The Medical Student Performance Evaluation (MSPE) is a required component of the residency application. The Office of Student Affairs (OSA) completes an MSPE for each student in their final year of study following national standards set by the AAMC MSPE Task Force. The MSPE is a summary statement of evaluation intended to provide residency programs with an honest and objective summary of a student’s salient experiences, attributes, and academic performance. The MSPE is neither a letter of recommendation nor a self-evaluation. Information directed toward specialty of choice is NOT included in the MSPE. Serious academic difficulties or professionalism concerns must be addressed in the MSPE. Students who are elected to AOA or GHHS will automatically have this notation included in the MSPE.
The MSPE is written by an OSA Dean. An MSPE writer will be suggested for each student based on specialty choice, however, students may select the MSPE writer of their choice. The Associate Dean for Student Affairs will review and sign all MSPEs.
MSPE writing begins after the clerkship year. Each student will have an opportunity to meet 1:1 in an advisory session with an OSA Dean, during which time the MSPE will be discussed.
A draft of the MSPE will be made available to each student at least one week prior to uploading to the residency application system (e.g., ERAS, SF Match, etc…). Students may submit changes to OSA to correct factual errors, punctuation, etc. Questions or concerns about narrative sections should be addressed directly with the student’s MSPE writer. Any changes in the content of the clerkship and clinical rotation evaluations must come directly from the clerkship/course directors. Students are encouraged to review evaluations as they come in and contact directors as soon as possible to discuss issues with evaluation content. The School Grade and Evaluation Inquiry and Appeal policy states that grade or evaluation inquiry or appeal must be made within 30 days of the receipt of the evaluation.
After the initial upload, students may request one additional upload of the MSPE to the residency application system during the match cycle. Every attempt is made to include all clinical rotations available at the time of residency application into the MSPE for the original upload. The MSPE is updated with new courses/evaluations through graduation. Students who have crucial evaluation(s) that did not make it into the original MSPE but added later may submit a written (email) request to OSA (studentaffairs@som.umaryland.edu) to request a re-upload.
The MSPE includes the following 6 sections:
Includes student name, school and location.
Noteworthy characteristics include a maximum of 3 characteristics in a bulleted list highlighting the most salient noteworthy characteristics of the student, each described in 2 sentences or less.
Information about any significant challenges or hardships encountered in the students during medical school may be described in a fourth bullet, also in 2 sentences or less.
The noteworthy characteristics are drafted by the student for final inclusion in the MSPE at the discretion of the MSPE writer. Tips for drafting noteworthy characteristics are included below.
Includes the student timeline of medical school including whether there were extensions, leaves, gaps or breaks in the curriculum, participation in a combined degree program, required remediation, or adverse actions.
This section includes a summary statement of professional and academic performance in both the pre-clerkship and clerkship phases. Clerkships (and other clinical rotations) are listed in chronological order and include a breakdown of the grading rubric as well as the grade received and summative comments, in full and unedited, as they appear in clerkship and clinical course evaluations.
A summative statement includes the student’s comparative performance relative to peers.
Contains supplementary material that is not an essential part of the text itself, but which may be helpful in providing a more comprehensive understanding of the information.
*The MSPE does not included protected health information or any information regarding accommodations
Noteworthy characteristics will be drafted by the student and submitted to OSA for inclusion in the MSPE. Identification of noteworthy characteristics may be done in consultation with a mentor and/or the student’s MSPE writer.
This section includes information intended to help a residency program selection committee to review applicants holistically to achieve a residency class that brings a diverse set of background experiences, characteristics, and perspectives. Students can provide a maximum of three characteristics highlighting their most salient noteworthy characteristics.
Noteworthy Characteristic should:
Consider a focus of unique characteristics that highlight areas that may not be addressed in other elements of the application such as the transcript, CV, or personal statement. Avoid re-writing your CV. Examples include:
Some examples of Noteworthy Characteristics are shown below:
Information about any significant challenges or hardships encountered by the student during medical school may be included as a fourth bullet item. These generally include significant hardships or extenuating circumstances which may have had a negative effect on academic performance. This language is meant to be an explanation and provide context; it is not meant to be an excuse.
Significant hardships should be discussed with the MSPE writer for inclusion. Examples of situations students have elected to write about in the past are:
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