LOR Question

[EctopicFetus]

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First, let me say I am sorry if this is an old topic but it is important to me so I would appreciate some good info. I know the SDN community can help me out! So I am about half way through my 1st away rotation and I am thinking about getting 2 LORs here. One is from an attending I have worked a LOT with and another one is someone who I will work 3-4 shifts with but is a bigger name. Anyhow, should I ask for these LORs now? or should I wait until the end of my rotation. I am wondering if anyone has a strong feel on this. Additionally, I was told at the SAEM conference that I should go up to them and after a little intro say "Dr. So&so, would you be willing to write me a Strong Letter of Recommendation?"
Do you guys think this is the way to go. I just feel bad about consuming their time with this sort of stuff but of course it is important to me and being a teaching place with their own Residency they expect this sort of thing.

To summarize:
1) Do I ask for my LORs now or do I wait until the end? Benefits? Drawbacks?
2) What is the best approach to this?
3) New Q...who should i seek feedback from during this rotation, like most students the only feedback I get is..."you did good today etc". I dont know that this sort of thing is gonna get me a great eval and I also want to look for areas to improve.. Who is the best person to ask?

Thanks,
Ectopic

 

[RichL025]

Well, take this for what it's worth - I haven't follwed this advice for the exactly one LOR I have so far, but this is what we were told and it makes good sense to me -

Let the person know asap that you will be asking for a "strong" letter of recommendation - that lets them "keep an eye on you" during your time there, and whatever letter they write will have more specific details on it ("he did an outstanding job with a complicated diabetic patient while managing two other difficult ones", etc).

In addition, the letter writer gets the chance to tell you UP FRONT what they expect from a student to classify them as "strong". Maybe it's just a desire to learn. Maybe it's demonstrating that you're reading on your own, etc etc.

As far as feedback, this is more difficult, because some people like to think that simply saying "good job" is adequate feedback <g>. Again, explain _ahead of time_ to the person that you would appreciate specific feedback on what you did well, and more importantly, what they think you need to work on (subtle appeal to their ego there). It won't work all the time, but it does pretty well for me.