Deans Letter/MSPE

[humabot]

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What do programs look for in the deans letter? What in the deans letter makes programs offer one an interview? It just seems odd that after receiving 1000+ deans letters all of a sudden programs will begin sending invites. Its a mystery. aprogdirector, atsai? any thoughts.

 

[stapleit]

The dean's letter has your rank as well as how you performed overall in 3rd year. I'm not sure what else they have but I think this is the meat of it.

 

[notdeadyet]

I would also suspect that a Dean's letter allows a program sorting through a big volume of applications to get a good snapshot of how you actually performed on your third year clerkships and how you're viewed by your school. Your actual school transcript doesn't say a whole lot other than your number of honors. Your Dean's Letter contains a lot of information about your performance in each clerkship and how you're perceived by your program.

 

[humabot]

I guess I was just wondering if they have certain criteria they look for.

 

[atsai3]

What do programs look for in the deans letter? What in the deans letter makes programs offer one an interview? It just seems odd that after receiving 1000+ deans letters all of a sudden programs will begin sending invites. Its a mystery. aprogdirector, atsai? any thoughts.

Your Dean's Letter basically consists of 1) a paragraph about your pre-medical and medical school background that basically regurgitates your CAF, 2) summaries of all of your clerkship evaluations along with your grades, and 3) your school's overall summative evaluation of you as a candidate ("outstanding", "very good", etc).

Many programs issue interview invitations solely on the basis of the CAF. Typically this is in response to your stated accomplishments, publications, etc. Acting prematurely on this information is clearly risky, however, and not all programs do this. Many programs will wait until they see your grades, your narrative evaluations, and your school's overall summative evaluation before extending an interview offer.

-AT.

 

[IHeartNerds]

The MSPE also discloses any sketchy **** you got into during medical school, in terms of failed rotations, disciplinary action, etc. I assume some programs like to see you kept your nose clean before wasting an interview spot on the guy who got slapped with a restraining order from a classmate.

 

[MegaProjectile]

The dean's letter has your rank as well as how you performed overall in 3rd year. I'm not sure what else they have but I think this is the meat of it.

Not every school discloses that information unless the student want it disclosed.

 

[IHeartNerds]

Not every school discloses that information unless the student want it disclosed.

True. The MSPE seems VERY school-specific in terms of what it reveals.

Some schools are brutal and, in the first paragraph, give your numeric rank. Must hurt to be 148th in a class of 148....

Some give code (top of class, outstanding, excellent, good, where good=axe murderer) phrases in MSPE.

And some give no indication of rank whatsoever...

 

[babel]

The MSPE also discloses any sketchy **** you got into during medical school, in terms of failed rotations, disciplinary action, etc. I assume some programs like to see you kept your nose clean before wasting an interview spot on the guy who got slapped with a restraining order from a classmate.

Agreed. I was told by faculty that interview at my program that the criteria that they look for are basically things at the extremes - any really positive comments from your evals (best student in 10 yrs etc) as well as any really negative comments (lacked motivation, disorganized, not a team player etc). Otherwise, most people probably sound the same. They may have already more or less made up their mind about you from the CAF, and this is just their last/official check to make sure they made the right decision.

 

[ozzidoc]

My medical school in England does not provide MSPEs.

I wonder if this fact will completely write me off as a candidate?

 

[VeerTheTIGuy]

My medical school in England does not provide MSPEs.

I wonder if this fact will completely write me off as a candidate?

Hey man, I'm at Manchester and me and my hospital Dean are creating my MSPE regardless. Try and contact your medical school and ask for basic statistics so you can create the graphs, and any feedback forms you had from your rotations can get typed up into the forms.

I think having an MSPE is quite important since it will explain the differences/intricacies of the programs here and how our rotations/etc work.

PM me if you need more advice