes to submitting your applications, there’s a balance of timeliness and completeness. You’re going to want to have your application in by the first day programs can begin accessing them. Dr. Meyer said there’s value in getting applications earlier than that, but you want to make sure they are in their finest form.
“We always encourage our students to not wait until the last minute because, historically, the electronic databases or systems surrounding [applications], they bog down, they crash,” Dr. Meyer said. “And so, we really encourage our students to get it in there, put it behind you, clear your mind and be ready to move to the next level, which is hopefully accepting interview offers.”
