Official Letterhead?

[SoulinNeed]

One of the docs that I shadowed with works at a small, public clinic. I asked him to write me a LOR, and I told him that I needed it to be with a letterhead, but he told me that he doesn't have one. Can he just make a simple one on MS Word and use that?

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[okal]

That's pretty much all letterhead is. When I worked at a community college if we needed letterhead we simply used the office color printer to make it. Some places have watermarked letterheads while others print "COPY" on it in an invisible ink that only shows up on scanners/copiers, but most places do neither. Just be sure it looks decent, includes contact information, and preferably a logo.

 

[AZFutureDoc]

I'm in the same boat here. Only my situation is a bit more complicated. The letter writer was in charge of the clinical but I'm pretty sure he was recently fired or replaced or something. He said he wouldn't be able to use the clinic's letterhead. All he will do is sign it. Should I tell him that he could basically make a letterhead with just his name and address on it? He's a little older, and he might not even be tech savvy enough to do this. If I just made him a template he could print, with just his name, specialty, degree, and academic affiliation, would this suffice for schools?

Thanks.

 

[bucks2010]

I think the letterhead requirement may only apply if the person is affiliated with an institution (i.e. a university professor). I could be wrong.

 

[AZFutureDoc]

I think the letterhead requirement may only apply if the person is affiliated with an institution (i.e. a university professor). I could be wrong.

I looked at some schools websites, and it just says that it is mandatory. I've never seen anything about letter writers who recently lost their jobs lol. I emailed him and told him I would just make a personal letterhead for use with his letter. He's old and English isn't his first language, so I'm really worried about this working out. So frustrated by this, I'm about to say screw it. I have enough letters, but I really wanted one from this guy.

I need a drink.

 

[Medicine4Bruhs]

I think the letterhead requirement may only apply if the person is affiliated with an institution (i.e. a university professor). I could be wrong.

You are right. Letterheads really only matter for official LORs from university professors as a way to try to dissuade cheating en masse. Otherwise, what else would stop you from writing your own LOR and sending it to AMCAS as so-and-so person? Physician LOR letterheads are comparatively insignificant, but they can't hurt if they talk about attributes not mentioned in your previous letters.

 

[AZFutureDoc]

You are right. Letterheads really only matter for official LORs from university professors as a way to try to dissuade cheating en masse. Otherwise, what else would stop you from writing your own LOR and sending it to AMCAS as so-and-so person? Physician LOR letterheads are comparatively insignificant, but they can't hurt if they talk about attributes not mentioned in your previous letters.

I just remember seeing on another thread that someone was getting a letter of rec from a doctor at his own clinic, and he still needed letterhead, just with the doctors name and degree. Seems silly. If someone was willing to fake a letter of rec, is it really that much harder to print it on some paper with a letterhead? I could make something that looks really nice in 10 minutes. How does letterhead prevent cheating?

 

[ash914]

I just remember seeing on another thread that someone was getting a letter of rec from a doctor at his own clinic, and he still needed letterhead, just with the doctors name and degree. Seems silly. If someone was willing to fake a letter of rec, is it really that much harder to print it on some paper with a letterhead? I could make something that looks really nice in 10 minutes. How does letterhead prevent cheating?

It would be more difficult (not impossible) to put some something together that matches a school's letterhead that an adcom has seen many times before, so it probably does discourage cheating with those LOR's.