Helpful definitions

CCE – Community Clinical Experience - spans the first two years of the curriculum and is characterized by an ambulatory care preceptor hosting a student in his or her office one afternoon, generally every other week.  Provides students opportunities to further develop interview, physical exam and presentation skills learned in the Doctoring course. 

 

LIC – Rural Health Longitudinal Integrated Clerkship - a program designed to address the physician shortage in rural areas, allowing students to learn an evidence-based curriculum, acquiring clinical skills and medical knowledge in a context of continuity with patients, medical staff and community.

 

PAL – Personalized Active Learning block - a required one-credit course designed to provide students with curricular time to pursue flexible individualized independent learning activities to further their medical education.  This is completed at the end of the MS1 year.

 

AAMC - Association of American Medical Colleges

 

ACGME - Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education

 

ERAS – Electronic Residency Application Service - the centralized online application service used to deliver the residency application, along with supporting documents, to residency programs. 

 

NRMP – National Residency Matching Program  - The NRMP uses a mathematical algorithm to place applicants into residency and fellowship positions.

 

NRMP ID - A unique identifier Match applicants receive as part of their registration for an NRMP Match

 

Couple - Any two applicants who link their rank order lists in an NRMP Match

 

Rank order list  - Preferences submitted by applicants and programs used by the NRMP match algorithm

 

Categorical program - A “categorical” position is one in which full residency training is provided as required for board certification in that specialty.

 

Preliminary year -  one-year positions that occur in PGY-1 (Post-graduate year-1), prior to entry into advanced specialty programs.  Preliminary positions provide prerequisite training for advanced programs and lack the complete training required for board certification in a specialty.

 

Transitional Year -  a preliminary year training program in which trainees rotate through numerous medical and surgical rotations.

 

Advanced program - begin in PGY-2 (Post-graduate year-2), after one year of prerequisite training (preliminary or transitional year). These positions allow residents to complete the necessary training required for board certification in a specialty. Examples include Dermatology, Urology, Diagnostic Radiology, Anesthesiology.

 

Parallel plan - An additional, or alternative, specialty the student plans to apply to simultaneously, along with the first specialty preference, as a strategy for optimizing a successful match and securing residency training. 

 

Sub-internship (“sub-I”): a clinical rotation of a fourth-year medical student during which the  student takes on an expanded role in patient care. The student acts in the capacity of a first-year resident, or intern, under the supervision of senior house staff and attending physicians.