Road to Residency (A Basic Outline of Things

You’ll Need)

1. Keep in mind that the ERAS application submission usually opens on the 5th of
September and closes on the 15th of September
2. Also keep in mind that AKU people tend to be lazy and like to sit on things till the last
minute, so keep pestering them about stuff.

Things you need for ERAS Application:

First thing you do is get your ERAS token and register with ERAS. This costs around $120. This
usually opens in the 3rd week of June. Once done, you’ll get an AAMC ID and can register on
ERAS.

Photo
Get a photo taken in professional attire. Background doesn’t matter. Can be white or grey.
Unlike visa and passport photos you get to smile for this, so yay. The AKU LRC people know
specifications for ERAS, so they’ll know what they’re doing. Just make sure you’ll look the same
as when your photo when you interview (i.e. if you have a beard in your photo, don’t shave it
off the night before the interview). You can upload your photo yourself onto OASIS. It takes
around 24 hours for it be uploaded onto ERAS.

Maximum file size is 100KB and it has to be in JPEG format.

LORs
You can upload as many LORs as you want onto ERAS. Just make sure you waive your right to
view all of them. LORs can take a few days to be processed, so I’d advise you to get these taken
care of as soon as possible. One thing to make note of is that some places like to have LORs that
aren’t dated more than 6 months prior to ERAS cycle, so just try and make sure your LORs are
dated April onwards.

You’ll need a Chairs LOR for at least one of the programs you apply to. For medicine, you just
email Shaheen Hirani (shaheen.hirani@aku.edu, ext. 4681) and send him a couple of sentences
about yourself. He adds those to the general template he uses for everyone elses. (The 2
sentences can be as stretched out as you want. Some people write entire paragraphs..). For
psychiatry, they usually let you write your own LORs, which you can then email to Dominic
(dominic.dsouza@aku.edu), who would then send them to the chair for review. There’s a new
chair coming in now, so I don’t know how things will work then, For surgery, contact Dr. Ather’s
secretary, he’ll let you know what the process is. Neuro people usually use the Medicine HOD
letter too, because neuro comes under department of Medicine in AKU. For paeds, Dr. Kirmani
writes his own, which are usually very good. You may have to do a clinic or two with him if
you’ve never interacted with him before, but the good LOR is totally worth it.

Also, a strong LOR from AKU faculty goes a long way when applying. For people applying to
psych, Dr. Murad writes excellent LORs if you’ve worked with him.

MSPE
A total pain in the ass. Make sure you submit your application for this as soon as it becomes
open, which is usually in the beginning of June. AKU takes its sweet time making this, so you
have to give them at least 8 weeks. You also want to have time left over to review it because it
usually has a lot of mistakes in it. Plus, AKU has a knack for surprising you with mentions of
failed OSCEs and missed lab sessions, so you need time to put out those fires..

You’re allowed to mention 3 points about yourself which AKU will put in the MSPE. This can
include academic achievements, extra-curriculars etcetera.

Also, AKU will have you take the MSPE, scan it, and then email it back to them so they can
upload it for you. The people to contact for this are Ms. Shaista Ali (shaista.ali@aku.edu) and
Ms. Hina Gulab (hina.gulab@aku.edu ) Ext. 5532

File size should be less than 1200KB, so be sure to compress.

The date for MSPE submission is usually the 1st of October, so you have a couple of weeks
after ERAS applications are submitted to send this in.

Transcript
Again, AKU will have you collect it, scan it and mail it back to them so they can upload it for you.
Transcript, unfortunately, also includes that last page which mentions that all your 67s are in
fact “C” grades..

File size should be less than 1200KB, so be sure to compress.

The transcript costs Rs. 500 and you need to do the whole financial clearance shabang. This
takes a couple of days too.
USMLE Transcript Request
You can put this in via OASIS. This is a one-time fee that costs $80. Meaning that if you request
a transcript for a second or third time, it will be for free. So even if you take you CK last minute
you can request a transcript with just Step 1 and CS earlier. Then once you’re done with CK you
can just request another one, which will be automatically uploaded in place of the first one.
This also takes a couple of days to be processed and uploaded so keep that in mind.

Personal Statement
Start working on this a month or so before application submission date. Perfect it and make
sure it gives an essence as to who you are, because they do use this to judge you as a person
and in sending out interview invitations. A strong personal statement can make up for average
step scores at times. Contractions are allowed in it, but don’t overkill them.

Personal Statements have ZERO processing and uploading times, so this is something that can
be uploaded at the last minute.

CV
ERAS has their own format. Just fill the boxes in that. Also, a piece of advice; be as specific and
forthcoming as you can in the “hobbies and interests” section. It lets programs know a bit more
about the kind of person you are outside of the work place, and gives them something to talk
about with you during your interview.
Also, be as truthful as possible. Once you upload the CV, you can’t change any part of it but
the demographic section.

CV doesn’t require processing, so gets uploaded immediately once you save/verify it.

Cost of Applying
It’s also important to know the costs of applying to programs on ERAS. Every program you apply
to has its own cost, so it’s good to have a guesstimate of how much you’re willing to pay before
narrowing down the programs you apply to. Cost is as follows:

Programs Per Specialty Application Fees

Up to 10 $99

11 - 20 $14 each
 21 - 30 $18 each

31 or more $26 each

So make a note that cost goes up after the 31st program you apply to. From then on, it is $26
per program.

It’s also pertinent to note that if you’re applying to 2 specialties (e.g. IM and neuro), then IM
programs and neuro programs are counted separately. You could apply to, say, 49 total
programs, 28 IM and 21 neuro, but you won’t be charged as having applied to 49 programs. It
will count as 28 IM and 21 neuro, so since you’d’ve applied to fewer than 30 of both the $26
per program fee won’t apply to you even though your programs exceed 31 in total.

I’m making this sound much more confusing than it actually is…

NRMP Registration
This opens on the 15th of September, at around 12pm EST. For this, you go to the NRMP
website (https://r3.nrmp.org/manageRegistration?execution=e1s1 ) and make an account
there, after which they’ll give you an NRMP ID. You have to pay a sum of around $80 for this.
You can purchase this any time up till February, but the price goes up each month. Also, it’s
better to have an NRMP ID with you when you go interview at a program.

Once you have this, you can add this to your CV, even if you’ve submitted the CV beforehand.

NOTE: If you’re not attending convocation, have a friend collect your degree on your behalf.
Contact Mr. Salmi Vilani at salim.vilani@aku.edu He sits at the IED office in Karimabad. Tell him
the name of the person who’ll collect on your behalf and such and he’ll help you out.

Once you have your degree, get a scanned copy of it and email it to ECFMG or upload it on
their app. You need to send this in order to be ECFMG CERTIFIED and get your certificate. This
process can take a month or more, so get started on this as soon as you or your friend have
your degrees.

Once the degree is uploaded, it will take ECFMG a couple of weeks to get back saying that they
have emailed AKU for degree verification. Forward this email to Shaista Ali so that she does this
quickly.

Also, ECFMG mails the certificate to the address you give them on your biographic section. If
you’ve given them the hostel address, I’d advise you shift it to your home address as soon as
possible, because hostel coordinators and aapas have a knack for misplacing these..
THINGS YOU NEED IF YOU MATCH, IA
Matching is only 40% of the work, unfortunately. If you’re applying for a J-1, now is when the
real khwaari begins.

J-1 Requirements
1. PDF of AKU Degree
2. PDF of ECFMG Certificate
3. PDF of CV. (ERAS CV is fine)
4. PDF of Biographic page of passport
5. STATEMENT OF NEED

Once you’ve been accepted, you program will put you in touch with a J-1 specialist who will
handle most of your work for you. They’ll make you an account on the ECFMG/EVSP portal. To
complete your account you need to answer some demographic/biographic questions and pay a
fee of $340.

Once you’re done and all documents have been submitted, ECFMG takes 4-6 weeks to process
and review each application.

Statement of Need is the real pain in the ass. You need to get a bunch of other documents
together and then go to Islamabad and get it made.

Stuff you need for a statement of Need:

1. Copy of AKU Degree (This needs to be attested from AKU or HEC. AKU makes you get
financial clearance and charges you Rs. 5-10 per attestation for this. You can have this
done by someone else if you’re not in Karachi. Just send an authorization email to
Shaista Ali with a scanned copy of your degree.)
2. Copy of ECFMG Certificate (Can be attested by any notary public or government officer
grade 17 or above)
3. CONTRACT LETTER from the program you got into (The offer letter isn’t enough. Health
Ministry wants a contract, so pester your program people to send you yours asap. Once
you get it, this can be attested by any government officer grade 17 or above)
4. Copy of Valid Passport (Basically first 2 pages of passport. Get attested from any
government officer grade 17 or above)
5. Fresh Affidavit on minimum Rs. 20 stamp paper. The template for this can be found on
this link: http://www.nhsrc.gov.pk/index.php?page=Forms Click on the link and the
second form is for the application for Statement of Need.
 6. PMDC Certificate

Now the PMDC certificate is tricky. Firstly, AKU provides a form for this in your graduation
packet after prof. Fill it out and then if you’re not attending convocation have a friend submit it
on your behalf post-convocation once you have your degree. Trust me, you want AKU to be
handling this for you and sending your documents, because doing this on your own is very
tedious and mind-numbing.

The PMDC certificate will be mailed to your home address. They send everyone’s theirs at
different times, so if someone got theirs a week ago and you still haven’t gotten yours, don’t
stress.

You need to get this verified and attested FROM PMDC (not a government officer). For this go
to the PMDC office in Islamabad with the original certificate. They charge you Rs. 2000 for this.
Get a photocopy of this made (back and front because they verify it on the back) and give that
to the ministry people.

The address for PMDC is on the certificate. It’s in G-10/4 Mauve Area, Islamabad.

Once you have all this, go to the health ministry. It’s address is Ministry of National Health
Services Regulations & Coordination, LG & RD Complax, G-5/2, Islamabad
+92-51-9245981
contact@nhsrc.gov.pk

Once you enter the ministry, take a left from the reception. The office that deals with the
statement of need is there. As long as you have all your documents it goes super smoothly. It
does take some time, though. Can take up to 3-4 hours to get it made.

They know the process and how to go about things there, so you’re in safe hands. Just make
sure the envelope they give it to you in is sealed and is stamped on the sealed side.

Once you have the statement of need, you have to FedEx it to ECFMG yourself. The address you
FedEx to is:

“EVSP/ECFMG 3624 Market Street Philadelphia, PA 19104”

Ask FedEx for a student discount. It’ll slash the shipment cost down from 4300 to 2800.

If you want to FedEx from Islamabad, there’s a FedEx Center in the Aabpara area. Its address is
“Allied Bank، I & T Center, Block 11، Aabpara G 6/1 Adjacent، Islamabad,
Islamabad Capital Territory 44000”
There’s another one in Blue Area, but it’s very dingy looking and is an outsourced office, so I’d
suggest you use this one.

Once this is done, just pray keh ECFMG approves your application and then IA your visa
interview goes well, and you get your visa.

Also, if you do have someone who can help you out at the PMDC or ministry, don’t be afraid to
use them for help. It really smoothens the process and gets things moving faster. After all,
government offices hain..

Also, you can have someone go to the ministry and get your statement of need made on your
behalf and have them collect it. They will need to take an authorization letter (attested by
government officer) and copies of their CNIC with them when they do so.

VISA STUFF
Once you have your statement of need and your EVSP/OASIS/ECFMG profile is complete, the
ECFMG will review your application. The website says it takes 4-6 weeks for them to review it,
but usually it gets approved within 1-2 weeks.

Once approved, the ECFMG sends your DS-2019 to your Training Program Liaison (TPL aka the
person from your program who’s handling your stuff for you). They’ll review the DS-2019 to
make sure there’re no errors in it and send it to you via mail (Because the DS-2019 is a
government document, they can’t email or fax you a copy of it.)

When you get the DS-2019, it will have a SEVIS ID on it. It’s usually in the format
“NXXXXXXXXXX”. Once you have this, go to the website “fmjfee.com”. On the website, there’ll
be an option to “pay I-901” fee. You’ll have to enter in some information and then make a
payment of $180.

Save the payment receipt because you will need it for the visa
interview.

After this, just go on the ceac.gov website and fill in your DS-160 and schedule a visa
appointment. Once scheduled pay the visa fee against the challan form(It’s usually $160, but in
local currency. Because rupee is fucked these days, it amounts to Rs. 23200 right now) at any
Allied Bank Branch.
List of Documents to take to Visa Interview
1) DS-2019 (Absolute Must)
2) SEVIS Payment Receipt (Absolute Must) They ask for both these things at the window
when you enter the Consulate/Embassy.
3) One US Visa-sized photograph (Same as the one you uploaded on DS-160)
4) DS-160 Confirmation (Absolute Must)
5) Passport (Duh..)

Extra Stuff You Should Take Just In Case

1) Offer Letter from Program
2) Contract Letter from Program
3) Step Score Reports
4) ECFMG Certificate
5) Attested Copy of AKU Degree
6) CV
7) Bank Statements
8) Travel History for past 10 years

Other than that, just be confident and very truthful with your answers. They don’t normally bug
people too much with J-1.