Thank You Notes or Emails?

I doubt it actually makes any difference.....BUT, would you rather get a birthday card or a birthday email?

 

I'd say thank you emails are fine, as long as you don't want to match there.

 

At our school they gave us a little handout on interviewing etiquette - an excerpt from one of the books they referenced (i think it was the residency book by Dr. Samir Desai) said email was not only acceptable but the preferred medium for sending thank you notes.
I've been on one interview so far and sent out thank you emails - one of the interviewers actually replied to my email with a pretty well thought out reply.
Besides, i figured my handwriting isn't going to earn me any extra points. Also, I'd rather spend my money on Mickey D's breakfast than postage stamps.

 

ditto regarding the advice from my school....emails way preferable

 

i personally am going with handwritten, just because i know that a lot of these PDs and faculty members are very busy, they probably get buttloads of e-mail every day, much of which may be spam, others which they will not read, or just gloss through, or skip over for later and then forget about it... i'm just a lowly 4th year medical student, and even i get lots of e-mail to wade through. i think by sending an actual letter that they will have to open with their own fingers, it more tangible and more likely to be read in a meaningful way.

i'm not suggesting that sending an e-mail would be inappropriate -- in terms of the actual act of thanking someone, either way should be perfectly fine.

Z

 

your point is very valid, but just to let you know, i've received a personalized response to each thank you email ive sent, so they are definitely reading them. also, the advice that I spoke of came from a panel of all the program directors at our med school.....so rest assured if you are sending emails! but as you said, you can't go wrong either way.

 

Are you all sending thank yous (email or snail mail) to all interviewers, or just to the program director?

I have heard various advice about this. Some said one note to the PD with mention of each interviewer.....

What you do you all think?

 

My plan was to send individual notes to each interviewer, because I really do want to thank them for taking time out of their schedules to interview me. If it's just sent to the PD I would assume the interviewers would never see it. But I'd love to hear what others think.

I thought of another question - what if you didn't even speak to the PD the whole day? This happened to me this week and I feel like I don't even know what to say in a note to him. He literally has no idea who I am. Should I send him something?

 

I'm also thanking each interviewer individually... i think this is reasonble, i mean they each took time to talk to me, and especially at a program that i am really interested in, i would like everyone whom i spoke with to know...

secondly, if you didn't even speak to the PD the whole day, that would be a pretty significant red flag for the program, in my humble opinion. how could a program director justify (to himself even) not having spoken to every candidate that might potentially end up training at his/her program?

 

Yeah, I wasn't sure what to think of it. It was my first interview, so I didn't know if that was typical or not. Has anyone else had this experience? Is it pretty uncommon? At this particular program, I assumed it was just because there were too many applicants there (20+) so it was only feasible for us to meet him in a big group. Plus, part of it may have been me - I didn't make a huge effort to talk to the PD b/c he is retiring soon anyway (another red flag I have to consider).

 

At 3/3 interviews I have had so far, I was interviewed by the program director in which the interview was more of why I should come there. He/she would ask what other programs I was interviewing at and they would compare/contrast the other programs. Interviews by other faculty member were more of the traditional stuff (why medicine, tell me about yourself). However, program directors have busy lives and I suppose they would miss 1 or 2 interview dates so I would not read into it too much. I did not apply for U Colorado so I don't know much about the program though.

 

hey all...

i've been to 3 interviews so far and for all of them, I have sent an e-mail to the person(s) who interviewed me AS WELL AS the PD....I have gotten GREAT responses from all of them so far, and pretty quick too....

I think alot of it has to do with HOW you have written the e-mail....in other words, if the e-mail is the usual "i like your program" then chances are less that you'll get a good response (I did that w/ a program that I am not too interested in but will rank--albeit lower), but the programs that I am sincere about, I have written a nice, thought-out, personalized e-mail and they have been all recieved well.....

I don't think there is anything wrong in EITHER e-mail OR hand written....just the WORDING is crucial in terms of how personalized you make it....


just my $0.0000000000000000000000000000000000000000002

 

No one here has mentioned type written, printed, and mailed thank you notes... That's how I did it for medical schools, and I figured I would do the same here. What do ya'll think? Or should I just go with the email?

 

Personal choice. I had one interviewer provide me only with her email address, so I sent her an email. I was planning on sending printed letters, but I don't have a good printer (streaky), so now I think I'm going to send cards. Put yourself in your interviewer's shoes- what would you want to receive- an email, letter, or card? I'd take the card or letter any day.

 

I wanted to send everybody a card too...I'm just worried that it might get lost in the mail and the PD thinks that I wasn't polite enough to thank them?!

I dont want to send emails and the card, it just looks really obsessive, as in I'm really desperate to get into your program...


I know some PD who were like PLEASE PLEASE dont send thank you cards, waste of paper and money. I wish all the PD stated at the beginning to not send thank you cards, and in that scenario I would have only sent emails (which I would be sure that they would receive)...

 

yes, this hypothetical scenario which you have created would have indeed been most ideal.

i know the thank you cards/e-mails are a nice gesture and all, but do you guys really think the "wording" is all that important (as medlaw mentioned in post above)? i mean, are slight nuances in the way you phrase your thanks really going to make any sort of significant impact on how a program ranks you? they all know that we're just playing the game, and we know that they're playing the game too. so how big of a deal could something like a thank you note really be, in the big scheme of things.