How to get really good LoRs?

[indieboy]

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hi all!,

can u tell me

who r the best people to get ur LoRs from?
How much important it is to get?
what makes a good LoR?
When one should seek them?

 

[Cowboy DO]

As bad as that was worded, I think thats a good question. To add to it...,

-what date do we need all the LOR in to eras by?
-will we not get as manyinterviews if they arnt in by the end of sept.?
-how do you go about asking for them, if you havent spent much time with that person( ie the chairman)?

 

[ExtraCrispy]

First of all, you should ask about this in the respective forums for your specialty of interests. The protocol for LORs varies with specialty - for gen surg, for instance, it's recommended that ALL letters be from surgeons. As you can imagine, this means you have to either get to know the faculty very well during your rotation, or do research or a sub-I with some of them.

I'll write more later, right now I have to leave to do an ER shift. 🙄

 

[penguins]

For me, the hardest part of this whole application process was to ask for a LOR. 😳 I was offered them by many and surprisingly, the ones that offered never followed through. 😡 However, the ones I asked wrote glowing and sincere letters very promptly. 🙂

I would recommend asking/getting these letters as soon as possible. A friend of mine never did get her 3rd LOR in the eras system. One doc who was suppossed to do it got caught up in Katrina stuff and another just never followed through. She has still gotten lots of interview offers though.
Most attendings will follow through and give it to you but sometimes you get screwed so cover your bases and get them early.
I ended up getting 4 and then chose the best 3 (I got my own copies).

 

[NinerNiner999]

Most attendings write your evaluations during your clerkships and most of these evaluations are available for you to read. Go through your evaluations (which you SHOULD be doing anyway to see where you need improvement) and see which attendings wrote your best evaluations (highest grades, most complementary remarks). Thank them for their kind words in person and ASK THESE ATTENDINGS to write your letters for you. I always provided them with a cover letter stating my career goals and a copy of my CV. It gives them stuff to add to your letter and shows them a level of professionalism. I also gave them a self-addressed confirmation card and stamped envelope to mail to me when the letter was completed, so I could keep tabs on them and so they could remember to do it. This may seem like a lot, but securing your residency position is the single most important step in your medical training - perhaps more important than getting your degree. This is the first major step that will completely influence the rest of your career and should not be taken lightly...

 

[Espion]

I asked as many people as I thought was appropriate (I ended up with seven letters of recommendation) and was able to pick and choose. If you want to be more successful in obtaining letters on time, ask early and ask prepared.

By that, I mean be ready to offer your curriculum vitae and personal statement when you ask for the recommendation. Whether they need it or not, it shows that you are not only serious, but you have already put considerable thought into the process. It does not hurt anything to have a rough draft of your curriculum vitae now. It will save some torture later.

Also, ask the chair of the department of the specialty you are applying for. I have found that some programs require a letter from the chairman. Even if you have had no clinical interaction with them, take the chance to set up a meeting to discuss your career goals and hand them your CV/PS. It is rare that a chair would not be willing to support your career endeavors.

The latest I asked for a letter of recommendation was August. One of them did not get back to me until the end of November, but as I had six letters already, I wasn't sweating it.

I'm going for general surgery as well, and one of my letters is from a PhD/DVM I have done research with. Tradition almost requires that all of our letters be from surgeons, but I think this is an acceptable exception.


I suck at brevity.

 

[penguins]

The above suggestions are great. I didn't do the postcard but it is a great idea.
I faxed/mailed a written request as a follow up to the verbal request and conversationally wrote my career goals/ cv type stuff in the body of the "letter". I think that worked for me (those were the ones I got the great letters from) but the more formal CV/cover letter are great options as well.

 

[streetdoc]

This letter thing has bothered me since I started 3rd year. My question is that I'm not sure if it is OK to ask an attending that I knew pretty well during my Peds. rotation. I'm not going into peds, and it was my first 3rd yr rotation (but the comments were great), but has it been too long ago-going on 6 months now??
Any advice would be great right about now!
streetdoc

 

[BigBadBix]

This letter thing has bothered me since I started 3rd year. My question is that I'm not sure if it is OK to ask an attending that I knew pretty well during my Peds. rotation. I'm not going into peds, and it was my first 3rd yr rotation (but the comments were great), but has it been too long ago-going on 6 months now??
Any advice would be great right about now!
streetdoc

It's definitely not too late. I'm also not going into peds but asked my peds attending for a letter 6-7 months after working with her. She was more than willing. Also, she was grateful that I contacted her before the rush of letter requests that happens in the early summer, so I'd recommend that you ask sooner rather than later. If you can set up a meeting in person it will help to jog his/her memory of you and will provide a chance to explain your career goals in person. Hope that helps.

-BBB

 

[streetdoc]

It's definitely not too late. I'm also not going into peds but asked my peds attending for a letter 6-7 months after working with her. She was more than willing. Also, she was grateful that I contacted her before the rush of letter requests that happens in the early summer, so I'd recommend that you ask sooner rather than later. If you can set up a meeting in person it will help to jog his/her memory of you and will provide a chance to explain your career goals in person. Hope that helps.

-BBB

Thanks for the help, BBB! Yeah, I sometimes feel like he won't remember me because they've had 30+ students and lots of residency applicants since I was there, so an inperson begging is a great idea. I guess now is not too early🙂
streetdoc

 

[robotsonic]

I'm really bad at getting LORs, but I did manage to get them done.

My advisor told me that in general surgery, the letters need to come from surgeons, and the name of the letter-writer is important. I saw why this was true when I went for interviews - the interviewers would often read the letters in front of me, and they would only stop to read if they recognized the name. Thus, the letters from the "famous" surgeons were carefully read, while the other one was just glanced at, even though the less famous person knew me better.

I was also worried about asking for letters many months after the rotation. This was never a problem. Just be sure to send the person your CV, personal statement, and a brief note on any presentations/write-ups/whatever that you may have given to them, anything that might help them remember you.

If the name is important (as it is in surgery), then get the big names, even if you have to do an outside rotation to get them. Don't worry if it seems like they are ignoring you. I swear that 2 of my big-name letter writers said a total of about 50 words to me, but they both wrote great letters. Remember that people generally aren't going to screw you over.

 

[BKN]

Also ask your referees if they can write a "strong letter of recommendation" for you. That's a code phrase. Everybody gets nice letters, but the words ". . .I strongly recommend. . ." mean that you are a standout.

Once you get that commitment from your referee, waive your right to see the letter. Most PDs will assume a that the referee didn't feel he/she could be candid if the student could see the letter. They then will be a little sceptical of it's contents. 😉

 

[Mumpu]

Hint one:
Use complete sentences and proper capitalization. "U" and "r" are not words in English language. Expressing yourself in a professional manner will go a long way.

 

[svaefinga]

How important is it to have a recently written LOR?
I have got one back from my last year of studies which looks good to me (don't know much about US-LORs though, don't have any US clinical experience yet) and worked well for my recent job. Since this letter was written by a now retired chairman in yet another country it would be hard to get a new one from him, I guess.