Letter of rec from an MD - What should it include?

[NZT]

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Hi all,

I asked my previous employer (a surgeon) to write me a letter of rec, and he said he would do it. He asked me to give him a list of what I want him to include, though I'm not sure where to start. Any ideas? Also, do admissions committees look for anything special in a letter coming from an MD?

Thanks!

 

[apumic]

I'd suggest going here.

Honestly, no premed's going to be able to give you a great answer to this. You're better off researching it yourself. You want him to cover why you'll be successful as a physician. His experience with you under him will be helpful in writing that. As the applicant, you're not in a particularly good position to be advising him on that, but since he asked, give him what you can dig up.

 

[kansaskid]

I asked the physician who I shadowed (and nannied her kids) to write me a letter and I gave her a copy of my resume and a cover letter that explained what I was looking for. I said that information about how she saw my potential as a physician and a leader were good to include. She also just knew me personally and I asked her to attest to my maturity and open-mindedness. I made sure that she would provide a good letter, not just a boring form letter, and then took a deep breath and let it go. You can give suggestions but at some point you have to just hope they do a good job!

As far as ADCOMS liking letters from MDs, I'm not really sure. It makes sense to me that they would like hearing a doc's perspective on the applicant, but I doubt it has like a special rank or anything. Anyone else know more about this? I'm curious as well now...