As Featured on WCI...

Looking for a podcast for your daily drive or work out? Check out the White Coat Investor (WCI) podcast, where I was recently interviewed. For those of you who aren't familiar with WCI, it's a website/blog/podcast founded by James Dahle MD, an emergency physician whose interest in personal finance and the FIRE (financial independence - retire early) movement has sparked a slew of physician devotees. My interview focused on how Insider Medical Admissions helped me create autonomy and flexibility while balancing a clinical career and a family. Check it out here or on your favorite podcast app. 

Why did ERAS crash during SOAP?

Congrats to all of those who Matched last week! And kudos for those of you who managed to make it through this year's difficult SOAP.

During SOAP (Supplemental Offer and Acceptance Program) last week, the server crashed, leaving many applicants and programs confused and scrambling (no pun intended). The 2019 Match Week and SOAP schedule was, therefore, revised such that all SOAP offer rounds were postponed and limited to Thursday, March 14.

At the time of this writing, it's unclear what happened. Rumors are that the volume of participants was greater than in past years, leaving ERAS/AAMC unprepared. This might be the case with the opening of many new medical schools and a continued, relative dearth in the number of residency spots available. Read this article for a controversial - but interesting - take on why. 

We'll probably have to wait for this year's Match numbers for any answers.

Race to the Bottom (In a Good Way)

Thanks to NYU's announcement that it will be eliminating tuition at its medical school, other institutions are reassessing their costs and graduates' educational debt, as some experts predicted. Recently, Kaiser followed suit with a free tuition plan for their new medical school in Pasadena. Now, Yale is making overtures as well, lowering the financial burden for needy students by covering more costs with scholarships, instead of loans. Keep your eye out for what will likely be a revolution as more and more medical schools note that to compete for strong applicants, they must offer robust financial support. 

Fee Assistance Program

As the 2019-20 medical school application process ramps up, I want to remind candidates about the Association of American Medical Colleges' (AAMC) Fee Assistance Program (FAP) and Insider Medical Admissions' available discount for those with a current FAP. The FAP is designed to offer help to individuals with financial limitations who cannot pay the MCAT registration or AMCAS application fees without financial support. 

If you think you are eligible, it's worth applying for an FAP grant early: If an applicant submits his/her AMCAS prior to receiving a decision on his/her FAP application, that candidate will be ineligible to receive the FAP for the AMCAS. In other words, the candidate will not receive a refund.

For more information on the FAP, please click here. I offer reduced rates for applicants demonstrating financial hardship through a current AAMC FAP grant. After researching the issue, I believe Insider is the only medical consulting company who currently supports a discount for FAP grant recipients. (I apologize if I'm missing a company.) Once you have been granted the FAP and thus, can prove receipt, please feel free to contact me for more information.