A personal note from my PD to a "prestigious" PD...

[BlackNDecker]

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[NDESTRUKT]

My PD/attending made a personal phone call.

 

[Poety2]

[frde

 

[DJ LACTULOSE]

why did your PD email another program about your app? did you ask him to?

 

[BlackNDecker]

Yes, I asked him to write the letter.

I don't know about yall, but I don't feel close enough to him to second guess his letter to his face...i.e. I wouldn't ask him if he thought the "note" was strong enough.

 

[VictorsLilSecrt]

BlackNDecker is a medical student here at "X" medical school and majored in ________. Please give his application consideration.

How do you "major" in something as a medical student in medical school?

 

[BlackNDecker]

He was referring to my major in undergrad. That was the extent of his summation of my academic career.

 

[VictorsLilSecrt]

Got it.

I'm not even in med school yet, so this might not be helpful, but the doc I got a reference from wouldn't even respond to emails unless they were no more than 1 or 2 sentences long. Guess he was too busy (or at least always thought he was too busy). I could correspond with him all day long if each of my emails asked one simple question. But if I included a full paragraph, then I never got a response.

Maybe your PD knows the "prestige" PD to be of the same type.

 

[Saluda]

Hopefully someone in your deans office can give you a hint if your other letters are strong. This one obviously is not and I don't think it is safe to assume the letter is strong either. If it is this flat, I would just find someone who can be more enthusiastic about you.

Physicans are a strange bunch, and some don't have the balls to tell you they are not able to write you a strong letter. I ALWAYS asked the people who were writing on my behalf "CAN YOU WRITE A STRONG LETTER IN SUPPORT OF MY APPLICATION." Anything other than an enthusiastic "yes" and I moved on to ask another person. Recently when transferring from my program I was given a copy of my file, including those letters, and it seemed to have worked.

I think by cc-ing you the email, he was taking the chicken **** way of telling you the letter was luke warm. You need an attending who has worked with you who can speak to your potential as an intern or resident.

Once upon a time my friend asked a very two-faced attending to write her a letter. He had been very nice to her up front, but the letter was a real back stab. The nice lady in the dean's office who scans the letters in actually paged her to advise her not to include the letter.

I would not hesitate to ask around your dean's office if your other letters are decent.

 

[BlackNDecker]

He looked me in the eye and said "We'll write you a strong letter" during our sit down for my LOR consultation. I've gotten lots of interviews from strong programs so I'm not convinced his LOR was weak. I guess "we" refers to the fact that he outlines what he wants it to say and the secretary for the dept. drafts the letters.

My main question was refering to the strength of the personal note/email.

 

[DJ LACTULOSE]

i think the fact that you asked your PD to contact the PD of another program via email in addition to writing you a department letter (the one you uploaded to ERAS) is kind of weird. why not just get the LOR and that's it? what did you expect him to say in the email? that you are the best medical student at the school?

how well does your PD even know you. most med students don't have much interaction with the IM program director at their home program (and even if they do, i doubt it's enough for them to really get to know you). it might be that one PD just mentioning a medical student to another PD is enough for the other PD to offer an interview.

from my understanding, the IM department letter is to just say that the IM department thinks you'll be good IM resident. your other LORs should be more personal and from attendings that know you well and actually have worked with you. i don't know about having your PD contact specific programs about you. maybe if there is one place in particular you really want to go to and haven't yet been offered an interview. but it's only october!!

are you from a DO school or something?

 

[BlackNDecker]

Wow, I didn't expect to get whipped on this...

I posed the question privately to Aprogdirector and he suggested it was a good idea. I also discussed this with one of the chief residents at my school and he also thought it was a good idea. Lastly, My PD knows someone on the selection committee at this particular program.

No, I'm at an allopathic program. The PD sent out an email early in the year offering to write a LOR for anyone interested, and during the subsequent interview he said he'd do what ever he could to help us get where we wanted to go. So I took him up on the offer. I also had an attending who said he'd make phone calls for me, and may also take him up on the offer (this was also discussed with Aprogdirector).

I wish I hadn't posted this now...

 

[DJ LACTULOSE]

sorry, i didn't mean to bash you or anything. i just thought the whole scenario was odd. i've only heard of PDs calling other PDs for fields like ophtho or ENT.

i wouldn't worry about the email your PD sent, it can only help. he probably just didn't put the same effort into the email that he did into your LOR. i don't think any IM PD would screw an applicant by writing a mediocre letter, esp if the interview went as you decribed.

 

[NotAProgDirector]

I posed the question privately to Aprogdirector and he suggested it was a good idea.

Thanks for dragging my good name into the mud!

I still think it is a good idea in general. It's a bit disappointing that the email was so brief and pointless, but honestly if I got such an email from someone I know it would make me look at that application more closely and likely result in me responding to the other person to inquire further -- something you were probably not cc'd on.

So, overall, I think you are still ahead of the game.

 

[Annette]

PD's are inundated with applications. A short e-mail is all that really is required. I wouldn't panic about this. You can still ask your Dean's staff if your letters are strong.

 

[VictorsLilSecrt]

You can still ask your Dean's staff if your letters are strong.

No kidding? You get to find out if *confidential* letters are strong are not? Seems to defeat the purpose, no?

 

[anonodoc]

No kidding? You get to find out if *confidential* letters are strong are not? Seems to defeat the purpose, no?

While the dean's office can't disclose the specific content of the letters, it is common practice to advise students which of the letters they've had written for them are the strongest and which to not include. When I was a medical student, I had one preceptor who offered to write a letter, told me I was one of the best students he'd ever had, and gave me a great eval-- but I was later advised not to use his letter. Turns out this guy simply didn't write good letters (and all the letters he wrote for students in my class were submitted late). So I didn't use his. Ironically, one of the other preceptors on the same rotation, who I DIDN'T think would write a good letter, sent an unsolicited letter to my Dean's office, and I was adviced to use it, and was told it was very strong. So go figure.

In applying for fellowships now, it is odd, because you have the letters sent directly to EFDO, and they truly aren't seen by anyone until they are submitted to the programs you're applying to, so it's even more critical to pick good letter writers! Even though I think I've been careful, I'm a little nervous!

 

[pdintheusa]

I agree wholeheartedly with aProgramDirector.

PD's are busy, and a PD phone call/email to advocate for someone will almost always lead to an invitation from me, if only to meet the person. [and see what I might be missing!]