Why do attendings ask for your CV when writing your LOR?

[deleted1139416]

I'm not afraid to give it to them. But I'm just wondering what the point is. Obviously the whole point is to talk about my performance in a 4 week rotation..... not sure why the activities I did in undergrad or the first two years of medical school have anything to do with that. I'm already going to be putting all those in my resume for residency applications anyways.

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[Tenk]

If all we do is talk about your performance over 4 weeks it would be about 4 sentences. I’ve never asked for a students CV but I have been given them before and sometimes you learn things you didn’t know.

There are three main things residencies want to know about potential applicants: are you smart/competent enough, do you work hard and are you good hanging out with? A lot of PDs treat their residencies like family. So not only do they want smart people who work hard, they want people who will fit in and get along with everyone. Thus, adding any personal touches to a letter can actually be helpful. Remember though, that only gets your foot in the door. The rest is up to you to determine if you’re a good fit and that goes both ways.

Hope that helps.

 

[Med Ed]

Obviously the whole point is to talk about my performance in a 4 week rotation.....

That information is already covered in an evaluation, which will likely appear (in whole or in part) in your MSPE. People often conflate the two, but a letter of recommendation is not the same as an evaluation.

not sure why the activities I did in undergrad or the first two years of medical school have anything to do with that. I'm already going to be putting all those in my resume for residency applications anyways.

A good LOR is really organized around the student's attributes, and to speak with some modicum of authority about the student's attributes it's helpful to know more about them than what transpired during a single month. A good LOR writer will use anecdotes to paint a broader story about how congenial, knowledgeable, and hard-working the student is.

I also use CVs to make sure I don't mess up some small detail about the student in question.

 

[GoSpursGo]

Basically as above, it is useful so that we can put your performance in context of your overall CV