Internal Medicine Tiered Program Signals

3 Gold and 12 Silver

The Alliance made the decision to increase Internal Medicine’s program signals to 15 for the 2024-2025 residency application cycle.  AAMC-ERAS will implement the following tired signaling structure for Internal Medicine: 3 Gold and 12 Silver program signals: 15 total.
 
Program signals help applicants indicate their interest to interview for and hopefully join a residency program that they will thrive in.  Residency programs benefit from using program signals by easing application selection and review process to focus on holistic review. Determining the ideal number of program signals can be difficult due to the diversity of Internal Medicine residency programs.  To address this challenge, the AAIM Residency Application Work Group collected the broader community’s opinion via town halls, considered discussions within each Alliance council, and reviewed data from external stakeholders to inform this change. 
 

The AAIM Residency Application Process Work Group is a cross-council group of Alliance volunteers. The AAIM Board of Directors charged the work group with examining the UME – GME transition application process for the benefit of applicants and programs and develop recommendations to guide Internal Medicine applicants, couples entering the match, advisors, and residency program faculty.

If you have any questions, please contact EducationAndResearch@im.org.

Preliminary IM Internship Programs

Given limited data, it is currently unclear how the 15-tiered program signals (3 Gold and 12 Silver) affect preliminary IM programs.  Preliminary IM programs should clearly indicate on their program’s website how they intend to use program signals and specify whether this is different than how they intend to use categorical program signals.  To note, applicants send signals at the institution level for a given field. An applicant who applies to both an IM categorical and an IM preliminary program at the same institution would utilize one signal for IM at that institution.  It is currently not possible to send a signal to an IM categorical program at an institution and not send one to an IM preliminary program to which the applicant has applied at the same institution.

2025-26 Updates at a Glance

  • IM residency programs will continue using 3 Gold and 12 Silver signals for the 2025-26 cycle.
  • All IM programs will be  opt-in  for the 2025-26 cycle.
  • Individual programs may opt out no later than Aug. 20, 2025.
  • Preliminary IM programs will indicate their use of program signals on their website.

Recommendations

Looking for detailed recommendations?

TIERED SIGNALING RECOMMENDATIONS (FULL)
Disclaimer: AAIM and the AAIM Residency Application Process Work Group acknowledges that the process of signaling, the number and nature of signals, and its impact on applicants and programs are dynamic and warrant additional investigation and research.