Letters of recommendation are of utmost importance if you are in the field of academics. It provides a summary of the performance of a student through someone who has worked with him. A good recommendation letter can really help you in your career.
Although, it is not quite easy to write a letter of recommendation. In fact, most students don’t know whom to ask for getting a letter of recommendation written for them. For a letter of recommendation related to surgery, you should prefer who is from the same background. A letter of recommendation from a non-surgeon usually holds less value.
The trickiest part about the letter of recommendation is that you have to be honest while describing the performance of a student and the letter should be framed in such a manner that it sounds strong. It all depends on the tone and style of the letter which reveals how much confidence you have for your student. If you are about to write a surgery letter of recommendation for someone then this article is meant for you as in this article we will provide you five helpful tips on how to write an impressive residency letter of recommendation.
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Write at least three paragraphs
A good surgery letter of recommendation contains at least three paragraphs. The first paragraph should include the basic introduction of student and for how long you have known him. In the second paragraph, you should include complete details of the assessment of your student. You should outline his abilities, his technical knowledge, skills that he possess apart from academics. Considering you are writing a positive letter of recommendation you can praise him for all the works he has done. While writing for your student, ensure that you a=sound realistic and you are not exaggerating things. As someone who is writing a letter of recommendation, you have to be honest. Usually, the length of the letter of recommendation decides how much it affects the person who is reading it. Your letter of recommendation should go on up to the second page as letters which are of one page or less than that leave a negative impact on your student and many program directors consider them as red flags.
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Summary of letter is important
An ideal residency letter of interest contains a summary of the letter in the third paragraph. The summary is what makes the director of the program to accept the letter of recommendation. In the ending paragraph you must write why you have recommended your student or why is he worthy of your letter of recommendation. Stress upon the fact why you are recommending him. You can include phrases like “I strongly recommend Thomas” or “ I recommend Thomas without reservation”. For students participating in Soap (Supplemental Officer and Acceptance Program) you can get a letter of recommendation which acts as an added advantage and gives you an edge above other participants. For participating in soap residency, a good letter of recommendation can help you a lot.
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Use statistics and actual descriptions
Try not to sound dramatic in your letter of residency. It is always a good option to include statistics in order to support your statements. For example, you can say that your student has obtained an average of 90% across all the assignments which were assigned to him or you can say that Mr. Robin is among the top 5% of students with whom I have worked efficiently. In this way, you would not sound too vague and it will leave an impression on the director of the program. Do not describe your student in a generic way.
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Do not describe just good qualities
It is wise to not only describe the good qualities of your student. To make your letter of recommendation more credible you need to include weaknesses of the student as well. You should try to frame the weaknesses in a way that they sound positive. Everything depends on the choice of words, for example instead of saying that your student has not performed well in a particular exam, you can say that he had improved a lot but more improvement is required from him.
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Always write a letter of recommendation on a letterhead
A letter of recommendation or a residency letter of interest should always be written on your letterhead. You can use a College of medicine’s letterhead if you don’t have one of your own. Also, do remember to sign the letter of recommendation. Your signature should include your name, your academic rank and your hospital affiliations.
Conclusion
By following this guide, we assure that you can easily write an impressive surgery letter of recommendation. Do check spelling mistakes and typography errors before submitting your letter of recommendation.
Jame Rop is a content-writer and an active guest post writer. His dream is to open animal shelter and make all the homeless dogs and cats happy. His life motto is “Remember that Life is a one way ticket”