Surgery Letters of Recommendation

[kimberlicox]

Hi...

Am wondering about resources/information regarding appropriate/desirable stuff to include for US surgical letters of recommendation.

As my Chief of Surgery and faculty members are not US based and have little experience with writing such letters (they are not used in Australia), they are wondering if there are any "codes" or "must-haves" to include in my letter for US residency programs.

Any suggestions or leads on where I can find this info?

Thanks in advance...

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[chicago md]

Kimberly,
I am a categorical general surgery resident at a university hospital in Chicago. Your letters are probably the most important aspect of your application to surgery residency. The key thing is to get them from faculty with an outstanding reputation, who know you well and can attest to you being bright, extremely hard working...blaah blaah etc. There really are no codes or anything special required just letters that make you sound like a superstar. Good luck!

QUOTE]Originally posted by kimberlicox:
Hi...

Am wondering about resources/information regarding appropriate/desirable stuff to include for US surgical letters of recommendation.

As my Chief of Surgery and faculty members are not US based and have little experience with writing such letters (they are not used in Australia), they are wondering if there are any "codes" or "must-haves" to include in my letter for US residency programs.

Any suggestions or leads on where I can find this info?

Thanks in advance...[/QUOTE]

 

[kimberlicox]

Thank you very much, I was beginning to bemoan whether I'd get any responses.

As I mentioned in my first post, the Chief of Surgery, and others (including Chiefs of Vascular, Plastics) are willing to write me wonderful letters.

I had read some journal articles and First Aid for the Match which referred to "key code" words so was concerned that I was "out of the loop" down under.

A student in this year's class just matched into Ortho, so I'm hopeful (if realistic)!

Thanks again for your time and comments.

 

[jawurheemd]

I was just curious at to how you enjoyed your Australian medical school experience. I remember you from Greg Chronowski's old board before you were moved down under. I remember that you had some reasons for going down there as opposed to a US school -- I was wondering if your expectations where met. Just curious. You can email me if you prefer.

-James

 

[kimberlicox]

Hi...

Its funny how many people I "meet" from Chrononet. I have to say that most of my expectations were met by going to school in Australia; I've really enjoyed the country, the people and the focus on clinical medicine in a rural and remote environment.

There were some drawbacks (apart from the obvious tyranny of distance) - namely, that I had *no idea* when I started school that I would become passionate about surgery. You may recall I'd always envisioned a career in IM. However, now I wonder if my future Match results will be compromised by going to school in Australia, in such a competitive field as surgery. I wasn't worried about matching in IM (all other things being equal). Secondly, PBL wasn't the curriculum for me - however, that had less to do with Australia than with the teaching paradigm. Lastly, it was hard doing a lot of Step 1/2 "alone" (e.g., with little help from the faculty).

All in all, I would still recommend it as a wonderful experience. I'm not sure all of my classmates would say the same (I think many of them underestimated how homesick they would be, or how they would cope in a school that isn't designed for Americans [as opposed to other foreign schools popular with Americans]).

I'm just a little disappointed that the accent didn't rub off more on me!

 

[jawurheemd]

Thank you for sharing your experience -- it's always interesting how medical education is varies from place to place. Good luck with everything.

-James