SLOR vs traditional LOR

[DO2009]

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Here is my problem:
I am doing my core EM rotation at a community hospital that does not have a residency program. However, they are a high volume (80k+ visits per year) ED that takes a handful of students every month. However, since it is not an academic program, there are several questions on the SLOR that are not applicable. I was thinking about just having the EM Physicians write a traditional LOR for me. Another reason that I would prefer the traditional LOR is because I have known these physicians for years and they will be able to truly attest to my ability, work ethic, drive, character, knowledge, etc. What do you think? Should I go ahead and have the fill out the SLOR or a traditional letter?

BTW - I will be completing an elective rotation at a residency program where I plan to ask for a SLOR from the PD.

 

[bartleby]

The problem with just getting a plain old letter (having read a ton of the ones that applicants have submitted thinking they were great) as that and the average letter writer who is trying to say something good about a student never really gets to the heart of the issue. They put in tons of niceities like "always punctual", "hard worker", and "dedicated to emergency medicine", which are ostensibly things that you could say about any candidate. The topics that the SLOR (http://cordem.org/DOWNLOAD/2008slor.pdf) addresses are things that cut to the heart of your strength as an applicant. Are you sweet, but a slob and a basket case who needs constant handholding? As pleasant as you might be, are you only middle of the road as far as applicants go? There's plenty of opportunity for a kindly inclined to letter writer to elaborate on the SLOR form, but a letter writer has to be uncommonly savvy about the "buzzwords" in order to write a letter which on its own addresses these points.

Good luck.

 

[Mighty Mouse]

seems to me the easy solution is to have the doc fill out the SLOR, put a "n/a" wherever it applies, and then at the bottom where the comments section is, they can say "see attached" and write their very own LOR if they want to.

 

[DO2009]

seems to me the easy solution is to have the doc fill out the SLOR, put a "n/a" wherever it applies, and then at the bottom where the comments section is, they can say "see attached" and write their very own LOR if they want to.

Thanks Mighty Mouse. That is the other option that I was considering. I think that I will do that.

 

[Hercules]

Have things changed a lot in the last few years? Back when I was applying you could only get a SLOR from faculty at an emergency residency program, so this wouldn't have been an issue. Have they changed that?

 

[medsRus]

Are there SLORs for other fields? Also, if one takes an elective outside of ER and whats to match with ER, can the doctor writing the LOR use the SLOR? Thanks!

 

[LadyGrey]

Hercules: From the CORD site, "ONLY Emergency Medicine Faculty are to complete the SLOR. Most programs with student clerkships are encouraged to have the Student Clerkship Director and/or the Program Director do a SLOR. " I'm not entirely clear how the OP should interpret this. By faculty, I'm not sure if they mean "part of a residency program" or if being considered faculty of a med school w/o a residency would be enough.

BTW, the PD where I did my core offered to write me a letter, but didn't want to use the SLOR form. I'm not turning down a PD letter, but I'm asking another attending there to write me an additional letter in SLOR form. (A bird in the hand and all that -- sure it would be better to have letters from 2 different places, but I'm still waiting to hear if I got my EM away in time for a letter to matter).

 

[DO2009]

Thanks for everyone's feedback.

The letters that I am getting this month are from physician's at a community hospital that is not affiliated with my school except for the clerkship. None of the physician's are faculty. Thus, I have decided to just have traditional letters from these guys & a SLOR from my next rotation (at my top choice residency program).

 

[Old_Mil]

From the CORD site, "ONLY Emergency Medicine Faculty are to complete the SLOR

Ì understand this to mean that the SLOR should only be filled out during ER rotations...so if you have a good month in surgery, have the surgery attending write a traditional LOR.

Even at community programs, the docs are school affiliated faculty if you rotate there - at least that's how it works for us.

 

[beyond all hope]

I do this all the friggin time.

The SLOR actually tells the reader about me, the letter writer, just as much as it does about the applicant. It tells them whether I write 6 letters a year or 60. It says how many Honors I give out, so the reader will know how relevant that grade actually is.

When you're reading a letter you want to know a little something about the writer. That's what the SLOR does. It also asks key questions that the reader wants to know about the applicant.

An LOR is fine from a Program Director, because they probably are fairly well known and write many letters.

 

[DwightKShrute]

What is a SLOR? Senior Letter of Recommendation?

 

[howelljolly]

What is a SLOR? Senior Letter of Recommendation?

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