It is also appropriate to arrange to have
letters of recommendation sent in your
behalf (to your school committee or directly to
the medical schools) by a hospital staff
member where you have worked (in a volunteer or
paid capacity), or other employers,
or by faculty members who have known you well as
the result of working for them on a
special project; these letters can supplement
your committee's recommendation. Letters
from clergy, family physicians, relatives,
friends, or alumni (unless the latter know you
exceedingly well) are not only ineffective but
may be self-defeating. Such letters leave
the clear impression that you have weak
credentials that need such unsolicited outside
support to merit attention.
In order to arrange that a committee
recommendation be sent out in your behalf,
your advisory office may require that you
complete forms comparable to an AMCAS
application and be interviewed by your
premedical advisor and/or advisory committee.
These proceedings can serve as a "trial run" in
preparation for the actual application
process. It is therefore advantageous for you
to prepare, early in your upper junior
semester, a short statement incorporating
autobiographical highlights, an outline of
your personal attributes, relevant information
about your exposure to medicine, and a
brief discussion of your motives for selecting
a medical career. This statement should
be given to professors from whom you have
requested recommendations at the time
you request them, in order to facilitate their
task; it can also be used in completing
forms requested by your committee and later by
AMCAS.
Bottom Line
Premedical Advisor: Office Recommendations:
Bear in mind the following, regarding
recommendations:
· Have your premedical office set up a
file for holding your incoming letters of rec-
ommendation.
· Aim to secure by the end of your
junior year letters from at least three science and
two social science faculty and, if possible,
two from project supervisors.
· Request letters from individuals as
soon as the course has been completed so that
their impression of you is fresh.
· Periodically check with the premedical
office to determine if the letters you re-
quested have been received.
· Provide stamped self-addressed
envelopes to nonfaculty members who are writ-
ing on your behalf so as to expedite
matters.
· To allow letter writers the option of
freely expressing themselves, you should sign
a waiver relinquishing your right of
review.
· It is essential that you secure a
letter of recommendation from your premedical
advisor or committee. An evaluation from such a
source carries special weight,
and failure to receive one implies a strong
caution signal about you.
· Provide an opportunity for those who
will write on your behalf to get to know you
relative to your intellectual potential,
personal attributes, and character.
· Provide potential letter writers with
a brief résumé of your background and
achieve-
ments so they will have source material to use
when preparing their letters.
Faculty recommendations. Faculty are more than
teachers: they also serve as subject
advisors. Getting them to know you is valuable
both in the short and long run.
· If you feel you are not keeping up
with the class, seek advice early on from the
course professor to determine where the
problem(s) lies.
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