Program Portal Quick Start Guide (Program Directors and Managers)
Overview 
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:
Key Concepts and Features
While programs can choose to use as much or as little of ResidencyCAS, there are several key concepts and features that work together. The following graphic displays a general workflow incorporating these key features (note that your workflow may vary).
Program Portal Environments
There are two ResidencyCAS Program Portal environments:
- Production: the "live environment" where you perform your applicant review processes.
- Sandbox: a simulated environment with fictional applicant data (e.g., surnames, email addresses, etc.) used to get comfortable with the software and test workflows.
Accessing the Production Environment
On July 1, 2024, emails were sent from ResidencyCAS to ACOG-approved program directors and managers with an activation link to create their Program Portal accounts at https://progams.residencycas.com.
- If you did not receive an email to create your account, contact us.
- If you do not know if you are approved for access, or if you are new to ResidencyCAS, review the Requesting Access section below.
- Once you have an account, you can create accounts for other users.
Accessing the Sandbox Environment
Sandbox access was previously granted to ACOG-approved program directors and managers. If you do not know if you are approved for access, or if you are new to ResidencyCAS, review the Requesting Access section below.
Sandbox login details are as follows:
- Website: https://programs.uat.residencycas.com
- Username: your ACOG-registered email address
- Default password: residencysanantonio
Requesting Access
Program directors and managers without access to the Production and Sandbox environments 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.
Troubleshooting 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.
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:
- The dashboard and navigation menu.
- The applications grid.
- The full application.
The Dashboard and Navigation Menu
When you first log into the portal, you land on the dashboard. It offers a customizable view of key reports through interactive charts. You can click on these charts to explore specific groups of applicants.
Note that the left navigation is collapsible and expandable – click the icon in the top left to change the view.
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:
- Get more familiar with the applications grid.
- Customize the columns so you can view information that's most useful to you.
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:
- Get more familiar with the application.
- Customize the application summary and sidebar so you have quick access to data that's most useful for you.
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:
- Open the Segments Selector and explore the default segments.
- Learn how to create new segments.
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.
Note: in ResidencyCAS, evaluation forms are attached to phases, not individual applications. When an applicant is placed into a phase and assigned to a reviewer, the reviewer can then access and complete the form. Remember, you cannot assign an application to a reviewer unless the phase has an evaluation form attached. If you’re unable to assign an evaluation, check to ensure an evaluation form has been added to the phase.
Sample Review Workflow
Suppose you are just sitting down to review received applications. Where should you start? An efficient process could look like this:
- 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.
- After reviewing the applicants in more detail, you select a group of applicants you want to move to a review phase.
- 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.
- When the reviewers log into the Review Portal, they see their assignments and can open each application and complete the associated review form.
- Once they complete their reviews, you can access them in the Program Portal via the application sidebar.
To set up this review workflow, you'll complete the following:
- Begin by creating your evaluation forms.
- 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.
- Configure your phases – this step is where you link your review forms and review teams to specific phases.
- Adjust the holistic score weightings so they align with your program's values.
- 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.