Immediate impact of participation in the electronic residency application service on a fellowship program.

Objective: This study sought to evaluate the immediate impact of participation in the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS) on a single cardiology fellowship program.

Method: The study reviewed all applications (n = 1824) made to the Geisinger Medical Center cardiology fellowship program over a 4-year period (2004-2007). The aggregate data for the first 2 years (pre-ERAS, 2004 and 2005) was compared to that of the last 2 years (post-ERAS, 2006 and 2007).

Results: Compared to the pre-ERAS period, the total number of applications in the post-ERAS period increased by 49% (732 versus 1092; p<.05) and the number of complete applications increased by 70% (577 versus 983; p<.05). Other significant differences (p<.05) included a higher percentage of applications from female candidates (81 of 732 [11%] versus 186 of 1092 [17%]), and a greater geographic distance from applicants' internal medicine residency institutions (420 ± 454 miles versus 585 ± 559 miles]. Comparison of applicants' age, citizenship status, graduation origin, years since medical school graduation, and United States Medical Licensing Examination scores yielded no significant differences between pre-ERAS and post-ERAS periods.

Conclusion: Participation in ERAS resulted in an immediate increase in the total number of applications, higher proportion of applications with complete data, a higher number and proportion of female applicants, and a wider geographic distribution of applications. This likely reflects ease of application submission through a central electronic service. However, the administrative burden on fellowship programs and the effects of wider geographic distribution of applications on the fellowship-matching process merit further evaluation.