Hypothermic Arrest - 28 July 2010 07:07 AM
I’m currently on an away rotation and the PD told me to write my own letter of recommendation. Is this typical? Is this a good or bad thing? And what are some things I should and shouldn’t do when describing my positive attributes.
My experience is that’s somewhat atypical, all of my LOR authors wrote them on their own.
A few of my letter writers let me read mine / edit them before submitting, so I think I know what a “good” letter looks like ... but of course take this with a grain of salt…
1) Comments on fund of knowledge
2) Comments on work ethic
3) Comments on ability to interact with residents / nurses / support staff / patients
4) Dedication to field (this is more home-letter appropriate since you’ve been there 3 years, not so much an away i guess)
There is some type of code in the last sentence of letters. Sort of like some med schools that give you a class “rank” based on wording (top of class, outstanding, excellent, axe-murderer, etc), there is the phrase “recommend without reservation”. this includes variations like “highest possible recommendation without reservation”. Your results may vary.
I think some mistakes would be a) making it too long (< 1 page!!!) and b) getting into grades or research that the PD doesn’t really know much about. IMO letters are more character references, as the rest of your app can stand on its own with regards to your clinical grades, research, etc.
