Day 560 Tips from a Program director

It was around 1:15pm in the afternoon when I over heard a conversation from two faculty members in the clinic. Interestingly enough, they were talking about this years match, and about the thousand applications they had just received. The conversation I heard went like this.

Attending: "there are so many applications, and they are all qualified. It so hard to just settle on a few."

program director: "I known what you mean. What I like to do is look over several important points in the CV. I don't really look over the transcript much, as I like to look at a few things. For instance, I like to look at how many letters of recommendation this person has. A lot of times you see someone that has accomplished so much, but only has 1 letter of recommendation. I would like to think that they have met more than one person in their life that can talk about what they have accomplished and what type of person they are. Also when it comes to the letter of recommendation. I like to see long letters of recommendation. I want someone that is talking and writing something meaningful about the application. I also pay some attention to the personal statement. I try to find something that makes them stand out in the personal statement. I want to see something different. Some new experience that I have not heard about. In general also, I like to sometimes see a long CV. I want to see what exactly they have been doing all this time."

I stood there really trying to grasp everything they were saying. I was actually in the room and they saw me there. They really didn't seem to mind that I was there standing. I really found these few tips helpful. I have spoken to this program director last year. You can find our other conversation following this link (http://thankyougodforresidency.blogspot.com/2008/10/dr-mikes-getting-into-residency-for-img.html)

I hope this helps someone. Good Luck this year. You can do it!!!!

God Bless

Dr.Mike