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Liaison

Quick Start Guide for Program Directors and Managers

Overview Edit section

Welcome to the ResidencyCAS Program Portal! This guide covers key functions in the Program Portal. We recommend bookmarking this page for future reference. 

ResidencyCAS Portals

ResidencyCAS is one comprehensive platform with fully integrated components:

ResidencyCAS Program Portal Connections.png

Accessing the Program Portal 

From April–June, you'll have access to a "sandbox" environment – this is a playground environment you can use to get comfortable with the software before moving to the live environment in July. The sandbox includes a set fictitious test applicants.

Logging In

Sandbox access has been granted to existing program directors and managers deemed appropriate by ACOG. Sandbox login details are as follows: 

Important: anything you create in the sandbox will not carry forward into the live environment in July. 

Login Issues

Some common login issues are as follows: 

  • Firewalls: if you’re having trouble accessing a portal and encounter error messages such as "access denied," "connection timed out," or "unable to connect to the server," it’s possible that a firewall is blocking your access. Another telltale sign of a firewall issue is if you can access the platform without problems on a different network, like your home network or mobile data. Should you suspect a firewall issue, please reach out to your IT department and direct them to our Technical Requirements & Accessibility article. They may need to safe-list IP addresses.
  • Password changes: if you previously logged into the sandbox and changed your password, you’ll need to use that password instead of the default above. 
  • Incorrect email addresses: be sure to use  your ACOG-registered email address.

Requesting Access 

Program directors and managers without access should use the CREOG Contact Form to request access. Include your name, email, organization/OBGYN residency program name, and position/role within the organization.

Non-Program directors and managers seeking access – such as GME coordinator, faculty, etc. – must inquire with their program director and manager. If access is to be granted, Program directors and managers can add the new user themselves or email support  with the individual's name, email, organization/OBGYN residency program name, and position/role within the organization.

Note: CREOG and Liaison reserve the right to deny access.

Contacting Support

If you need assistance while exploring the Program Portal, you can contact us for live support

Getting Started

As you start working in the Program Portal, you'll notice it's pre-configured with a number of tools that may be useful to you. However, you can customize features so they work with your program's review processes. Additionally, you may notice there are sometimes multiple ways to perform actions – this guide provides an overview of basic workflows you can build off of as you explore what works best for your program. 

Step 1: Get Familiar with the Essentials

There are three primary areas you'll want to become familiar with: 

  1. The dashboard and navigation menu.
  2. The applications grid.
  3. The full application. 
The Dashboard and Navigation Menu

When you first log into the portal, you land on the dashboard. It gives you a high-level overview of your applicant pool via a series of charts, which are interactive – you can click on the charts to navigate to the respective groups of applicants.

ResidencyCAS_Program_Portal_Dashboard_1.png

Note that the left navigation is collapsible and expandable – click the icon in the top left to change the view. 

ResidencyCAS Program Portal Nav Menu.png

The Applications Grid

When you open the Applications section in the left navigation menu, the Applications Grid displays. This is where you'll spend most of your time – the grid is the central hub for viewing and processing applications. 

Recommended Actions:

  1. Get more familiar with the applications grid.
  2. Customize the columns so you can view information that's most useful to you.  

ResidencyCAS Program Portal Application Grid Intro.png

The Full Application

From the applications grid, you can click any row to open the application. There are multiple tools to navigate sections and perform review actions.

Recommended Actions:

  1. Get more familiar with the application.  
  2. Customize the application summary and sidebar so you have quick access to data that's most useful for you.

ResidencyCAS Program Portal Application Intro.png

Step 2: Use Segments to Find Groups of Applicants

Segments are groups of applicants who meet a specific set of criteria. For example, applicants missing evaluations, applicants with gold signals, etc. From the applications grid, you can access pre-built segments via the Segments Selector.

Recommended Actions:

  1. Open the Segments Selector and explore the default segments. 
  2. Learn how to create new segments.

ResidencyCAS Program Portal Segments Intro.png

Step 3: Configure Your Review Process

Key Review Tools

There are several tools that work together to help you efficiently process applications. These primary tools are:  

  • Evaluation Forms: the review and scoring forms you use to capture reviewer feedback. 
  • Teams: groups of users to which you assign reviews. 
  • Phases: where applicants are in your review process (i.e., Received, Application Review, Interview Candidates, etc.).  
  • Holistic Score: a score that considers all aspects of an applicant and is calculated using real data points in the application or in the official materials supplementing the application, such as USMLE scores from NBME, COMLEX scores from NBOME, and the SLOE.
Sample Review Workflow 

Suppose you are just sitting down to review received applications. Where should you start? An efficient process could look like this: 

  1. From the applications grid, you start by looking for applicants with gold Signals and high Holistic Scores – these two items can help draw attention to the applicants you might want to prioritize for review. From here, you open specific applications and review additional data. 
  2. After reviewing the applicants in more detail, you select a group of applicants you want to move to a review phase. 
  3. You then move the selected applicants to the review phase. Because you previously linked this phase to a review form and a set of reviewers, the phase change triggers an automatic assignment to the group of reviewers. 

    ResidencyCAS Program Portal Review Workflow.png
     
  4. When the reviewers log into the Review Portal, they see their assignments and can open each application and complete the associated review form.  

    ResidencyCAS Review Portal Overview.png
     
  5. Once they complete their reviews, you can access them in the Program Portal via the application sidebar. 

    ResidencyCAS Program Portal Sidebar.png
     

To set up this review workflow, you'll complete the following: 

  1. Begin by creating your evaluation forms
  2. Consider if you want to use teams of reviewers.
    • If so, you can create teams and add the users now or later. 
    • If not, you can simply select the users you want to review applications. 
  3. Configure your phases – this step is where you link your review forms and review teams to specific phases. 
  4. Adjust the holistic score weightings so they align with your program's values. 
  5. Customize the applications grid so you can see Signal and Holistic Score 

Note: as an alternative to this workflow, you can also manually assign applications for review

Step 4: Add Other Users

When you add a user, you select their role, which controls the permissions they have to perform certain tasks. Additionally, you can group users into teams, such as in the sample review workflow described above. 

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