Deans letter's importance?

[somdave2005]

Hi guys, just got out of my deans letter review with my Dean... very mediocre deans letter. Can you guys give me an idea of how important the Dean's letter is in matching in IM programs???? I'm scared ****less...

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[PeterY]

well everything will more or less boil down to that last sentence in your dean's letter. i would say that it is rather important if you are trying to match into the top programs. in general i think it is pretty important since it is suppose to summarize your preformance in your clinical year. it should be fairly consistent with your transcript/other letters of recommendation so in that sense i don't think it will make or break you.

Peter

 

[somdave2005]

I didn't do well in my clinical years because of illness...but I did much better in my fourth year. Only did "good" (which means mere pass instead of near honors or honors) in third year IM rotation but did well in my fourth year stuff. That last sentence of my dean's letter is very bland i remembered...something like we "recommend" him in his pursuits. So am i out of the running for CA academic programs since the Dean's letter is suggesting that i was at the bottom end of my class? I go to a top 20 US medical school if it's worth anything. I've been getting interviews at some places in CA (not academic) but I'm concerned this dean's letter is going to hurt me more than help me!

well everything will more or less boil down to that last sentence in your dean's letter. i would say that it is rather important if you are trying to match into the top programs. in general i think it is pretty important since it is suppose to summarize your preformance in your clinical year. it should be fairly consistent with your transcript/other letters of recommendation so in that sense i don't think it will make or break you.

Peter

 

[irlandesa]

hey, as long as your Dean's letter contains some mention of the illness that affected your performance (and from what you say, it should), I wouldn't worry too much about it since you go to a good school. I read my Dean's letter today and it was pretty much just a regurgitation of the nice comments from 3rd and part of 4th year; my class rank "Very Good", indicating the top half of the bottom half of my class is rather blah (and expected). The "Pass" in Medicine would likely be of notable concern to residency programs if you didn't improve in a 4th year Medicine Sub-I (Wards or ICU), but this doesn't seem to be the case with you. I don't know about the CA academic programs as I'm not from CA, but in spite of of my unremarkable transcript, and only 1 letter in, I've done fine so far in terms of getting interviews at quite reputable university-based programs (6 in ~1 week after submission). From what I hear, USC and UCLA-WLAVA are not extremely competitive, so I'm sure they'd be happy to have someone from a well-regarded school GOOD LUCK, ireland.

 

[PeterY]

This is what one PD at an academic IM program in California says concerning matching into IM:

"To stay in California at a University based program or a strong affiliate, one would need a minimum of 210+ on USMLE Part 1 and a very strong pass in the medicine clerkship with good narratives on the Dean's letter for medicine and all other core rotations. For the top IM programs, think Part I of 230+ and honors in medicine and two other clerkships, plus some other activities which set one apart such as significant research or creative and extensive public service."

IMHO a pass in your third medicine clerkship is not very good. Then again my friend who is a second year medicine resident at Stanford also had a pass in his medicine clerkship. Of course he went to UCSF so the medical school name probably helped out a bit. I am not sure if a top 20 US medical school is going to give you the same type of pull in getting interviews in CA. Anyway doing better in your fourth year is good but it doesn't really make your third year performance disappear. Good luck with interviews, and remember that most competitive academic programs in CA are going to wait until mid november before giving out interviews/rejections.

Peter

I didn't do well in my clinical years because of illness...but I did much better in my fourth year. Only did "good" (which means mere pass instead of near honors or honors) in third year IM rotation but did well in my fourth year stuff. That last sentence of my dean's letter is very bland i remembered...something like we "recommend" him in his pursuits. So am i out of the running for CA academic programs since the Dean's letter is suggesting that i was at the bottom end of my class? I go to a top 20 US medical school if it's worth anything. I've been getting interviews at some places in CA (not academic) but I'm concerned this dean's letter is going to hurt me more than help me!

 

[somdave2005]

To Irlandesa and PeterY, thanks for your assessments...i guess i'll wait and see what happends when Dean's letter comes out. fingers crossed. Too bad Ca programs are so competitive. I just wish i had known all this during my third year.


Dave

This is what one PD at an academic IM program in California says concerning matching into IM:



"To stay in California at a University based program or a strong affiliate, one would need a minimum of 210+ on USMLE Part 1 and a very strong pass in the medicine clerkship with good narratives on the Dean's letter for medicine and all other core rotations. For the top IM programs, think Part I of 230+ and honors in medicine and two other clerkships, plus some other activities which set one apart such as significant research or creative and extensive public service."

IMHO a pass in your third medicine clerkship is not very good. Then again my friend who is a second year medicine resident at Stanford also had a pass in his medicine clerkship. Of course he went to UCSF so the medical school name probably helped out a bit. I am not sure if a top 20 US medical school is going to give you the same type of pull in getting interviews in CA. Anyway doing better in your fourth year is good but it doesn't really make your third year performance disappear. Good luck with interviews, and remember that most competitive academic programs in CA are going to wait until mid november before giving out interviews/rejections.

Peter