sorry if this is already a thread. I’m a second year in vet school and one of our professors said along the lines of “of course you should all have mentors by now and if you don’t, something is wrong”. I’m not sure how to go about making this strong connection with a faculty member especially when I read the letter of recommendations are so important for residencies. I’m not even sure if I want to do a residency but I’d like the option. Sometimes I meet with professors to ask questions etc but it’s not like a recurring thing where I feel they know me, we build a relationship or would write me a good letter to make a big difference.
Are your letters of rec from professors you work with over the summer or from relations you made over your last clinical year? I’m just looking for advice. I’ve gotten letters of recs before but for residencies, they seem like a really big factor. I know people say to just make meetings with professors but I feel like I’d have to schedule one every two weeks or month and say hey how’s it going and I’m not sure I’d have anything to talk about and yes that sounds unrealistic and awkward. If it’s just to ask academic class questions then that would see my needy and not self sufficient maybe to some. not sure who else to ask about this at my school. Thank you!!!!
Hi OP. This is an excellent question. You'll probably get a variety of answers depending on who is asked. I invite others to post there two cents here as well.
I just submitted my 2018 match application in early November. The VIRMP permits submission of four LORs, and I submitted 4. Three of these were from boarded faculty at my veterinary school. One of them was from a boarded industry veterinarian that I have known for 15 years.
Here are my pointers for securing quality LORs:
1. Don't establish professional relationships with faculty with the end goal of obtaining a quality letter. Quality LORs should be a natural byproduct of an extended professional relationship that developed organically as a result of mutual interests or other factors that prompted the association. You don't want to be the person who embodies narcissism and superficiality in approaching faculty solely for a letter. This strategy is readily apparent, and easy to dismiss.
2. Watch the LOR video posted on the VIRMP website. This will give you a good idea of how you'll be evaluated by your reference. The first section of the VIRMP standardized LOR is ranking students by 'bins' with respect to percent of all other applicants reviewed (categories included clinical knowledge, motivation/initiative, etc.). The second section is free form, where the reference is asked to write a narrative in support of your candidacy.
3. In my opinion, the BEST LORs come from faculty members who can evaluate you from 360 degrees- i.e. your classroom performance in the pre-clinical years, your performance on the clinic floor, and you as a human being. To secure letters like this, you need to establish solid relationships with faculty early in the game. You're a second year. It's not too late. Remember that the faculty at your school are conducting their own residency/internship interviews at the same time you're applying. These folks have evaluated hundreds if not thousands of candidates for advanced training programs- those of your home institution, and those that come from other vet schools. When selection committees read a letter from an individual with this basis for comparison, the reference itself carries greater weight. I would definitely recommend academic LORs for advanced training programs at other veterinary schools for this reason (as opposed to a veterinarian in a community program, unless the community program also has a well-respected residency/internship).
4. Less so for internship, but definitely for residency- at LEAST one (better > 1) of your LORs must come from faculty/veterinarians within your desired specialty. If you're gunning for advanced training positions in IM, but have zero letters from an internist, that's a gigantic red flag. You need to be strategic about establishing these relationships early to ensure that this crucial piece of your application is fulfilled.
5. LORs that complement your desired specialty are also helpful. It's rare to have a solid relationship with multiple faculty members that satisfy point #3 on the above list. Therefore, choose references that can evaluate different aspects of your candidacy. i.e. Is there a faculty member that has an excellent grasp of your clinical abilities, but may not know you as well personally? This person could be an excellent reference. Is there a faculty member who knows you well as a person, but hasn't seen you much of your clinical abilities? This individual may also serve as an excellent ancillary reference. If I was a PD (program director), I would want to see the following characteristics reflected in the LORs from my candidates: Does the applicant show commitment to the specialty? Is the applicant a competent, entry-level veterinarian? Can this person get along with a team of medical professionals? Especially in academia- can this person teach? Does this person work hard in the face of adversity/fatigue?
So...that's my advice as to what your LORs should look like. Now...how do you go about getting them?
If you're in vet school, you presumably find vet med interesting. WHAT interests you about it? Are you interested in GP, gastroenterology, equine podiatry, behavioral enrichment of parrots? FIND people at your school (or at other schools) who do these sorts of things.
NCSU has an advisory program in place. When new students start in their freshman year, they are assigned a faculty adviser and placed on a mixed-animal track. As the student's interests develop, he/she has the option to switch advisers to a faculty member more in line with their professional interests. I've known my adviser since day 1, freshman year. This individual has taught me in classes, worked with me on rotations in clinical year, and seen me at my best/worst throughout my vet school journey. He is a stalwart supporter, and served as one of my LORs. Do you have someone like this at your school, OP? If not, perhaps you could ask around and try to make this happen for yourself. Faculty love to talk about their disciplinary interests. They're typically more than happy to advise a student who is interesting in pursuing their area of expertise.
What was the spark that got you interested in a specialty? Could this person potentially serve as a point of reference/source of advice?
Are there any classes that you've loved (or struggled in)? Perhaps faculty involved in those courses could serve as potential advisers?
Are you interested in research? The Merial summer scholars program would give you the opportunity to interact with faculty over the course of an entire summer.
What about externships? I wouldn't recommend ALL of your LORs coming from off-site, but off-site letters provide a solid testament to your ability to work with different teams.
Just to give you an idea...
I applied for lab animal residencies. Two of my LORs came from lab animal vets (one is an industry contact who I've known for years, the other was my adviser from vet school). One was an exotics clinician, and the other was a small animal internist. Each of these individuals had something different to say about me with respect to my pursuit of advanced training. I have known ALL of them for multiple years, in several capacities.
Make a concerted effort to look at LORs as the product of a mutually beneficial professional association- not an end goal in itself. Hope that this was helpful. Any other folks want to chime in?
One last thing, OP- schedule your fourth year (clinical schedule) strategically! If you want face time with specific faculty to demonstrate your clinical ability in a particular area, schedule those rotations EARLY, AHEAD OF THE VIRMP DEADLINE (Dec. for most folks, earlier for a few other disciplines like path and lab animal). Good luck, OP!
