Residency programs receive documents from five or more different sources for each candidate - 5,000 separate documents for a program with 1,000 applicants. Programs field an avalanche of telephone calls that require time-consuming location and review of paper files. With ERAS, an applicant, using a PC at home or in the library, completes a common application on diskette. The entire application package is sent very rapidly over the high-speed backbone of the Internet to each of the residency programs designated by the applicant on the student diskette. At the Program Director's end, the application is received and a computer file is created automatically.
Programs can sort, review, or print files at any time.
And last, an acknowledgement is sent back to the school and student via E-mail indicating that the application materials have arrived at the designated programs' workstations. Applicants and schools want to be sure that programs receive and organize all documents. Programs want to be sure that documents are clear, readable, usable, and in the correct file. In today's paper system, not every application, transcript, Dean's Letter, and letter of recommendation is sent by certified mail. ERAS, however, automatically verifies transmission and receipt.