How to Write a Perfect Recommendation Letter for Residency

How Important Is Your Recommendation Letter for Residency?

Applying for a Preventive Health Residency program is done through ERAS (Electronic Residency Application Service). ERAS is where you will upload all of your documentation and can then select as many recommenders as you would like to provide you with a Letter of Recommendation (LoR). Each recommender will then directly upload the letter that they write for your account. While you can upload unlimited letters you will only be able to allocate a maximum of 4 to each application. Once those applications are complete interested programs will the contact you for an interview.

Each year more than 40 thousand applicants will apply for positions through ERAS and will then be ranked by the programs and places allocated through the National Residency Matching Program (NRMP or the Match). However, there are only around 30 thousand places that are going to be available so unless your application really makes you stand out then you are going to be disappointed.
Your letters of recommendation, therefore, are very important. They provide the committee with information about skills that you have that cannot be discerned through your grades and qualifications. So these need to be written very carefully if they are going to help you win a place.

Writing an MPH Recommendation Letter for Residency

Writing a residency letter of recommendation that is going to help the applicant to get selected for an interview is not easy. There are many mistakes that can be made that will lessen the impact that you have to avoid. But a well-written letter will often help swing any decision in their favor. The following are some simple hints and tips for writing an effective MPH recommendation letter for residency:

• Decline to write their letter if you feel that you do not know them well enough or do not have anything positive to say about them. Better that they have the opportunity to find a more positive recommender than to risk a less than perfect LoR.
• Ask them to provide all of the information that you need; resume, statement of purpose, transcripts, details of how they know you, what classes you were in, any specific achievements of note.
• Always start by saying who you are and the capacity within which you know the person that you are recommending. Also, state how long you have known them for. Do not put too much information about your classes etc as this is not a letter about you but about the applicant.
• Provide information about their abilities and qualities; this should cover areas such as:

• Communication skills
• Leadership
• Team working
• Interpersonal skills
• Clinical skills
• Commitment

• Do not make unsupported statements; If they are an excellent communicator provide an example and show what the outcome was.
• Do not make vague statements or provide faint praise.
• Avoid clichés and do not repeat information that is already within other areas of their application such as test scores unless very relevant.
• Only provide positive comments, never mention failures or negatives.

Expert Advice for Your Application

The following is some expert advice from the American Medical Association regarding how many applications you should be making if you want to have the best chance of gaining a place. This statement helps to highlight just how important a good LoR is to an application:

Approximately 14% of applicants are granted an interview and only 8% of the entire applicant pool will be hired by any given hospital. Therefore, it is imperative that applicants make themselves stand out in their applications. Once invited to interview, an applicant needs to prepare in order to make the best possible impression. The interview is a critical part of the residency application process.”