MSPE/Deans Letter for fellowship

[serimeri]

Hey guys,

I was contemplating getting my MSPE edited to add some rotations in 4th year that had good comments and more psych related stuff. Its not typically done, but I thought I would request it. The reason being is because I may want to apply for fellowships in C&A later on so I wanted to have it in case. But is this really even looked at much?

It's going to be a bit of a hassle to get my registrars office to do it so thats why I was asking if it'll be of any real worth.
Thanks1

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[OldPsychDoc]

Hey guys,

I was contemplating getting my MSPE edited to add some rotations in 4th year that had good comments and more psych related stuff. Its not typically done, but I thought I would request it. The reason being is because I may want to apply for fellowships in C&A later on so I wanted to have it in case. But is this really even looked at much?

If by "much" you were thinking "not at all"--you'd be right.

I hope you don't find this demoralizing, but 3 years from now, no one will care how wonderfully you're doing right now. It's all about "What have you done for me lately?

 

[MacDonaldTriad]

Be sure and keep the eagle scout thing on the CV however. Maybe I don't know the first thing about scout culture, but I have seen this on some very senior CVs. Seems weird to me.

 

[wolfvgang22]

Eagle Scout represent, yo! lol (Yes, I am one lol)

 

[OldPsychDoc]

Eagle Scout represent, yo! lol (Yes, I am one lol)

Now that my kids are in Scouts, I always feel a little bad that I ended up 2 merit badges and the project short of Eagle.
It's pretty clear that people identify more with that through life than other accomplishments from that same period of life.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

Now that my kids are in Scouts, I always feel a little bad that I ended up 2 merit badges and the project short of Eagle.
It's pretty clear that people identify more with that through life than other accomplishments from that same period of life.

It's interesting that people don't identify as much with the comparable girl scout achievement. I dropped out of scouts in 5th grade, so I can't remember what it's called, but I know it exists.

 

[wolfvgang22]

Yeah, definitely some gender bias regarding girl scouting out there, probably why it's not mentioned as much. Not fair at all. I've heard of some girl scouts that do some pretty awesome stuff and do a lot for a community.

For me, getting to "Eagle" was something that taught me a great deal, and was more important in many ways than graduating high school. Maybe it shouldn't be on an MD's CV 30 years later, but it meant a lot. I don't mind joking about it, stereotypes can make for great jokes and there is nothing wrong with some humor.

Some people learn similar lessons from achievements in sports, hobby, musical ability, religious group/charity/volunteer work, etc. I've heard people say putting these extra things on a concise CV is unprofessional and can bias employers against an applicant. That may be so. I don't see a problem with people sharing this kind of detail at the end of their CV along with their other interests, professional group memberships, and so on. I think it's interesting and reminds me there is a real person that wrote the CV. If somebody doesn't like it, I don't want to work with them anyway.

 

[OldPsychDoc]

It's interesting that people don't identify as much with the comparable girl scout achievement. I dropped out of scouts in 5th grade, so I can't remember what it's called, but I know it exists.

Gold Award. I hear about it occasionally, but it doesn't seem as visible. Then again, there seem to be fewer senior high age girls in scouting in our community than boys. Don't know if that is reflective of national trends or not.

 

[serimeri]

Wow, thanks for the feedback guys. I think i should also have my deans letter talk about my omelette making skills that have recently been discovered!

 

[OldPsychDoc]

Wow, thanks for the feedback guys. I think i should also have my deans letter talk about my omelette making skills that have recently been discovered!

I'd rather read about your reflections on that than the usual personal statement, that's for sure...

 

[serimeri]

seriously though I think people in my class made a huge big deal about the MSPE. But for Psych at least, unless someone really calls you out for something awful, there's not much i can gather in the MSPE that would be valuable other than if you failed a class, or had some academic dishonesty issues etc.

Other than that they all seem so similar

 

[OldPsychDoc]

seriously though I think people in my class made a huge big deal about the MSPE. But for Psych at least, unless someone really calls you out for something awful, there's not much i can gather in the MSPE that would be valuable other than if you failed a class, or had some academic dishonesty issues etc.

Other than that they all seem so similar

As do the personal statements...as do the LORs...

 

[serimeri]

As do the personal statements...as do the LORs...

now you tell me! once I realized I wanted to do psych, I had to jump through hoops to get in touch with the director at my school to find out they were no longer there! I'm doing my rotations away from my school.

either way, i don't think it would have made a big difference as the private doc who wrote me the letter did a great job

 

[Doctor Bagel]

Gold Award. I hear about it occasionally, but it doesn't seem as visible. Then again, there seem to be fewer senior high age girls in scouting in our community than boys. Don't know if that is reflective of national trends or not.

Yeah, I think I knew 2 girls who stuck with Girl Scouts long enough to get that - Girl Scouts might have a retention problem. If I were a kid in my community, I'd do voyager scouts and get to do cool outdoor stuff, which we didn't do in Girl Scouts.

Btw, I have recreational interests at the end if my CV, which our chair encouraged us to do. Don't know if anybody cares, but I am pretty into my hobbies.

 

[psychattending]

Just to provide a second answer to your question, the Dean's letter is useless for the purposes of fellowship. Much more important would be what your Program Director and faculty write about your performance during residency training. Do fellowships even request MPSEs?