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Education/Simulation

Poster Session 1

(147) Letters of Recommendation for MFM fellowship: What are Program Directors looking for?

Tuesday, February 13, 2024
10:30 AM – 12:00 PM  
Location: Prince George's Exhibit Hall CDE, Lower Atrium Level
Objective: Letters of recommendation(LOR) for MFM fellowship are a critical part of the applicant evaluation process. Data regarding best practices for LOR writing for MFM is limited. This study aimed to describe what MFM program directors(PDs) value in a LOR.  

Study Design: Subject matter experts used research from obstetrics/gynecology residency and other specialties to develop an e-survey querying the importance of various LOR ‘best practices’ described by other specialties, and deployed it to MFM PDs using the SMFM PD listserv in February 2023, with 2 reminder emails. The primary outcome was the importance of various practices to PDs queried on a Likert scale of 1-5. Responses of important or very important were grouped.  

Results:

Of 104 MFM PDs sent the survey, 70 (67%) responded.  

 

MFM PDs reviewed an average of 78 applications(SD ± 30)/cycle, 60% wrote>3 letters/year, and 91% noted that LOR are important/very important in shaping impression of the applicant. 93% stated that well-crafted LOR convinced them to consider a weaker candidate more favorably while 66% stated a poorly crafted LOR convinced them to consider a strong candidate less favorably.

 

LOR characteristics that were most important to PDs included: descriptions of the depth of interaction with applicant, the specific behavior traits of the applicant, and the applicant’s abilities(Table). A summative statement about the strength of the recommendation was also important(Table). Other “less important” letter writing ‘techniques’ include: use of bold/italics, use of competency-based framework and use of personal stories about the applicant. Only half of PDs felt letter length of 1 page or less was important, and 22.4% felt including highlights from the applicant CV was important.

Conclusion:

From the MFM PD perspective, descriptions of applicants’ abilities, behavior traits, and depth of the writer’s interactions with applicant are important aspects of a MFM LOR, while letter length, use of bold/italics, and including highlights form the CV are not. These LOR-writing practices should be incorporated by those writing MFM LOR.