Asking for LoR for fellowship

[hopefulscribe2]

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Hi there,

I was wondering how residents are asking their attendings for LoR? I have texted two attendings about potentially meeting up with them to discuss my plans for fellowship and I haven't heard anything back. Not sure if I need to do this another way or attendings might not have the best impression of me unfortunately

 

[GoSpursGo]

Obviously none of us can speculate on why you personally haven't heard back from two specific attendings. However, I will say that personally I would never send a text about a non-time sensitive issue, because chances are they'll take a look at the text in the middle of their busy day and immediately forget about it. If you want someone to schedule time to sit with you, send them an email with your CV and rough personal statement so they can sit down when they're not being bombarded by patient care issues, look at their calendar, and set a time to meet with you. Then if they don't respond in a week, send a reminder.

Additionally I would probably start with your PD. Even if they aren't in your subspecialty of interest, they may have some resources that you can utilize or suggestions for attendings to reach out to.

 

[hopefulscribe2]

Obviously none of us can speculate on why you personally haven't heard back from two specific attendings. However, I will say that personally I would never send a text about a non-time sensitive issue, because chances are they'll take a look at the text in the middle of their busy day and immediately forget about it. If you want someone to schedule time to sit with you, send them an email with your CV and rough personal statement so they can sit down when they're not being bombarded by patient care issues, look at their calendar, and set a time to meet with you. Then if they don't respond in a week, send a reminder.

Additionally I would probably start with your PD. Even if they aren't in your subspecialty of interest, they may have some resources that you can utilize or suggestions for attendings to reach out to.

Maybe I will email at least one of them 😢

 

[GoSpursGo]

Maybe I will email at least one of them 😢

I mean, you are asking them for a professional reference. It’s not a trivial ask—faculty will usually be willing to help you, but it’s going to take at least half and hour of their time to meet with you and another half hour to write the letter. Please do them a courtesy of sending them a formal email requesting their time rather than sending them a random text that is likely to be forgotten.

 

[comp1]

I think you're putting too much thought into it. LoRs are just about the lowest priority thing for me as an attending. They are, of course, important to you...but I guarantee not to the attendings. Honestly they probably aren't that important to fellowship admissions committees either. They are mostly looking for completion of the residency requirements and a pulse. I'm sure the attending saw the text, thought briefly about doing it in the future and promptly forgot about it. It's probably a bit different for people applying to fellowship than for medical students. I've only ever written letters for med students applying to residency. Your PD may indeed a good place to start. They can make sure you are asking the right people. The PD may even be willing to reach out to them yourself. Ideally you would have asked for these letters while you were on service with the attending. I know I'm not particularly into meeting with people just to prep for a letter. I tend to ask for specific things from them in writing and then write my own letter, but again, that's more med students. And of course, an email was the bare minimum. A follow up IM could be appropriate if there was no response a week later, but email was the place to start.

 

[Saddleshoes]

A letter of reference is best asked for face-to-face.

 

[OrangeStarterPack]

Applied to child psychiatry this year, I asked all three of my eventual letter writers in person. For my PD I asked for a 5 minute meeting, with the other two attendings I asked them while working on service with them. All three of them asked me about specific questions about things that I would want in my letter. I followed up with all three of them with a subsequent email with the letter of request form from ERAS. I asked a fourth attending in person for a letter; however he did not ask me any specific questions about what I would want in my letter, so I never followed up with him.

 

[GoSpursGo]

Just peeling back the veil a little more—my email is literally my to do list. If I don’t have an unread email reminding me to do it, it probably isn’t getting done 🙂

 

[gutonc]

Just peeling back the veil a little more—my email is literally my to do list. If I don’t have an unread email reminding me to do it, it probably isn’t getting done 🙂

This is so true. Texts get read and maybe replied to, often not. Emails stay unread (even if I've read them) until they're acted upon if that needs to happen.

 

[Dral]

Agree with email. I don't know about others, but if there is an important email that is marked read, I put it back to unread so I remember to do whatever it is that it is about.

 

[comp1]

I would be somewhat perturbed by a resident asking for a separate meeting about a letter. I mean I can appreciate it as a concept, but I'm just being honest in my emotional reaction. It is not necessary and the OP should in no way expect that as a normal part of the flow, although I know some attendings here will strongly disagree. Best way to ask is always on rotation (plus an email as email is everyone's to do list), second best is just the email. Text/IM is for gentle reminders.

 

[TelemarketingEnigma]

I would be somewhat perturbed by a resident asking for a separate meeting about a letter.

I always offer this to my letter writers when I ask, as an option if they want more information, but never expect it. Most people just want a CV and maybe answers to a few specific questions but I think the only times i've actually needed a formal meeting were for things like PD letters.