Thank you notes after interview

[DoctorWannaBe]

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I would like to write thank you notes to each program after interviewing, but I'm not sure who to send it to. Should I write a note to everyone who I met with? On my first interview, I met with the PD, Dept. Head, two interviewers (attendings), and the chief residents who took us on a tour. Should I write a letter to all 6 of those people?

Thanks, and good luck to everyone on your interviews!

 

[mdphd2b]

I would like to write thank you notes to each program after interviewing, but I'm not sure who to send it to. Should I write a note to everyone who I met with? On my first interview, I met with the PD, Dept. Head, two interviewers (attendings), and the chief residents who took us on a tour. Should I write a letter to all 6 of those people?

Thanks, and good luck to everyone on your interviews!

Here's how I'm doing it:

I'm emailing all my thank-you notes. If it's a program I'm not too interested in, I'm only emailing my 2 interviewers. If it's a program I really like (and would "rank highly"), I'll send more emails like those you have listed (to the interviewers, PD, chief, etc.). I have those interviews planned for later in the season. Also, I'll probably send another friendly reminder to my top choice around ROL time, just to re-confirm my interest.

I think it would be over-whelming to send SOOOOO many thank-you's to every single program--I have 2 different times where I do 4 interviews in 6 days, so that's pushing it

 

[kef300x]

This is something one of my friends told me she's doing (she's not going for peds, but OB/Gyn) but i thought it was a pretty good idea. I'm actually hand writing thank you cards to all the people I met with during my interview. Then I stick them all in a manila envelope and mail it to the program coordinator and she can distribute them to the residents and attendings. I thought it was a good way to make sure everyone gets thank yous and you don't have to worry about mailing them all separately!

 

[drln]

So, a couple of the programs I've interviewed at have sent me thank you notes themselves--they start out saying the generic "thank you for coming" but then one had a handwritten note from the PD saying "we think you would be a good fit here" and another said "we are very interested in you." What am I supposed to make of correspondence like this? Should I consider statements like these routine responses to my own thank you notes, or genuine statements of interest?

 

[DoctorSoccer]

I think that this is pretty standard practice for most programs. Judging by talking with other people going into peds, it tends to be their way of telling people with the best stats going into the day (those who you would think would be ideal on paper - good boards scores, grades, etc.), "hey, we knew you were good on paper, and you seem normal in person too. You're still just as high on our list." But they definitely only send it to their top candidates, not everyone.

In response to how you should respond, I think you should do nothing different than what you do for any other program. If you find come January that these programs really are on the top of your list, THEN let them know. Just my 2 cents...