Rajesh Aashish, Rivera Mariela, Asaad Malke, Chandra Abhishek, Baloul Mohamed S, Backstrom Courtney M, Shaikh Nizamuddin, deAzevedo Rafael U, Farley David R
Department of Surgery, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota.
Division of Plastic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota.
J Surg Educ. 2019 Nov-Dec;76(6):e118-e124. doi: 10.1016/j.jsurg.2019.06.008. Epub 2019 Jul 11.
The letter of recommendation (LOR) is an important component of a residency application. There is great subjectivity in the interpretation of a letter writer's narrative and many residencies have moved toward standardized LORs (sLOR). We aimed to scrutinize the importance afforded to specific content and applicant attributes in an LOR in hopes of decoding this time-honored process.
A 35-question survey comprised of nonidentifying general questions, and participant evaluation of applicant characteristics and LOR phrases were administered (cross-sectional design). Evaluations were scored both objectively on a 10-point Likert scale and subjectively using a relative ranking.
Academic, tertiary care center with a large general surgery residency program (Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN).
Surgery attendings and general surgery residents (n = 122).
Seventy-two attendings and 50 general surgery residents completed the survey. Faculty ranked strong work ethic/hard working (median rank = 1) and inquisitive/hungry learner (median rank = 3) as the top 2 attributes. "We will plan to recruit this candidate" (median rank = 1.5) and "I give my highest recommendation" (median rank = 2) were the top 2 phrases. Residents valued strong work ethic and collaborative/team player as the top 2 applicant attributes. Seventy-three percent of attendings and 82% of residents agreed that LOR allows the applicant pool to be divided into upper and lower halves. Only 17% of faculty and 18% of residents agreed that an LOR allowed candidate stratification into quartiles.
Elaborating the most favorable applicant characteristics and highly regarded content in an LOR will help truly exceptional candidates obtain letters that make them stand out in the eyes of their evaluators. Since LORs are mostly considered to be able to stratify only upper and lower halves of the applicant pool, it is imperative to move toward LORs which portray superior applicant qualities, and can provide more objective evaluation of a candidate.
推荐信（LOR）是住院医师申请的重要组成部分。推荐信撰写人的叙述解读存在很大主观性，许多住院医师项目已转向标准化推荐信（sLOR）。我们旨在审视LOR中特定内容和申请人属性的重要性，以期解读这一历史悠久的流程。
进行一项包含35个问题的调查，问题包括非识别性一般问题，以及参与者对申请人特征和LOR短语的评估（横断面设计）。评估采用10分制李克特量表进行客观评分，并采用相对排名进行主观评分。
设有大型普通外科住院医师项目的学术性三级医疗中心（明尼苏达州罗切斯特市梅奥诊所）。
外科主治医师和普通外科住院医师（n = 122）。
72名主治医师和50名普通外科住院医师完成了调查。教员将强烈的职业道德/勤奋工作（中位排名 = 1）和好奇/求知欲强的学习者（中位排名 = 3）列为前两项属性。“我们计划招募这名候选人”（中位排名 = 1.5）和“我给予最高推荐”（中位排名 = 2）是前两项短语。住院医师将强烈的职业道德和协作/团队合作者视为前两项申请人属性。73%的主治医师和82%的住院医师同意LOR能将申请人分为上下两半。只有17%的教员和18%的住院医师同意LOR能将候选人分为四分位数。
详细阐述LOR中最有利的申请人特征和备受重视的内容，将有助于真正优秀的候选人获得能使其在评估者眼中脱颖而出的推荐信。由于LOR大多被认为只能区分申请人的上下两半，因此必须朝着能够描绘卓越申请人品质并能对候选人进行更客观评估的LOR发展。
