When do you start writing CVs & Personal staments for residency?

[pharmer]

I wil be starting rotations in 4 mo's and I was wanting to know when most people start writing their CVs and personal statements for residency. From this board it sounds like most people have a personal statement and CV to hand the Drs they ask to write LORs. Many students have Drs from 3rd year clerkships write letters for them and tend to ask directly after (or shortly after while you are still fresh in your preceptors mind) the rotation is over. So if one was to do this, and hand their LOR writer the above documents ,it would seems as if I would need to have my CV and PS written during the beginning of 3rd year How can I do this when I still am not sure exactly what I want to go into yet Any tips would be greatly appreciated!

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[dlung]

I kept a running CV throughout med school just compiling stuff... I got the habit from job searching through college and my year off, and it makes that part a lot easier come application/LOR time...

You can ask for LORs during your 3rd year rotations (I did)--and usually, if they agree, they'll just tell you to come back and chat with them sometime 4th year when you have more to talk about and at least a rough draft of your PS...

Again, a habit from job hunting, something I when I met with each LOR is I had a prepared packet of stuff for them (CV, PS, copy StepI, copy transcript, paper abstracts, and copy of clinical evals from the rotation). I think my letter writers appreciated that.

 

[fourthyearmed]

At my school we start asking for letters around July - August of 4th year, after we have completed all our 3rd year rotations and we know what field we are going into. That's also when we started putting together CVs and Personal Statements which you should give to your letter writers.

 

[Dr.Evil1]

I wil be starting rotations in 4 mo's and I was wanting to know when most people start writing their CVs and personal statements for residency. From this board it sounds like most people have a personal statement and CV to hand the Drs they ask to write LORs. Many students have Drs from 3rd year clerkships write letters for them and tend to ask directly after (or shortly after while you are still fresh in your preceptors mind) the rotation is over. So if one was to do this, and hand their LOR writer the above documents ,it would seems as if I would need to have my CV and PS written during the beginning of 3rd year How can I do this when I still am not sure exactly what I want to go into yet Any tips would be greatly appreciated!

Getting LORs is a huge pain in the ass. Everyone who is an attending, though, has done it to get where they are at so everyone knows the same process. Basically you ask them either before, during or after your rotation that you would like for them to write a letter on your behalf. You then contact them in July/August and they will write the letter for your residency application. Packets of information like the previous poster mentioned are very helpful. Some attendings have a whole protocol for filling out a LOR and it involves a little questionaire and such. Don't worry too much because attendings who write letters know how the system works and they will know what to do, even if you don't.

Oh yeah, to answer your actual question. I would have my CV and personal statement written once you know what you are going to do and you have the time to sit down and do them. For most of us I would say a good time is towards the end of 3rd year or the first 2 months of 4th year, whenever you have some time and can put toghether something nice and well though out.

 

[Blade28]

I also kept a running, updated CV throughout med school. My personal statement didn't start forming until around June-July, though.

 

[ears]

I also had a running CV, but I re-did it around this time of 3rd year. In fact, this was about the time of my psychiatry rotation in third year. I was about finished with psych after the first three weeks of a six week rotation, so I started putting stuff together.

If you're on an easy rotation right now, you might as well get started. I went to the library and started working through the exercises in that book, "Personal Statements for Health Professionals", or whatever it was. They're kind of corny, but they make you realize what you want to say, and help you figure out how to organize it all.

It made a big difference to me in the application process; I was way ahead of the game, and everything was much easier. I could ask for my letters earlier (because I already had my CV and PS ready to give writers). I could talk to advisors earlier, and get their feedback on the statement, and actually have time to incorporate it. And then it was easy to shoot it all into ERAS.

Don't kill yourself trying to do it now, but it does help.