Thanks to everyone who attended my AMSA lecture. We had a standing-room only crowd. Your support is appreciated!
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I Wish I Had Known
I was recently speaking to a colleague who graduated with his MD from UCSF and his MPH from Harvard. He’s a successful, practicing physician, and we were discussing some advice he had offered an undergraduate acquaintance who is pursuing medicine.
My colleague had advised the college student to ensure she gets to know faculty: During his undergraduate years at Stanford, my colleague had gotten acquainted with a few professors by inviting them to lunch. He had to call one or two several times before they met with him! But once they did, my colleague’s opportunities really expanded. One of the professors in particular realized my colleague’s potential and good nature and offered him a position on an honor committee and a strong medical school recommendation.
I wish someone had advised me early to get to know faculty. It turned out okay for me but not without having to do some hard thinking about whom I was going to ask for faculty recommendations. Acquainting yourself with faculty early in your academic career can afford you research and leadership opportunities. Of course, it can also help you with those much-needed letters of recommendation.
Being Repetitive… Again and Again and Again
In writing their personal statements, many applicants ask me if it’s okay to include their accomplishments. After all, they say, their achievements have already been noted in the application, dean’s letter, and letters of recommendation. Think of the medical admissions process as an onion. Your application (AMCAS, ERAS, post bacc CV, AADSAS) and letters serve as one layer of that onion, albeit a thin one. In other words, your accomplishments are conveyed simply and succinctly there. The personal statement is your opportunity to apply a thicker layer, one in which you flesh out your achievements, thus persuading the reader of your distinctiveness. Finally, the interview is your chance to add on the thickest peel. Discussing your accomplishments in detail can seal the interviewer’s positive impression of you. So yes, you are going to be redundant throughout the application process, but each part serves a different and additive purpose. If you do not include your achievements in your personal statement, how will you be viewed as distinctive? Remember: Who you are is what you’ve done… and what traits and skills you’ve gained accordingly.
Applying in Two Specialties
Here are some clarifications about what ERAS offers that will help you apply in two specialties:
1) Different personal statements can be assigned to different programs. This means you can assign your ob/gyn essay to ob/gyn programs and your internal medicine statement to internal medicine residencies.
2) Different letters of recommendation (LORs) can be assigned to different residency programs as well. (A maximum of four letters may be assigned to each program.)
3) You will have only one MyEras application. It will go to all of your programs.
Thus, when you select a program to apply to, you will be able to choose which documents (personal statement, LORs) you would like send to that program. ERAS, in this way, allows you to keep your options open.
Is It Kosher?
My advisees often have questions about the ethics of letters of recommendation (LOR).
First, some applicants tell me they feel guilty because – although they waived their right to see their LORs – their writers gave them their letters to read. If your letter writer crafts your LOR understanding that s/he has no obligation to let you read it yet chooses to offer you a copy, you have done nothing unethical. That decision is the letter writer’s.
Furthermore, I’ve had applicants tell me they feel uncomfortable because faculty have told them to write their own recommendation letters after which the letter “writers” will edit and sign. Again, totally kosher. This topic was recently addressed here by the ethicist in the New York Times.
Remember to start early in asking faculty to write your recommendations. LORs almost always take longer than you think.
Tags: Ethics, Letters Of Recommendation
Dr. Finkel is a graduate of Stanford University and Harvard Medical School. On completing her residency at Harvard, she was asked to
stay on as faculty at Harvard Medical School and spent five years teaching at the world-renowned Massachusetts General Hospital.
She was appointed to the Assistant Residency Director position for the Harvard Affiliated
Emergency Medicine Residency where she reviewed countless applications, personal statements and resumes. Read more
