UWSOM Glossary of Terms for Medical Student Career Planning
This glossary contains definitions of commonly used terms related to medical student career planning, specialty exploration, residency application, and the Match!
Terms you may encounter while:
- Working with the UWSOM Career Advising team
- Exploring specialties and career paths
- Preparing for residency application, the Match, and your career beyond medical school
If there’s a term missing that should be included on this page, please suggest it here.
A
AAMC ID: A unique identification number assigned by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) to each user of AAMC products and services (e.g., the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS), Careers in Medicine resource, and the Residency Explorer tool).
Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME): The accrediting body for residency and fellowship programs in the United States that ensures training programs meet specialty-specific quality standards.
Advanced Patient Care Electives (APC): Four-week, full-time clinical experiences during the Explore and Focus Phase in which the student acts at an advanced level. Some, but not all APC clerkships are considered “sub-internships (sub-I).” APC clerkships may take place in an inpatient or an outpatient setting.
Advanced Residency Program: A residency position that begins at the post-graduate year 2 (PGY-2). This training pathway requires completion of a compatible PGY-1 (also called an “intern,” “preliminary,” or “transitional” year) before starting residency training. Applicants apply for both their intern year and advanced residency programs simultaneously, but separately. Advanced residency pathways that may require a preliminary year include the following: anesthesiology, dermatology, diagnostic and interventional radiology, neurology, physical medicine & rehabilitation, and radiation oncology.
Alpha Omega Alpha (AOA): A national medical honors society, founded in 1902. Election to AOA signifies a lasting commitment to professionalism, leadership, scholarship, research, and community service. Many medical schools have an AOA chapter.
American Medical Student Association (AMSA): The oldest and largest independent association of physicians-in-training in the United States. Many medical schools have an AMSA chapter.
Application System Token: Some residency application systems, such as ERAS and ResidencyCAS, require medical schools to issue access tokens to students. Tokens can be requested from Career Advising via an access form starting the summer prior to the residency application season.
Area Health Education Center (AHEC): A program that works to improve the diversity, distribution, and quality of the healthcare workforce in rural and underserved areas across Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, and Idaho.
Area Health Education Center Scholars (AHEC Scholars): Interprofessional training for health professions students to cultivate a primary care workforce in shortage areas.
Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC): The AAMC serves and leads the U.S. academic medicine community to improve the health of all people everywhere. The AAMC is a not-for-profit association. The AAMC represents accredited U.S. and Canadian medical schools.
Attending Physician: A doctor (MD or DO) who has completed medical school and all residency training and is board-certified or eligible in their specialty (unlike a resident or advanced practice provider). The Attending Physician is credentialed by the hospital to practice in the hospital and supervises all care delivered by a medical team for a particular patient. The Attending Physician is ultimately responsible for making the final decision regarding a patient’s plan of care.
Away Rotation: Also known in the UWSOM as a “Special Assignment Elective.” A 2–4-week rotation taken at an outside institution or facility, for which a medical student can receive UWSOM clinical elective credit during the Explore and Focus Phase. Away rotations do not satisfy the UWSOM sub-internship degree requirement.
B
Backup plan: A student’s contingency plan in the event they are at risk of going unmatched for residency. Students develop their backup plans in consultation with Career Advising and Specialty Career Advisors. See also Parallel Planning.
Block Courses: Integrated, interdisciplinary curricula organized in short periods of time, bringing together basic, clinical, and social science. Blocks are part of the Foundations Phase.
Board Certified: A physician who has passed a national exam in a particular field or subspecialty. The board certification exam is administered by a specialty board.
C
Canvas: An online learning platform for block and course websites. Canvas course websites are used to distribute syllabi, reading lists, class meeting calendars, and other course materials.
Career Advisors: Career Advisors at UWSOM support student career planning throughout their time in medical school. Career Advisors offer advice on ways to explore specialty and career interests, approaches to specialty decision-making, and preparing residency applications. They provide resources and data for specialty exploration and planning and refer students to Specialty Career Advisors for specialty advice. Career Advisors support students who are undecided on their specialty and provide advice on situations such as dual applying, couples matching, and military matching. They support students throughout residency application season by reviewing residency applications and personal statements, and advising on interview preparation and ranking.
Career Advising Student Advisory Board (SAB): Advisory Board members are UWSOM students who provide feedback to the UWSOM Career Advising Office to enhance the career advising experience for all students. Members serve as liaisons to their cohorts on career planning initiatives. Students of all classes and at all WWAMI sites may apply and are then selected on a yearly basis for membership.
Careers in Medicine (CiM): A comprehensive online career-planning program developed by the AAMC that provides students with the skills, information, and resources to choose a specialty and residency program that meets their career goals. CiM offers tools for students to help guide them through self-assessment and research about specialty and practice options. The program is designed to be used in conjunction with faculty and staff advisors who can provide personalized advice for students in navigating the process of planning their physician career.
Categorical Residency: A residency that begins at the PGY-1 year and continues for subsequent years until the end of the training, and offers the full training necessary to acquire board certification in that particular discipline.
Center for Learning and Innovation in Medical Education (CLIME): This organization within the UWSOM supports teaching skills, fosters educator career development, and supports educational scholarship. It welcomes all UW-affiliated faculty, staff, and trainees throughout the WWAMI region.
Clerkship: Also known as a “Clinical Rotation.” A course of clinical medical training in a specialty (e.g., pediatrics, internal medicine, psychiatry) offered for 2, 4, 6, or 12 weeks, which takes place during the Patient Care Phase or Explore & Focus Phase. See also Required Clerkships and Clinical Electives.
Clerkship Administrators: These individuals manage all aspects of the clerkship and advise the clerkship director(s) in their departments. The clerkship administrator acts as a student advisor, advocate, and policy expert for the clerkships in their specialty. This person is typically the first point of contact to answer student questions regarding clerkship registration, logistics, and operations, including housing, absences, and credentialing.
Clinical Electives: Students have an opportunity to register for various elective clerkships during the Explore & Focus Phase. Some clerkship electives require departmental permission to register. Students typically request rotations that permit advanced coursework in areas of specialty interest and provide a broad general medical education in preparation for assuming patient care responsibility during residency training. Clinical Electives are a requirement of the UWSOM MD degree.
College Faculty Mentor: A clinical faculty member who meets regularly with a small group of students from their College. They collaborate with their mentees and others to support progress and completion of required components of the curriculum, academic and career counseling (in partnership with Student Affairs and individual departments), and more. College faculty mentors do not engage in evaluation or grading for their own mentees (all of their feedback is formative).
College Head: Each College Faculty Mentor reports to a lead faculty member, called the College Head.
College System: A four-year longitudinal relationship-centered educational community that develops medical students’ skills to succeed in clinical training and supports their transition to physicianhood. The Colleges program teaches foundational clinical skills (FCM), coaches developing physicians, and fosters meaningful relationships and a sense of community for UW medical students. Students are assigned upon matriculation to a Colleges small group, which consists of one College faculty mentor (a teaching physician) and a group of 4–7 medical students
Combined Residency Program: Also known as “Combo Programs.” A residency program integrating training in two specialties, allowing physicians to work with a broader patient population. Examples include Med-Peds, FM-Psych, and IM-EM.
Community-focused Urban Scholars Program (CUSP): A full-circle pipeline program aimed at developing a workforce of diverse physician leaders in under-resourced urban communities in the WWAMI region. CUSP supports qualified students through mentorship and professional development, population health training, and urban clinical experiences.
Comprehensive Basic Science Exam (CBSE)/Comprehensive Basic Science Self-Assessment (CBSSA): NBME assessments that help guide students in their USMLE Step 1 studying. These exams mirror USMLE Step 1 exam content and are administered in the Foundations Phase.
Consolidation Course: The dedicated Step 1 study period for UWSOM students. It runs for 9 weeks from January to March during the second year of medical school. This course is entirely online/distance learning and aims to offer individualized levels of support to students based on their preparedness for USMLE Step 1.
Continuing Medical Education (CME): Most states require a certain number of continuing medical education credit hours to ensure that physicians remain current in their medical knowledge. It is also a requirement to maintain their medical license.
Couples Match: Any two people (friends, partners, family, etc.) can participate in couples matching, as long as they are matching through the NRMP during the same residency application cycle. They can attend the same or different medical schools. Participating in an NRMP Match as a couple allows two applicants to link their rank order lists, with the goal often being to obtain positions in the same geographic location. Couples match is not available for military, ophthalmology or urology matches.
Curriculum Vitae (CV): The medical student CV is a document of experiences, involvements, and achievements related to medical training. It highlights activities and skills relevant to an application to a research opportunity, scholarship, Away rotation, and/or residency. UWSOM Career Advising offers comprehensive resources to help students build a CV.
Customized Assessment Service (CAS): An NBME assessment administered by UWSOM to help guide USMLE Step 1 studying. The exam is given three times in Foundations, during each of the Foundations Phase Integration Weeks.
D
Dean: The head of the medical school or head of a unit within the medical school. UWSOM has (in descending order of rank) a Dean, Vice Deans, Associate Deans, and Assistant Deans.
Department Chair Letter: Also known as “Departmental Letter” or “Chair Letter.” A letter of recommendation written by the chair of the department (i.e., the specialty) for a student’s residency application. Not all specialties require a chair letter, and not all departments at UWSOM write Department Letters for residency applicants. See the Specialty Guides for more information about Department Letters and Letters of Recommendations.
Dual Application: Applying to residency programs in more than one specialty. Dual application requires extra preparation and consultation with Specialty Career Advisors in all specialties applied to. A student may decide to dual apply for a variety of reasons.
E
eValue: Also known as “E*Value.” A clinical scheduling and evaluation system used for preferencing, scheduling, and evaluating students’ clinical clerkships.
Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS): A centralized online application service run by the AAMC that most UME and GME students will use to deliver their residency and fellowship applications, along with supporting documents, to residency and fellowship programs.
ENT (Ear, Nose, & Throat): Also known as “Otolaryngology” or “Ear, Nose, and Throat”: A surgical subspecialty within medicine that deals with the surgical and medical management of conditions of the head and neck.
Exam Soft/Examplify: Computer software that supports the entire UWSOM testing process, including exam creation, administration, delivery, scoring, and analysis. This is the primary form of testing for UW medical students.
Explore & Focus Phase: Year four of the medical school curriculum is a 15-month phase designed to allow students to explore potential specialty careers through a combination of required and elective clinical clerkships. Required clerkships in this phase include: Advanced Patient Care, Neurology/Neurosurgery, and Emergency Medicine.
F
Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA): A federal law that protects the privacy of student education records. The law applies to all schools that receive funds under an applicable program of the U.S. Department of Education.
Fellow: A physician who is undergoing advanced subspecialty training after having completed medical school and residency training.
Fellowship Training: Additional subspecialty training offered in some fields of medicine. A fellowship is completed after residency training.
Foundations of Clinical Medicine (FCM): Longitudinal instruction in clinical skills and direct work with patients that occurs during the Foundations Phase, preparing students for patient care. FCM includes Immersion, Primary Care Practicum, clinical skills workshops, and hospital tutorials.
Foundations Phase: The first of three integrated learning phases of the UWSOM curriculum. The Foundations Phase emphasizes scientific and anatomical learning and occurs over the first 18 months of medical school.
Foundations Phase Integration Weeks: Curricular weeks that longitudinally reinforce and apply concepts from disparate basic science disciplines to solve clinical problems and build clinical reasoning skills. Students will also be able to reflect on their professional identity in these weeks and progress as lifelong learners of medicine. These weeks are part of the UWSOM MD degree requirements.
G
Graduate Medical Education (GME): The continuation of formal training for physicians after they have completed their medical school education (e.g., residency and/or fellowship).
H
Health Careers Opportunity Ambassador (HCOP Ambassador): A program designed to help health professional students develop leadership skills relevant to underserved healthcare populations.
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPPA):A federal law requiring the creation of national standards to protect sensitive patient health information from being disclosed without the patient’s consent or knowledge.
Health Professions Scholarship Program (HPSP): A scholarship program sponsored by the US federal government. HPSP covers physicians, dentists, veterinarians, and four other types of health providers. The program pays for medical school tuition, fees, equipment, and a monthly stipend until graduation. In return, participants must typically serve 3–4 years of active duty service in the Army, Air Force, or Navy after completion of GME training.
House Staff: The resident physicians of a hospital who care for patients under the direction of the attending staff. House staff includes interns, residents, and fellows.
I
Immersion: A clinical skills intensive teaching period, held early in the first academic year, which prepares students to work with patients. Immersion is part of the Foundations Phase.
Internship: Also known as “Intern Year.” The first year of residency. First-year residents are often referred to as R1s (first-year residents), post-graduate-year-1s (PGY-1s), or interns. There are three types of internship years: transitional years (TY), preliminary years (prelim), or categorical (programs that incorporate PGY-1 year and all subsequent training years). After completing a TY or Prelim year, the resident may go on to complete their training in an advanced residency program.
J
Joint residency program: Residency programs that link an advanced PGY-2 program with a preliminary PGY-1 program to create a full course of training for applicants interested in specialties that begin in the PGY-2 year.
L
Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME): Accreditation body for medical education programs leading to the MD degree in the United States and Canada. The LCME is a voluntary, peer-reviewed process of quality assurance that determines whether the medical education program meets established standards.
Letter of Recommendation (LOR): A document providing qualitative information on a student’s personal and professional characteristics. LORs are a required component for residency and away applications. LORs are written by physicians (typically attending physicians) with whom a student has worked in clinical settings.
Listserv: The UWSOM uses group emails to communicate with students. There are administrative listservs for each year in the curriculum and for each Foundations campus. Students are subscribed to the appropriate listservs based on their academic year and site. Students should make sure they are receiving listserv messages related to their class and Foundations site.
M
Main Residency Match: A centralized system run by the NRMP that uses a mathematical algorithm to pair physician learners to ACGME-accredited residency and fellowship training programs in the U.S., ensuring fair placement based on both applicant and program preferences
Match: A system by which residency/fellowship candidates and residency/fellowship programs rank their preferences for postgraduate training and are then aligned in a “match” to fill these positions.
Match Day: The day when medical students find out to which residency program they have been matched. The NRMP match day for residency applicants is typically the third Friday in March. The match days for the Joint Service Graduate Medical Education Selection Board (Military Match) and San Francisco Match differ from the NRMP match day.
Match Participation Agreement: The contract all NRMP Main Residency Match participants electronically sign as part of the online Match registration process. It outlines the policies and procedures for participating in a Match and the steps all Match participants must take to engage in ethical and professionally responsible behavior. It also ensures that participants, applicants, and program directors in particular, understand their rights and responsibilities, and the NRMP’s expectations that the selection and matching processes remain fair and professional.
Match Season: Also now as “Match Cycle”: The period of time from when residency application systems open to the time of the residency match.
Match Week: The week when NRMP applicants and programs learn the results of the Main Residency Match. SOAP for unmatched applicants to secure an open residency position also occurs during this week. Match Week usually occurs the third week of March.
Matching Algorithm: The proprietary mathematical formula used by the NRMP to place applicants into residency and fellowship training programs. The NRMP matching algorithm is “applicant proposing,” meaning the preferences expressed on the rank order lists submitted by applicants, not programs, initiate placement into training.
MD Graduate: A graduate of a U.S. MD-granting school of medicine accredited by the LCME. May also refer to a person who has already graduated from medical school and who is applying to residency programs.
MD Senior: A student enrolled in the final year of school at a U.S. MD-granting school of medicine accredited by the LCME. Also refers to those who graduate from an LCME-accredited medical school.
Mediasite: A video player, recording archive, and streaming tool used by the UWSOM across the curriculum. Mediasite is mainly accessed from Canvas, departmental sites, and from email correspondence. Career Advising maintains a Mediasite library of career-related webinars, workshops, and lectures for UWSOM students to access.
Medical Operational Data System (MODS): The application system by which Military HPSP students apply for military residency positions.
Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP): A program for candidates obtaining both M.D. and Ph.D. degrees to pursue careers in medical research.
Medical Student Association (MSA): A group of elected student leaders from each class of UW medical students and from each Foundations site. MSA senators serve as the primary liaisons for communication between the student body and the UWSOM administration and faculty.
Medical Student Performance Evaluation: Also known as the “Dean’s Letter.” Written by a student’s school of medicine, this is a summary letter of evaluation intended to provide residency program directors with an honest and objective summary of a student’s salient experiences, attributes, and academic performance.
Medicine Health and Society (MHS): Foundations Phase courses that integrate thematic content with an emphasis on core concepts needed for clinical practice in the changing healthcare environment. Students explore areas related to humanism in medicine, including the themes of equity and inclusion, diversity, ethics, determinants of health, global population, public health, climate health, and health systems science.
Military Match: The residency matching process for students participating in the HPSP scholarship. Applicants will either be accepted to a military residency training program or deferred to apply through civilian match processes. While many of the processes are similar to the National Residency Match Program, in the Military Match, a selection board, rather than an algorithm, places applicants in programs.
Mock Interview: A practice interview that simulates an actual interview. Often conducted before interviewing for residency.
N
National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME): An organization that develops and manages the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE). While the individual licensing boards grant the license to practice medicine, all medical boards in the U.S. accept a passing score on the USMLE as evidence that an applicant demonstrates the core competencies to practice medicine.
National Resident Matching Program (NRMP): A private, non-profit organization established in 1952 at the request of medical students to provide an orderly and fair mechanism for matching the preferences of applicants for U.S. residency positions with the preferences of residency program directors. NRMP runs the Main Residency Match using a computerized mathematical matching algorithm.
NBME Subject Examination: Also known as “Clerkship Exams” or “Shelf Exams.” Exams used as a final assessment for the required UWSOM clerkships (FM, EM, General Surgery, IM, Neurology/Neurological Surgery, OB/Gyn, Pediatrics, & Psychiatry).
Non-Clinical Electives (NCEs): Special electives offered during the Foundations Phase that are relevant to medical education but do not involve direct patient care. These electives do not fulfill UWSOM MD degree requirements.
NRMP ID: A unique identifier that Main Residency Match applicants receive as part of their registration for the NRMP Match. The NRMP ID is generated by the R3 system and is randomly assigned.
O
Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE): Pronounced “Oss-key.” Every LCME-accredited medical school is required to use OSCEs to assess students’ clinical skills and the effectiveness of the curriculum. OSCEs allow a student to practice and demonstrate clinical skills in a standardized medical scenario. There are three OSCEs given at UWSOM: two during the Foundations Phase and one following the Patient Care Phase.
Olympia Longitudinal Integrated Clerkship (Olympia LIC): A program allowing students to complete the majority of the Patient Care Phase required clerkships in Olympia, Washington, and surrounding communities. Students participating in this program are required to meet their minimum time of eight weeks or required clerkships in Seattle during the Patient Care and Explore and Focus phases. Application to this program occurs during the spring of the students’ first year.
Ophthalmology Residency Matching Program (OMP): Established by the Association of University Professors of Ophthalmology, the OMP currently provides matching services through the San Francisco Match (SF Match) for PGY1-4 integrated programs and supplements the PGY-1 matching services of the National Residency Matching Program (NRMP) for joint programs. The OMP is timed to allow joint programs in ophthalmology to fully communicate with NRMP in advance of the candidates that were matched for PGY2. This pro forma process ensures the seamless training of residents over the four years required for accreditation.
P
Parallel Planning: A strategy of planning for two specialties with different levels of competitiveness. Starting as an MS1, all UWSOM students start to identify at least two specialties of interest with different levels of competitiveness. Students will carry their parallel plans through the early part of their final year in medical school. Parallel planning ensures a strong application and Match strategy. Specialty Career Adviser(s) will advise a student if they should consider a dual application in a secondary specialty to increase the likelihood of matching to a residency program.
Pathways: Curricular-focused student opportunities to pursue a particular interest and develop knowledge and skills in specifically tailored areas. Students can participate in a range of offerings–from working with underserved communities domestically and abroad, to those focused on humanities and arts, or research.
Patient Care Phase: The 12-month clinical phase where students achieve specific competencies in six core clinical disciplines: Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, Obstetrics & Gynecology, Pediatrics, Psychiatry, and Surgery. Students participate in these clinical experiences in a variety of locations, in both urban and rural settings throughout the WWAMI region.
Preceptor: A practicing physician who provides personal instruction, training, and supervision to a medical student during clinical practice and facilitates the application of theory to practice for student learners.
Preceptorship: A mentoring experience in which a preceptor provides personal instruction, training, and supervision to a medical student.
Preliminary Year: Also known as “Prelim Year.” A residency program offering one or two years of foundational training. Most commonly offered in internal medicine or surgery. Generally, a preliminary year is completed prior to entry into advanced specialty programs for completion of residency training.
Primary Care Practicum (PCP): All students at UWSOM complete a required longitudinal exposure to primary care for a full day every other week throughout the entirety of the Foundations Phase.
Personal Statement: A narrative describing your personal inspiration for your specialty and your career goals. Personal statements are required to apply for residency and may be required when applying to scholarships, away rotations, or research opportunities.
PGY-1: A first-year resident – postgraduate year one. Also referred to as Resident-1 (R1).
PGY-2: A second-year resident – postgraduate year two. Also referred to as a Resident-2 (R2). Some residency programs start in the second year of residency and continue until the end of the course of training (see Advanced Residency).
Physician’s Oath (also known as the Hippocratic Oath: Is an oath of ethics historically taken by physicians. It is one of the most widely known of Greek medical texts. In its original form, it requires a new physician to swear to uphold specific ethical standards.
Physician’s Oath and Hooding Ceremony: The formal ceremony that acknowledges and celebrates the achievements of WWAMI medical students. Students receive the degree of Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) and recite the Hippocratic Oath or Physician’s Oath. The ceremony reminds students of the high standards of performance and behavior to which each aspires and with which each is challenged as they enter their professional careers as physicians.
Primary Care Residency Program: Programs with positions in internal medicine or pediatrics that provide a training emphasis on primary care.
Program Coordinator: See Residency Program Coordinator.
Program Director (PD): See Residency Program Director.
R
Registered Student Organizations (RSOs): Opportunities for students to connect beyond the classroom. RSOs can help students explore a specialty, advocate for change, foster community, build their resume, or simply recharge alongside others. There is a wide range of active organizations (and guidance to help you start a new RSO) at your Foundations Site, or throughout WWAMI.
Remediation: A process by which students address and rectify a failure in a required block, course, a lack of competency in one of the threads, or on an NBME exam.
Required Clerkships: The required Patient Care Phase clerkships are Family Medicine (6-week rotation), Internal Medicine (6-week rotation), Obstetrics and Gynecology (6-week rotation), Pediatrics (6-week rotation), Psychiatry (6-week rotation), and Surgery (6-week rotation). In the Explore & Focus Phase, students are required to take Emergency Medicine (4-week rotation) and either Neurology or Neurosurgery (4-week rotation).
ResidencyCAS: A centralized application system for residency programs in certain specialties. Like ERAS, ResidencyCAS allows for the uploading and submission of applications and supporting documentation to residency programs.
Residency Explorer: A tool administered by the AAMC allowing students to explore and identify residency programs for which they are competitive and which align with their career interests and personal needs.
Rural/Underserved Opportunities Program (RUOP): A four-week elective immersion experience in community medicine, with a focus on primary care in a rural or urban underserved setting, occurring between a student’s first and second years of medical school. RUOP satisfies the Triple I requirement.
R3 System: The Registration, Ranking, and Results system is the web-based software application through which all NRMP Matches are managed.
Rank Order List (ROL): A list of residency programs, ranked in order of preference, where residency applicants wish to train. Residency programs also create a ROL to rank applicants whom they have interviewed and wish to train. ROL are submitted to the appropriate match system and are used to determine the match outcome.
Regional Affairs: Regional Affairs provides oversight for the UWSOM curriculum and related policy decisions and may initiate discussion of curricular issues or respond to issues raised by students and faculty at the WWAMI regional sites.
Residency Contracts: Employment contracts that include descriptions of what is expected, including the type of medicine being practiced, the number of hours expected to work, availability and on-call hours, outpatient care duties or administrative duties. These also include details on compensation and benefits. As part of the residency interview process, residency programs send applicants copies of the residency contract to review.
Residency Program Coordinator: A staff member who performs all of the administrative duties needed to run a medical residency program at a teaching hospital or medical facility.
Residency Program Director (referred to as PD): The physician responsible to the Chair of the Department and the Associate Dean of Graduate Medical Education for the overall conduct of the Residency Program.
Residency Training: Graduate medical education that is completed after obtaining a MD degree. Residency training provides medical student graduates with the additional hands-on training and experience needed to become a skilled physician, and to obtain a license to practice medicine.
Resident: a physician who has completed medical school, has a degree in medicine and is receiving further training in a chosen specialized medical field. Residents practice medicine under the supervision of fully credentialed Attending physicians. They can practice both in a hospital or in a clinic.
Resident-1 (R1): A first-year resident. Also referred to as postgraduate year 1 (PGY1)
S
School of Medicine Academic & Learning Technologies (SOMALT): Technology support services for students, faculty, and staff in the UW School of Medicine.
San Francisco Match: Also known as SF Match.” The match system used to coordinate appointments for ophthalmology training programs, as well as fellowship subspecialties across a range of disciplines. The function of SF Match is strictly limited to processing the match. The Association of University Professors of Ophthalmology uses SF Match to coordinate the PGY-2-4 appointments and integrated (PGY1-4) appointments for ophthalmology training programs, and this match typically happens in February.
SF Match’s Central Application Service (CAS): A centralized application system that distributes complete applications for ophthalmology residency & fellowship positions electronically. The use of CAS is mandatory for both programs and applicants.
Standardized Letter of Evaluation (SLOE): A template-based evaluative instrument developed to provide a global perspective on an applicant’s candidacy for training by providing meaningful comparisons to peers applying for training in the same specialty. In Emergency Medicine, the SLOE is specifically designed to be written by an EM physician who works at a hospital not affiliated with an EM residency program.
Sub-Internship: Also known as “APC-S” or “Sub-I.” elective clinical rotation usually during 4th year, where students act like interns of a particular specialty and provide patient care under supervision. Most subinternships are primarily inpatient. Subinterns are part of a team or working with an individual attending physician in a primary rather than consultative role.
Safari: Also known as General Clinical Schedule. This is the mode in which approximately 75 percent of third-year medical students will register for their required third-year clerkships (Patient Care Phase) through a complex ranking process allowing them the opportunity to schedule all their required clerkships across the entire WWAMI region. Students ranking their preferences in the general pool are expected to take at least three required rotations outside the Seattle area.
Secondary Residency Applications: Also known as “Secondaries.” Program-specific application requirements that may need to be completed after an applicant has submitted their primary residency application.
Supplemental Residency Applications: National application requirements or recommendations that apply to all residency programs in certain specialties for a particular match cycle.
Service Learning: Service-learning is a structured learning experience that combines community-based service or research with preparation and reflection. Students engaged in service learning provide community-based service or research in response to community-identified concerns and learn about the context in which service is provided, the connection between their service and academic coursework, and their roles as citizens and professionals.
Shelf Exams: NBME subject (shelf) exam. Medical students are required to take a shelf exam on the last day of their core clerkships (pediatrics at UWSOM uses a different test; Aquifer) and must pass in order to pass the clerkship. There is a cutoff score to qualify for Honors in the rotation.
Special Assignment Electives: See Away Rotation
Specialty Career Advisor (SCA): Each specialty at UWSOM has one or more Specialty Career Advisors. SCAs are faculty physicians who are named by their departments as dedicated specialty advisors. Each student is connected to specialty career advising by Spring of the 3rd year. SCAs answer specialty-specific questions, assess students’ level of competitiveness, recommend 4th-year rotations and advise on residency programs.
Sponsored Applicants: See MD Senior
SOAP: The Supplemental Offer and Acceptance Program is the process by which eligible unmatched, or partially unmatched applicants may apply to programs with unfilled residency positions and receive offers through the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) Registration, Ranking, and Results (R3) system
SOM: Acronym for School of Medicine. Using UWSOM is strongly preferred to make sure the location is conveyed.
Standardized Letter of Evaluation: See SLOE
Standardized Patient: An individual who is trained to act as a real patient to stimulate a set of symptoms or problems for training or examination purposes.
Step 1: The first of three exams given by USMLE for medical licensure in the United States. Step 1 typically occurs at the end of the student’s Foundations Phase.
Step 2CK: The second of three exams given by USMLE for medical licensure in the United States. Step 2CK typically occurs at the end of the student’s Patient Care Phase.
Step 3: The final of three exams given by USMLE for medical licensure in the United States. Step 3 occurs in residency.
Student newsletter: Students receive a newsletter from the UW School of Medicine every week, usually late Thursday afternoon. The newsletter opens to news for all classes; at the beginning of the email are links to individual newsletters for MS1s, MS2s, MS3s and MS4s. Not all items may seem relevant to you, but it’s important to read through the all-student newsletter and your class newsletter in case anything is important for you to know.
T
Targeted Rural Underserved Track (TRUST): A longitudinal integrated curriculum experience within a single underserved rural community or small city in the WWAMI region over a student’s entire medical school career, including completing RUOP during the Foundations Phase and WRITE during the Patient Care Phase.
Themes: Topics offered longitudinally throughout and integrated within the Foundations Phase that are integral to each block. There are four Themes: Health Equity and Social Determinants of Health, Ethics, Health Systems Science, and Planetary Health.s
Threads: Topics offered longitudinally throughout and integrated within the Foundations Phase that are integral to each block. There are three Threads: Anatomy & Embryology, Pharmacology, and Histology & Pathology.
Track: Also known as “WWAMI Track.”A program that allows selected students to spend significant time at a designated Track site, either during the Patient Care Phase or the Explore and Focus Phase. Remaining time not spent at a Track site will be spent throughout the WWAMI Region.
Transition to Residency (TTR): A required course taught primarily in small group and workshop formats that is designed as a continuing medical education course for students graduating in June of the current year. Students choose sessions related to medical issues, evaluation, management, and procedures involving their planned specialties.
Transitional Year (TY): An intern (PGY-1) experience that many fields require or prefer, where the student experiences a global training before beginning residency training. Trainees experience both surgical and internal medicine rotations. Generally, a transitional year is completed prior to entry into advanced specialty programs for completion of residency training.
Triple Board: A 5-year integrated residency program focused on pediatrics, general psychiatry, and child and adolescent psychiatry. At the end of the training, residents are board-eligible in all three disciplines.
Term 1, 2, and 3: The UWSOM curriculum includes a three-term classroom or Foundation Phase. Students will spend all three terms at their Foundations site.
Triple I: See Independent Investigative Inquiry (III)
U
UME (Undergraduate Medical Education): The four years of training in medical school to earn the Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree.
University of Washington School of Medicine—Gonzaga University Health Partnership: In Spokane, WA, UWSOM partners with Gonzaga University for its Foundations phase (the first 18 months of medical school, equal to years 1 and 2). Although the Spokane site is a part of WWAMI (Washington, the first “W”, includes Seattle and Spokane), the term “WWAMI” isn’t used there due to a previous partnership under that moniker with Washington State University. It is alternatively referred to as UW School of Medicine Spokane.
Urology Match (Urology Residency Match Program): The matching system for urology that combines the rank-ordered preferences of both the programs and applicants to produce a list of matches acceptable to both parties.
United States Medical Licensing Examination Program (USMLE): A three-step examination for medical licensure in the United States sponsored by the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) and the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME). The USMLE assesses an examinee’s ability to apply knowledge, concepts, and principles, and to demonstrate fundamental patient-centered skills. UWSOM students are required to pass Step 1 and Step 2 Clinical Knowledge (CK) before graduation.
UW Medicine: The umbrella organization over the University of Washington School of Medicine, Harborview Medical Center, Northwest Hospital & Medical Center, UW Medical Center (UWMC), Valley Medical Center, UW Physicians, UW Neighborhood Clinics, and Airlift NW. Note: UW Medicine should never be referred to as University of Washington Medicine.
UWSOM: Acronym for the University of Washington School of Medicine
W
WWAMI Rural Integrated Training Experience (WRITE): A six-month experience in a rural setting in which students complete clinical training while working closely with community preceptors (volunteer clinical instructors).
WWAMI (Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, Idaho): Pronounced like ‘whammy’ without the ‘h.’ The regional medical education program of the University of Washington School of Medicine that serves these five states.
Z
Zoom: Used by the UWSOM for virtual teaching and meetings. UWSOM faculty and students use Zoom Pro accounts, which are HIPAA-compliant.
Do you have a suggestion for this page? Please let Career Advising know at medadv@uw.edu.
Definitions and terms should be for subjects essential to student progress and whose meanings might not be intuitively clear or obvious.
Career Advising would like to thank several partners. Without their help, this glossary would not exist:
- Career Advising Student Advisory Board Members, especially members from the class of 2021-2022 and 2022-2023
- UWSOMS Strategic Marketing & Communications
- UWSOM Spokane Foundations Campus