Slor

[oxford]

Is the SLOR only for program directors or is it also for EM attendings. I will be getting a letter form both but am not sure if I provide the attending with the SLOR as well.

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[DrQuinn]

Is the SLOR only for program directors or is it also for EM attendings. I will be getting a letter form both but am not sure if I provide the attending with the SLOR as well.

The SLOR, from what I understand, is for any residency affiliated EM attending. I gave it to a community EM attending, but also to an EM attending at a residency.

Q, DO

 

[aliraja]

You can give it to any EM-trained physician. It's kind of hard for non-residency affiliated docs at smaller hospitals who don't have many students to answer some of the questions though... i.e. "How does this student compare to others who rotated through this year", etc...

 

[Andy Kahn]

On my EM rotations, I gave my SLORs to both EM faculty (student rotation directors and other EM faculty) and a program director. The CORD website (http://www.cordem.org/slor.htm) has the SLOR for you in Word (good for having on disk or attached to an email since they can fill it out on their computer), PDF (prints out nicely if they want to fill it out with pen or typewriter), and Internet Explorer (also good for filling out on the computer) format. Most faculty familiar with the SLOR will know what to do and have their own preferences, but I went ahead and supplied them with a copy of it to make it easier for them.

They state on that CORD website, "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." Many of the clerkship/rotation directors will do a composite of what the various attendings you worked with said on your evals. I usually asked faculty with whom I worked with 2 or more shifts (including those that I felt I got along with and those that seemed like nice people who wouldn't do anything to hurt your chances) if they "felt they knew me well enough to write me a strong letter." I didn't want to get a subpar letter (and that would be a waste of their time) so I was giving them an out so that they could say "I guess I didn't work with you enough" if they couldn't say good things on the SLOR. I got more than the required 3 or 4 letters so that I could rotate which letters I sent to the different programs I applied to (an idea I got from studentdoctor.net). I don't know if it mattered, but I guess it couldn't hurt if you have that choice.

Also, you can try to schedule or switch shifts so that you work enough shifts with the PD, chair (if they are in the ED much), or a certain faculty member (I asked residents who would be a good person to get a SLOR from). I usually requested an appointment outside of shifts to meet and discuss getting a letter so that I could chat and provide my CV, PS, and other info. When I asked one person who I had 2 shifts with for a SLOR, he said he would be happy to and wanted to know if I would be working with him any more. I did have another shift so he wanted to wait until afterwards. During that last shift, he seemed to ask more questions and pay more attention. I got some questions right and some wrong, but I don't think that hurt me any. I assume he just wanted to see how I was thinking through those topics and it gave him something to write about (hopefully mainly good stuff!). The point is that if you let people know early that you are interested in EM and would like a SLOR (which everyone understands; it's part of being in academics for them and part of the applications process we have to go through), then that helps to get them to pay more attention to you.

Good luck! There's a lot of stuff to do up until match day, but it's all worth it.

-ak

 

[oxford]

Thanks so much for the replies. Very informative.

 

[sigep628]

Hey just a quick question. I gave a SLOR to the ER Director, and he said that he would rather write a personalized LOR because he could add more comments to reflect his opinions. Can anyone tell me if it is a requirement to have the SLOR for some of these programs. Thanks.

By the way the letter he wrote for me was great. I don't want to use the SLOR now because it was awsome.

 

[southerndoc]

I didn't submit a single SLOR. All my LOR's were actual letters.

I got a lot of impressive interviews, and matched very well.

 

[Andy Kahn]

Hey just a quick question. I gave a SLOR to the ER Director, and he said that he would rather write a personalized LOR because he could add more comments to reflect his opinions. Can anyone tell me if it is a requirement to have the SLOR for some of these programs. Thanks.

By the way the letter he wrote for me was great. I don't want to use the SLOR now because it was awsome.

That sounds great that the director would like to put more comments. I have heard that it is best to waive your right to read the letter (which is what I did), but I don't know how other people feel about that.

I got the feeling that getting a SLOR from each EM program you rotated at would look good. I heard that you would need at least one SLOR in your application. However, I know 2 people that matched into EM this year who told me that they did not get a SLOR (but perhaps they asked an EM faculty for a letter and that person used a SLOR).

I am sure some programs put more weight on a SLOR than others. If you know you are interested in certain places, you might email them and see what they like.

-ak

 

[EM guru]

Hey just a quick question. I gave a SLOR to the ER Director, and he said that he would rather write a personalized LOR because he could add more comments to reflect his opinions. Can anyone tell me if it is a requirement to have the SLOR for some of these programs. Thanks.

By the way the letter he wrote for me was great. I don't want to use the SLOR now because it was awsome.

From what I've heard, you need at least one SLOR. You could always ask the ED director to write a SLOR in addition to your personalized LOR. I asked the attendings I knew better to write a personalized letter with the SLOR and that seemed to work out well.

 

[sigep628]

So you are saying that you can actually turn in more than one LOR from the same person as long as one is a SLOR and the other is personalized? Or did I not understand what you wrote.

 

[southerndoc]

So you are saying that you can actually turn in more than one LOR from the same person as long as one is a SLOR and the other is personalized? Or did I not understand what you wrote.

No, the SLOR counts as the LOR from that person.

You do NOT need a SLOR. Even though I waived access to my LOR's, my EM attendings still let me read them. They were all standard LOR's.

 

[EM guru]

You can turn in both a SLOR and a personalized LOR from the same person, but those two together only count as one LOR. Does that make sense I hope? While a SLOR is not mandatory (apparently), I would still advise you to turn in at least one SLOR. I can tell you that there are some programs who prefer to see a SLOR. But in looking at some of the other postings, not all programs require/prefer a SLOR. I can only tell you what I've found from my experience.

 

[EM guru]

Also realize that you can get as many letters as you want and then pick and choose which programs you want to send them two. In total, ERAS will only let you send 4 LOR's to each program. I can't remember what the minimum is... I think 3. So, just to make sure I'm clear, you will need at least 3 (if I'm right about the minimum) letter writers. If one of your letter writers writes you both a SLOR and a personal LOR, that only counts as one. You still need two more letter writers. Ok, I think I'm happy with this... back to my Bud Light.

 

[southerndoc]

You can turn in both a SLOR and a personalized LOR from the same person, but those two together only count as one LOR. Does that make sense I hope? While a SLOR is not mandatory (apparently), I would still advise you to turn in at least one SLOR. I can tell you that there are some programs who prefer to see a SLOR. But in looking at some of the other postings, not all programs require/prefer a SLOR. I can only tell you what I've found from my experience.

I actually follow you now...

It's scanned in as an attachment to the SLOR. Talk about a long LOR!