Letter of Recommendation

[UNEOSTEO]

---

Members do not see this ad.

I asked for a letter from one of the attendings I worked with and he told me to write it and he'll sign it. I know....perfect opportunity to write the best letter! But, I'm really lost and need some help......

I have no clue how I should write this letter. Can anyone provide any input? If you have a sample letter, let me know if I can use it as a template.

Thanks!

 

[prominence]

i am looking for the same type of input on this matter also. thanks.

 

[powermd]

At best what the attending is asking you to do is awkward, not to mention unethical, and at worst it could be some kind of perverted psychological test the attending uses to figure out what kind of person you are before writing his own letter that you waive your rights to see.

A graduate school professor offered me a similar arrangement when I was looking for LORs for med school. I declined. It just doesn't seem worth the known and unknown risks involved.

If this attending doesn't care enough about your future to help you by writing a meaningful letter, you are asking the wrong person.

 

[doc_strange2001]

I disagree with the above statement. One of the clerkship directors at my institution lets everyone write thier own LOR. He would just review and sign it if he agreed. Reason #1 a ton of people want one from him every year and number 2 who knows you better than yourself. This is your opportunity to let your self shine and is much better than some lame generic letter. There are a few websites that have templets just do a google search b/c i cannot remember which ones i ran across. I eventually just wrote from mine from the heart and highlighted want i wanted residencies to know about me and my clincial abilites. Take this opportunity and run with it.

 

[powermd]

Originally posted by doc_strange2001
I disagree with the above statement. One of the clerkship directors at my institution lets everyone write thier own LOR. He would just review and sign it if he agreed. Reason #1 a ton of people want one from him every year and number 2 who knows you better than yourself. This is your opportunity to let your self shine and is much better than some lame generic letter. There are a few websites that have templets just do a google search b/c i cannot remember which ones i ran across. I eventually just wrote from mine from the heart and highlighted want i wanted residencies to know about me and my clincial abilites. Take this opportunity and run with it.

Writing your own LOR is a bad idea for a few reasons.

#1 - Practical.

If he waives his right to see the final letter, he's taking an awful big risk. What if the attending is testing his morality? What if the attending doesn't agree with what he wrote, and seeing the student's misperceptions of himself, writes something negative? What if PDs reading the letter suspect the letter was not written by the person who signed it? How could "taking this opportunity" possibly be worth the loss of credibility that would come with being caught? Would it be so hard to get a real letter from another attending and avoid all these risks?

#2 - Ethical.

The act of writing your own LOR, even with a co-conspiring signator, is highly unethical and indefensible. A LOR is assumed to be the opinion of the person who's signature is on the letter. By sending a letter you write yourself, you are LYING. The fact that he or she is thinking about doing it raises serious questions about this person's ethical standards. The public trust in the medical profession is based on an expectation that we maintain high ethical standards. If this person can not make an ethically defensible choice in an easy situation like this, how can he or she be trusted when more serious conflicts arise?

#3 - Integrity of the application process.

What if everyone wrote their own LORs? Or what if it just became a commonplace thing? Eventually PDs would figure it out and LORs would become no more useful than the personal statement for selecting your future colleagues. That's not a problem though, because higher grades/scores = better residents, right?

 

[doc_strange2001]

Whatever, its just two different opinions you decide whats best for you.

 

[powermd]

Originally posted by doc_strange2001
Whatever, its just two different opinions you decide whats best for you.

Nice attitude. Ethics matter. It saddens me to see a fellow doctor who thinks it's okay to lie about one's credentials.

 

[seattledoc]

I think it's fairly common practice to have someone write their own LOR. Not just in medicine, but if somebody is asked to write a letter for somebody job hunting in any field.

Now, I would hope that the student and attending sit down and look over the letter afterwards and come to an agreement about the contents. Then they can both sign, seal, and mail the letter so both know what was submitted. I don't see it as unethical if the attending reviews the letter and everybody is informed about the content.

 

[doc_strange2001]

Originally posted by powermd
Nice attitude. Ethics matter. It saddens me to see a fellow doctor who thinks it's okay to lie about one's credentials.

Bite me. Who made you god and ruler of all morality? Writing your own letter dosent = lying about your credentials. Everything you say in the letter should be the truth. It "saddens" me to think that there are people like you who believe that their opinion is the only right one and anyone who disagrees is "immmmooooorrralll". You gave your opinion and i gave mine why cant you just let it go with that and let him decide what he wants to do? If you read the orginal post, he was not even asking for your opinion he was asking for a templete or sample letter.

 

[UNEOSTEO]

I've spoken to the doc and he said that he tells all his students to write their own letter. Then, he sits down with you to go over it and makes changes if necessary. He does it this way because he is a very busy doc in a very busy practice. Plus, he said "Who knows you better than yourself?"

It's not about deceiving PD's or lying about your credentials!

PowerMD, please get off your high horse. Many docs tell students to write letters. Yes, it would be a shame for those who do not go over the letter to make sure the facts are correct, but I think the majority do!

 

[powermd]

Originally posted by doc_strange2001
Bite me. Who made you god and ruler of all morality? Writing your own letter dosent = lying about your credentials. Everything you say in the letter should be the truth. It "saddens" me to think that there are people like you who believe that their opinion is the only right one and anyone who disagrees is "immmmooooorrralll". You gave your opinion and i gave mine why cant you just let it go with that and let him decide what he wants to do? If you read the orginal post, he was not even asking for your opinion he was asking for a templete or sample letter.

It makes sense that your maturity level matches your personal ethics. Bite me? Sorry, I graduated elementary school years ago.

Doctors with crappy personal ethics are a serious problem in medicine, and by attempting to dismiss my points, you demonstrate that you are part of the problem. I'm not sorry if you don't like being called a liar for what you did. If you want to have a serious discussion about this, read on. If not, please, get out of medicine before you hurt someone.

I hope we can agree that lying is wrong. I hope we can agree that it is particularly egregious when people who should know better, and are expected to act with good ethics, lie. I also hope we can agree that doctors are among those in this group. The issue that remains is whether or not writing your own LOR is the same as lying. I think it is lying because a LOR written by the applicant is not what the readers assume it to be- the honest opinion of the person who signed the letter. If you can refute this point, or if you have a good explanation why writing your own LOR is not lying, I'd like to hear it.

 

[seattledoc]

take a look at this web site, it'll give you an idea of how to structure the letter. Good luck!

http://www.accepted.com/medical/LettersRec.aspx

 

[doc_strange2001]

Hey good luck with your letter UNEOSTEO. And powermd..bite me.

 

[Pinky]

At my med school, we wrote our own dean's letters. The office of student affairs would then take our letter and add their one line which is the only line that matters in the letter: "We (insert coded adverb here <e.g highly, enthusiastically>) recommend this student."

I remember finding a copy of my dean's letter and saying, "wow, i couldn't have done it better myself."