Grading and SLOEs
We have many students from a variety of different medical schools who come to rotate and each school has its own grading system (ABC, percentage, PF, Hon/HP/Pass, etc). This makes reporting one standard grading system on SLOEs impossible and institutions can only report one. To account for this, we will report the rotation grade on the SLOE as pass/fail, and report the individual grades to the schools based on their own grading system. The SLOE allows you to acknowledge the rotation was P/F only, this has no bearing on the actual SLOE rank, and is more just for accounting purposes.
For those interested in EM, the important evaluation of the rotation will be the ratings within the SLOE itself (see below) which are reflected by the questions and ratings on the blue card that each student will have filled out at the end of their shifts. At the end of each students rotation, we will compile these blue cards and keep all of the ratings and comments in a database. We then will meet prior to ERAS opening to discuss each student as a committee to determine their final ratings for each category of the SLOE. The final exam score on the SAEM CDEM exam taken at the end of the rotation is also reported on the SLOE as well.
SLOE Process
If you are interested in matching into a career in EM, it is recommended to apply with two eSLOEs (standard letter of evaluation from a residency program) in your ResidencyCAS application. Ideally, at least one eSLOE will be available for programs to review when applications open, if not both.
The SLOE is an objective measure of your performance on rotation compared to the other students rotating that year. Most institutions like ours write "group SLOEs" where a committee of faculty decide on the SLOE rankings for the students that given year before an author writes the SLOE on behalf of the program.
We encourage any student doing an AI who plan to apply to EM to request a SLOE from Dr. Galuska. Our faculty will meet as a group prior to ResidencyCAS opening to decide on the SLOE rankings for our first group of students, then Dr. Galuska will author the eSLOEs based on the committees rankings and the end of shift evaluations from the rotation.
Because we recognize the importance of eSLOEs in the application process, and acknowledge the anxiety surrounding having these uploaded on time, we assure every student who finished their rotation prior to applications opening that these will be done and uploaded prior to ResidencyCAS opening for programs. For students with rotations during interview season finishing after ResidencyCAS has already opened, Dr. Galuska will complete your eSLOE and have it uploaded within a week of your rotation being completed.
If interested in a SLOE, please send an ERAS request to Dr. Galuska to write you a letter of recommendation.
The SLOE process is blinded to the student, so it can be confusing. Don't hesitate to ask Dr. Galuska if you have any questions about the process.