When to get in touch with deans/assistant deans?

[pauliepauliepaulie]

Hey all!

Just a quick question for those applying to residency or further in training – when would you recommend that students actively put in effort to get to know their school’s student deans/assistant deans? Does putting in the time to develop a good relationship with them pay off when it comes to residency season/MSPE letter submission? I am a new M2, and during my M1 year, there was a high barrier to getting to know people and this presented some challenges to networking as well. I just wanted to be proactive about this, because we all know relationship building takes time!

Thanks for your input in advance.

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[MedScat]

MSPE letters are extremely standardized and I don't think having a relationship with a dean will really make a difference. When you say "get to know" your dean, do you mean like do research with them? Like what exactly would you be doing? I really don't think it matters whether you know one of them or not other than if they are someone you could potentially ask for a LOR after working in a clinical setting with them. Build relationships with people in fields that you are exploring as potential interest. Do things that you like doing, don't just build a relationship with the dean thinking it will help your deans letter cause those letters are literally like fill in the blank.

 

[GoSpursGo]

"Getting to know your dean" isn't a thing. The MSPE is very formulaic and it will be what it will be regardless of your relationship or lack thereof. Put simply, there are many things you could do with your time that would be more high-yield.

 

[collegestud2013]

Most schools have a specific, standardized template all the deans have to follow when writing the MSPE so there's very little leeway the change. At many schools the deans can't even change comments from 3rd year clerkship rotations (and only the clerkship director can). It may be a good idea to ask each clerkship a few weeks after the rotations to see what comments from the rotation will go into your MSPE and make sure all the comments are positive or at least neutral. Since most schools try to present their students in a good light, any negative comments from rotations that make it onto the MSPE are going to stick out like a sore thumb when applying to residency.

However, once scenario where getting to know your advising may be helpful is if they are in the same specialty you want to pursue and/or have a lot of say on who gets ranked at your home program.

 

[pauliepauliepaulie]

These are all super helpful inputs! Thank you for shedding some light on the big black box that is the MSPE/dean's letter for me.

 

[Phloston]

Hey all!

Just a quick question for those applying to residency or further in training – when would you recommend that students actively put in effort to get to know their school’s student deans/assistant deans? Does putting in the time to develop a good relationship with them pay off when it comes to residency season/MSPE letter submission? I am a new M2, and during my M1 year, there was a high barrier to getting to know people and this presented some challenges to networking as well. I just wanted to be proactive about this, because we all know relationship building takes time!

Thanks for your input in advance.

Recognize there's a difference between proactive engagement and coming across as though one carries entitlement and inflated self-importance. People are busy.

It's a good idea to get to know your admin whenever an informal scenario presents itself - e.g., he or she speaks to your class and is standing around after to take questions / meet you guys. But no, it's not a good idea to be setting up formal meetings just for the sake of it. Once again, people are busy.

Admin will sometimes arrange to meet you if there's a problem of some kind. If you're getting through med school as you should, you actually will have very little direct interaction with senior admin, unless you're a representative on a committee in some form.

Will likely make zero impact on residency/MSPE.