Plastic surgery resources for med students

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Latest Developments

Application rules move every cycle: signals, sections, preferences, exam formats. Everything here is a verified change that affects integrated plastics applicants, each linked to the official page it comes from.

  1. 2027 ERAS season

    ERAS didn’t cap research, it raised the bar for what counts

    The old Publications section is replaced by “Scholarly Work”: no limit on entries, but only five types qualify: peer-reviewed journal articles, peer-reviewed abstracts, peer-reviewed book chapters, and oral or poster presentations that went through a submission/selection process (journal club, M&M, and coursework talks don’t count). You star up to 3 as most meaningful, and prior seasons’ publication entries don’t carry over. The familiar 10-entry cap is on the separate Experiences section, unchanged since 2024.

    AAMC, 2027 MyERAS Applicant User Guide, Scholarly Work
  2. 2027 ERAS season

    Every signal now requires a written explanation

    Plastics keeps 20 program signals (no tiers), but each one must now carry a 300-character “why this program” explanation. A signal without one won’t save. Plastics is one of four specialties using signal explanations this cycle.

    AAMC, Program Signals Overview for ERAS Applicants
  3. 2027 ERAS season

    Three required plastics essay questions

    Before you can apply, plastics (with anesthesiology and neurosurgery) requires three specialty-specific responses, 500 characters each: a team disagreement you helped resolve, a setback you overcame, and a quick decision you had to make. Sent only to plastics programs.

    AAMC, 2027 MyERAS Applicant User Guide, Specialty Questions
  4. 2027 ERAS season

    Plastics opts out of geographic preferences

    Integrated plastic surgery (with ortho and ENT) opted out of receiving ERAS geographic and setting preference answers for 2027. Your 20 signals and their explanations are the only structured interest programs see.

    AAMC, 2027 MyERAS Applicant User Guide, Biographical Information
  5. 2026–27 cycle

    Interview invites drop Friday, Nov 6, 2026

    All integrated programs release first-round invites in one window: 11 am–3 pm ET on Nov 6. Respond before 7 am PT Monday, Nov 9; scheduling opens Nov 9. Independent-track applications are due Dec 7, with invites by Jan 8, 2027.

    ACEPS coordinated interview-invitation policy
  6. From May 2026

    Step exams switch to shorter blocks

    From May 2026, Step 2 CK runs as 16 thirty-minute blocks of 18–20 questions (was 8 hour-long blocks); Step 1 moves to 14 blocks. Content, total items, and total exam-day length are unchanged.

    USMLE program announcement

How this list works: an item only appears here once we've read the change on an official AAMC, ERAS, NRMP, ACEPS, or USMLE page. The link on each card is the page we verified it on. Rumors and secondhand summaries don't make the cut, and when a rule is nuanced (like the “research cap” that isn't one), we say what the rule actually is.

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