Where do you mention USCE (Observerships / Externships ) etc. on the CAF ?

Been thinking on that question lately ? Well, here's some help !


My apologies for a small digression = One of the problems that the Medical informaticians face is trying to 'structure' all medical information so that it becomes computable - of course the objective is noble, but trying to fit something as fuzzy as medicine into binary predefined templates is a very long shot, in fact almost impossible. For example, you can never have just have a "Yes" and "No" dropdown for a question as simple as "Does the patient have clubbing of the nails?", coz' even for the same patient, different physicians will answers like "yes", "no", "not sure", "maybe", "need second opinion". etc. , depending on their experience, expertise and perceptions. Almost nothing in medicine operates on rigid single-values, is mostly a range.

Likewise, while the CAF on the MyERAS application tries its best to 'structure' all candidate responses, there will always be information that does not have a well defined space to fill in !

A common question is where should the candidates mention those various types of non-curricular clinico-medical experiences (Both US and Non-US) like Observerships, Externships, Electives, Externships, etc.

This is what the CAF clearly mentions below the Experiences section title bar"

"Include Clinical and Teaching experience as work experiences, include all unpaid extra-curricular activities and committees you have served on as volunteer experiences "

That should include all types of clinical experiences - including Observerships. Though some say it would go as voluntary experience - but my principle is, do not undersell yourself and besides, as an observer, you are really gaining work experience and not volunteering your services to the hospital.

If it is of any help - I have put up a sample filled out section for an Observership experience on the Page 5 of ERAS - Check it out by clicking on the accompanying image on the left.


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There will also be additional points on your resume that you may not find a predefined 'structured' place on the CAF for - for example, some candidates might take some Continued Medical Education (CME) credits or short courses like BLS (Basic Life Support), ACLS (Advanced Cardiac Life Support) . etc - Where Do you mention All those ?

Use the "Other Awards/Accomplishments" sub-section located on Page 12 (Miscellaneous section) of the CAF for all such information




Search keywords to this blog post:

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