Artificial Intelligence: The Thalamus Way

Over the past few years, Thalamus has increasingly found itself at the center of conversations about the future of residency recruitment, the role of technology in graduate medical education (GME), and the ethical use of artificial intelligence (AI) in shaping the physician workforce.

After almost twelve years of innovating in GME, we’re uniquely positioned to help institutions, programs, and applicants leverage AI in a way that is transparent, responsible and ethical.

Following our acquisition of Medicratic, Thalamus remains steadfast in our mission to ensure the right doctor ends up at the right hospital to treat the right patients.  AI represents the next technological opportunity to make that happen.  And so, we would like to take the opportunity to lead by example and inform the GME community in how we see the evolution of this technology and provide guidance in how we intend to incorporate AI into our products.

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Thalamus:  Who we are and what we care about.

Thalamus is uniquely positioned to set the standard as the thought-leader and recruitment expert for academic medicine:

• We are physician-founded:  Thalamus was created by a former applicant and current program director both of whom wanted the transitions to residency and fellowship to be more streamlined and cost-effective for applicants and programs.
• We are a Public Benefit Corporation:  This means that Thalamus is legally bound to prioritize mission and social impact alongside financial sustainability.  
  • Formally, Thalamus has expanded its certificate of incorporation to include a public benefit purpose, “Of ensuring greater access to affordable, high-quality medical education and training, addressing systemic inequities in the physician workforce, and delivering better healthcare outcomes for patients and society.”
• We are free for applicants: Thalamus is the only organization in GME that charges applicants $0. We know firsthand how expensive and stressful the residency application process can be. Instead of charging medical students or residents, Thalamus earns revenue by selling its software to hospitals, health systems and other organizations, who gladly invest in our platform because of the workflow improvements, efficiency, and fairness it provides.  We also partner with organizations such as the American Medical Student Association (AMSA), Arnold P. Gold Foundation and medical schools to share best practices in applying to residency and fellowship.
• We founded Thalamus.Org:  Our sister non-profit that reduces barriers in applying to residency by offering scholarships and grants to defray application and interview costs.
• We regularly conduct workforce research to influence public policy: Our publications, such as Here Today, Gone Tomorrow, spotlight systemic challenges and opportunities in GME recruitment and the broader physician workforce.  We are regularly in DC on the Hill to guidance to the federal government on matters related to GME financing and reform.
• We are committed to technological innovation for the GME community: The story of Thalamus is using technology to improve residency and fellowship recruitment.  We did this with virtual interviews in 2020, and now we’re doing it again with AI in 2025.  Our team has 200+ years of collective GME experience, and we are deeply passionate about making the UME to GME transition better for all stakeholders in academic medicine.
• We are reframing the narrative: The current structure of the transition to residency and fellowship is not ideal for applicants and programs.  Applicants are submitting many applications, and programs are receiving up to thousands more applications than they have available positions. As a result, many applications aren’t getting read, or read carefully.  
• We are backed by mission-driven investors: We are supported by Kapor Capital, leaders in social impact and equity-focused investing:  Kapor Capital has invested over $106M across 170+ startups focused on closing access gaps. By pledging their Founders’ Commitment (G.I.V.E.) Thalamus is committed to setting impact Goals, Investing in bias-reduction, Volunteering, and Educating — making equity a core business competency.

Mission is paramount at Thalamus.  It is built into our core DNA and drove our collaboration with the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC).  Our company-wide operating system and culture code, which we fondly call ThalOS (i.e. Thalamus Operating System) is proudly posted on the about us page of our public-facing website.

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How We Use AI at Thalamus — And How We Don’t

At Thalamus, we take an inclusive, human-centered approach to product design and AI development.   We are implementing AI and technology to solve current problems and empower everyone involved in this process.  

For applicants, we understand the time and effort it takes to ensure your application presents you in the best possible way to find your dream residency/fellowship.  For programs, we recognize how limited and invaluable faculty non-clinical time becomes and how critical it is to find applicants who are educationally-aligned.  

Collectively, we understand the process challenges and jobs to be done, such as comparing grades across institutions, or highlighting unique personal statements, individual expression and career trajectories, and doing all of this with limited faculty time. These are not abstract problems — they are the real day-to-day struggles of applicants, program directors, coordinators, and faculty reviewers. That’s why we’re building tools that directly address these struggles, save time, and create a fairer, more transparent process.

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Our philosophy is simple: AI should support, not replace, human decision-making.

• ✅ What AI Does at Thalamus
  • Enhanced Grade Normalization in Cortex: Our upgraded transcript processing pipeline ensures broader, more accurate coverage of core clerkships and medical school transcripts. Read our full methodology.
• ❌ What AI Does Not Do at Thalamus
  • We do not use AI to automatically filter out, select or reject applicants.
  • We do not use AI to police whether essays were written with AI tools, avoiding biases that disproportionately affect applicants.

We are guided by the AAMC’s Principles for the Responsible Use of AI in and for Medical Education and are committed to publishing both technical and methodology white papers for every AI feature we introduce.

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Launching  “Artificial Intelligence: The Thalamus Way”

To build trust and provide transparency, this coordinated initiative which will include:

• Ethical AI Policy & Website Hub: A central space with our policies, methodologies, research, and impact stories.
• Blog & Webinar Series: Regular updates and community touch points on AI features and their impact.
• Annual AI & Ethics Report: Ongoing accountability with adoption metrics, case studies, and external advisory input.

Our Commitment to the GME Community

🌐 Transparency
We show exactly how our AI works — and what it doesn’t do.

• AI helps aggregate data fairly (e.g., transcript normalization).
• Applicants are never automatically filtered out or rejected.

⚖️ Ethics
We build cautiously and responsibly.

• Guided by the AAMC’s Principles for the Responsible Use of AI in and for Medical Education.
• Designed to reduce bias and protect all applicants.

💙 Mission
We are a Public Benefit Corporation.

• Our mission: right doctor, right hospital, right patients.
• Thalamus is free for applicants.  Health systems pay to use our software.

📊 Impact
We invest in equity and workforce development.

• Thalamus.org | Residency Scholarships for Students  scholarships reduce applicant barriers.
• Research (e.g., Here Today, Gone Tomorrow) drives systemic change.

🚀 Innovation
We bring responsible technology to GME.

• Enhanced Grade Normalization: more accurate, fair transcript review.
• Backed by mission-driven investors.

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Our Promise to the GME Community

AI that supports, not replaces. Tools that empower, not exclude. A company committed to building trust, equity, and innovation in medical education and the physician workforce.

Thalamus is not just software. We are a Public Benefit Corporation, built by and for the physician educational pathway, ensuring equity, transparency, and trust. Backed by mission-driven investors  and grounded in real-world physician workforce research, we are committed to making sure every doctor finds the right training path — and every patient has access to the right care.

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As we launch Artificial Intelligence: The Thalamus Way — just days ahead of the ERAS 2026 residency recruitment season — the community can expect more transparency, more dialogue, and more opportunities to engage with us directly. From new whitepapers and webinars, to the release of our first annual AI & Ethics Report, we will continue opening our process so that programs and applicants alike understand how these tools are built and used.

We are excited to partner with you in shaping the future of GME — one rooted in fairness, trust, and innovation. This is only the beginning, and we look forward to working side by side with the community to ensure that every physician finds the right path — and every patient receives the right care.

Best,

Jason

Jason Reminick, MD, MBA, MS

CEO and Founder, Thalamus