Lashler,
Assuming you do not have a pre-existing relationship with the PD, you might consider a strategy of sticking to straightforward questions that do not require the PD to make a character judgements. As an example, let's say there were problems during training with an applicant of yours. You might get more useful information by asking, "I am not asking for details, but were there any issues with this resident that required intervention by the Clinical Competence Committee?" Instead of something more vague like, "How did he/she do in residency?" "Were they a team player, or hard worker?"
It's probably easier to get non-admin attendings to give you more subjective character judgements. But PDs will know things that you will want to know that general attendings will not. CCC issues, how responsible they are at completing administrative tasks, are they "system workers" who are always trying to take advantage of every opportunity to the detriment of their colleagues, are their immune systems unusually vulnerable on Friday/Monday and days before long weekends, and things like that.
ucladoc2b, I can only speak for myself, but I would disagree that a PD will give a deceiving recommendation to place a resident in order to maintain program reputation. Residents who go into practices and fail are bad for everyone. The practice, the resident, and the program. When I'm asked about a resident who has weaknesses, I have found that discussing with the practice about what their job requires and how it fits with the resident's skillset leads to conversations that can be honest and informative without being disparaging.
A person only has 1 misleading recommendation in them. Because once that happens, you've lost the trust of the counterparty and your integrity means a lot less. Local anesthesia communities are pretty small and word travels fast.
Back to ERAS. *sigh*
