Eligibility and Selection Criteria Policy

University of Washington Family Medicine Residency Program

Effective: 05/31/2015

Reviewed: 4/21/2017 C. Tanner MD

PURPOSE

The University of Washington Family Medicine Residency Eligibility and Selection Policy is designed to ensure fair and consistent consideration and decision-making for all applicants to our residency and clinical fellowship training programs. The respective program director, faculty and department chair under the oversight of the Graduate Medical Education Committee (GMEC) and the Office of Graduate Medical Education performs recruitment and appointment of residents and fellows to UW programs.

ELGIBILITY

The accredited programs sponsored by the University of Washington School of Medicine are highly competitive and attract a large number and wide range of applicants.

The residency program director must comply with the criteria for resident/fellow eligibility as defined in the Institutional Requirements [IR IV.A.], the Common Program Requirements [CPR III.A], and the applicable RC requirements. Applicants must meet one of the following qualifications to be eligible for appointment to an ACGME-accredited program:

  1. graduation from a medical school in the United States or Canada, accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME); or,
  2. graduation from a college of osteopathic medicine in the United States accredited by the American Osteopathic Association (AOA); or,
  3. graduation from a medical school outside of the United States or Canada, and meeting one of the following additional qualifications:
  4. holds a currently valid certificate from the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates prior to appointment, or,
  5. holds a full and unrestricted license to practice medicine in a US licensing jurisdiction in his or her current ACGME specialty/subspecialty program or,
  6. has graduated from a medical school outside the United States and has completed a Fifth Pathway program provided by an LCME-accredited medical school.

The program director must also ensure that candidates are eligible for a Washington (or other applicable) state provider license, are authorized to work in the United States at the time of appointment, and meet the applicable essential abilities requirements of the program.

A resident transferring into the program and requesting credit for prior training must have completed all prior post-graduate clinical education in an ACGME-accredited residency program, or in a Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC)-accredited or College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC)-accredited residency program located in Canada. The program director must receive verification of any applicant’s level of competency in the required clinical field using ACGME or CanMEDS Milestones assessments from the prior training program.

APPLICATION

The UW Family Medicine Residency training program is required to use the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS®) to receive and accept applications to the program.

INTERVIEW

Applicants invited to interview for a resident position will be informed by electronic means of the terms, conditions, and benefits of their appointment to the ACGME-accredited program, as well as all institutional and program policies regarding eligibility and selection for appointment, either in effect at the time of the interview or that will be in effect at the time of his or her eventual appointment. This includes financial support; vacations; parental, sick, and other leaves of absence; and professional liability, hospitalization, health, disability and other insurance accessible to residents/fellows and their eligible dependents. All terms, conditions, and benefits of the potential appointment are described in the Residency and Fellowship Position Appointment (RFPA), which are available by January 15th of each year and effective for the following academic year. These resources are posted on the Prospective Residents and Fellows page on the UW GME website.

SELECTION

Future trainees in the program are selected among eligible applicants on the basis of training program-related criteria such as their preparedness, ability, aptitude, academic credentials, communication skills, and personal qualities such as motivation and integrity, as well as professionalism. Primary responsibility for selecting candidates with the skills, aptitudes, and abilities to profit from each educational program lies with the program director and the faculty.

The programwill not discriminate with regard to sex, race, age, religion, color, national origin, disability, or any other applicable legally protected status. The Family Medicine program seeks qualified candidates whose personal goals include full-spectrum practice within an academic environment.

Before accepting a resident who might be transferring from another program, the program must obtain verification of previous educational experiences and a summative competency-based performance evaluation of the transferring resident, as outlined in the UW GME Transfer Policy.

The Family Medicine Residency Program uses the following process for selection of residents:

  1. Screening of Applicants.
  2. The program uses ERAS to receive all applications, and reviews all applications once the following minimum information is available:
  3. Common ERAS application form.
  4. At least one letter of recommendation.
  5. Medical school transcript
  6. USMLE transcript.
  7. Personal statement.
  8. Reviewed applications are initially screened to eliminate applications that do not meet minimum selection criteria:
  9. Successful passage of a USMLE on the first attempt.
  10. Anticipated ability to meet eligibility requirements as listed in the eligibility section above by the time of appointment.
  11. ECFMG certification, for International Medical Graduates.
  12. Completion of medical school within the last 3 years, unless the applicant has had ongoing training or medical experiences involving direct patient care in which the applicant is primarily responsible for patient care and management.
  13. Applications are secondarily reviewed and scored by faculty reviewers, using established program criteria (academic performance, breadth of experiences, leadership potential, potential program "fit", special considerations). The top applicants are then invited to interview based on interview availability.
  14. Interviews are scheduled on a first-come, first-serve basis until filled. Every effort is made to accommodate additional applicants so that as many qualified, interested applicants as possible can be interviewed.
  15. Interviews.
  16. Both faculty and residents score each applicant during the interview process, using established criteria (academic performance, breadth of experiences, leadership potential, interpersonal skills, potential fit with the program).
  17. Averages of faculty scores and of resident scores are calculated and added, forming a numerical basis for the preliminary match list.
  18. The Program Director independently reviews each application to assure that scores reflect the application strengths and weaknesses.
  19. Final ranking for the MATCH submission.
  20. All available residents and faculty meet together to review the preliminary match list, and discuss any additional information or insights that might lead to changes in the list.
  21. Changes are only made based on the established criteria. The discussion is specifically barred from including any reference to age, gender, race, religion, or any other characteristics that would unfairly bias against any applicant.
  22. The final match list is submitted to NRMP by the program director.
  23. Unfilled MATCH positions
  24. All unmatched positions will be offered in the NRMP SOAP process and filled according to the rules of SOAP.
  25. Applications outside of the MATCH.
  26. The program does not accept applications for the R1 year outside of the MATCH, unless the program does not fill in the MATCH or SOAP.
  27. Applications for positions other than the start of the R1 year are done on an as-needed basis, using the same criteria as in the original search.

4) APPOINTMENT. After acceptance into the residency program following the above, each applicant is sent a University of Washington Resident /Fellow Position Agreement (RFPA) as a formal contract for training. The current Agreement is available on the UW GMEC website.