New York Medical College, School of Medicine, Valhalla, New York.
Department of Anesthesiology, New York Medical College, Westchester Medical Center, NY, New York.
Med Educ Online. 2021 Dec;26(1):1924599. doi: 10.1080/10872981.2021.1924599.
This survey aims to identify the relative value and the critical components of anesthesiology letters of recommendation(LORs) from the perspective of Program Directors (PDs) and Associate/Assistant Program Directors (APDs). Knowledge and insights originating from this survey might add to the understanding of the anesthesiology residency selection process and mitigate unintended linguistic biases.: Anonymous online surveys were sent to anesthesiology PDs/APDs from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) accredited anesthesiology residency Programs in the USA (US), as listed on the ACGME website and the American Medical Association Fellowship and Residency Electronic Interactive Database (AMA FREIDA) Residency Program Database. The survey authors were blinded to the identity of the respondents.: 62 out of 183 (33.8%) invited anesthesiology PDs/APDs completed the survey anonymously. In our survey, LORs are reported as more important in granting an interview than in making the rank list. 64% of respondents prefer narrative LORs. 77.4% of respondents look for specific keywords in LORs. Keywords such as 'top % of students' and 'we are recruiting this candidate' indicate a strong letter of recommendation while keywords such as 'I recommend to your program' or non-superlative descriptions indicate a weak letter of recommendation. Other key components of LORs include the specialty of the letter-writer, according to 84% of respondents, with anesthesiology as the most valuable specialty. Although narrative LORs are preferred, 55.1% of respondents are not satisfied with the content of narrative LORs.: LORs containing specific keywords play an important role in the application to anesthesiology residency, particularly when submitted by an anesthesiologist. While narrative LORs are still the preferred format, most of our respondents feel they need improvements. The authors suggest specific LOR improvements including creating formalized LOR training, adding a style guide, and applying comparative scales, with standardized vocabulary in the narrative LOR.
这项调查旨在从项目主任（PD）和副主任/助理项目主任（APD）的角度确定麻醉学推荐信（LOR）的相对价值和关键组成部分。这项调查产生的知识和见解可能有助于我们更好地了解麻醉住院医师选拔过程，并减轻潜在的语言偏见。
匿名在线调查发送给了美国认证委员会（ACGME）认可的麻醉学住院医师培训计划的 PD/APD，这些计划在美国麻醉学住院医师培训计划（ACGME）网站和美国医学协会奖学金和住院医师电子交互式数据库（AMA FREIDA）住院医师计划数据库中列出。调查作者对受访者的身份不了解。
在我们的调查中，LOR 在授予面试机会方面比在确定排名方面更重要。64%的受访者喜欢叙述性 LOR。77.4%的受访者在 LOR 中寻找特定关键词。“顶尖学生的百分比”和“我们正在招聘这位候选人”等关键词表示这是一封强有力的推荐信，而“我推荐给你的项目”或非最高级描述等关键词则表示这是一封较弱的推荐信。LOR 的其他关键组成部分包括根据 84%的受访者的说法，信件作者的专业，其中麻醉学是最有价值的专业。尽管叙述性 LOR 更受欢迎，但 55.1%的受访者对叙述性 LOR 的内容不满意。
LOR 包含特定关键词在申请麻醉学住院医师培训中起着重要作用，特别是当它们由麻醉师提交时。虽然叙述性 LOR 仍然是首选格式，但我们的大多数受访者认为它们需要改进。作者建议进行具体的 LOR 改进，包括创建正式的 LOR 培训、添加样式指南和应用比较量表，并在叙述性 LOR 中使用标准化词汇。
