Medical Student Performance Evaluation (MSPE)
The MSPE evaluates a medical student’s performance during his or her academic career relative to his or her peers. The MSPE should not act as a “predictor” of your future performance but provide information about your academic performance. See A Guide to the Preparation of the Medical Student Performance Evaluation to learn more about this document. The MSPE must be written on medical school letterhead with the medical school seal affixed, and signed by the designated medical school official. The MSPE must include your full name.
As stated in ECFMG’s Original Document Policy, an MSPE submitted as part of an ERAS application must be an original document. If you cannot supply an original MSPE, ERAS Support Services will not delay the processing of your ERAS application. However, the document will be annotated, as described in the Original Document Policy.
To obtain an MSPE, you should contact your medical school. Once you secure the MSPE, send ERAS Support Services the original, accompanied by a completed DSF. Make a copy for your personal records. When we receive your MSPE, we will scan and transmit it to the ERAS PostOffice regardless of whether you have applied to a program. All MSPEs are held at the ERAS PostOffice until November 1, at which time they are released to programs to which you have applied. ERAS Support Services strongly recommends that MSPEs arrive at ECFMG no later than October 1.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Some international medical schools submit supporting documents electronically, including MSPEs, on behalf of their students/graduates who participate in ERAS. ERAS Support Services attaches and uploads these documents to the ERAS PostOffice within two to three business days of their receipt at ECFMG. A DSF is not required for documents submitted electronically to ECFMG. Receipt of documents submitted electronically by medical schools can be tracked in the ERAS Support Services Document Tracking System, which you can access via ECFMG’s OASIS.
If you are unable to secure the MSPE from your medical school, you must indicate this on page 12 of the MyERAS application. A neutral placeholder letter will be provided in place of the MSPE. The placeholder letter will be provided to all of the programs to which you apply, and will state, “This document is provided in lieu of the applicant’s MSPE. Please contact the applicant with any questions you may have.” This will ensure that your application will appear as complete for those programs that require an MSPE before considering your application.
If the MSPE is not in English, it must be accompanied by an official English translation; that is, an English translation prepared by and certified to be correct by a medical school official (for example, a Dean or Registrar), a government official (for example, a Consular Officer), or a professional translation service. The translation must appear on official stationery and must bear the original signature and title of the medical school official, government official, or representative of the translation service. If the translation service is a private company, the letterhead stationery must identify the company as a translation service.
The MSPE does not count as one of your letters of recommendation (LoRs) and does not need to be listed and assigned to your programs. This is done automatically when the MSPE is submitted.
IMPORTANT NOTE: If you participated in the ERAS 2010 season and submitted an MSPE, you are not required to resubmit your MSPE for the ERAS 2011 season. ERAS Support Services will reuse the MSPE from the ERAS 2010 season. If the content of your MSPE has been modified, you may submit the new MSPE, and we will use it to replace the MSPE currently stored in the ERAS 2010 database. If you submit a modified MSPE, it should be accompanied by a completed DSF.
