An Offer you Can't Refuse: Writing Your Own Letter of Recommendation

In the last few weeks, several medical school applicants have contacted me saying that potential letter of recommendation writers are asking the candidates to write their own letters.

If you have this opportunity for medical school, dental school, residency, or fellowship, first, realize that it is not unethical to write your own letter if you're asked to do so. If you'd like to explore the scruples of this issue, take a look at this New York Times Ethicist column about the topic.

The mistake I see candidates make in this situation is that applicants don't write strong enough letters for themselves because they feel awkward about showcasing their accomplishments fully. If you have the opportunity to write your own letter, craft a glowing one. Be effusive and full-throated in your remarks about yourself. Remember that the letter-writer can choose to tone down the recommendation if s/he doesn't agree. But if s/he does, you've utilized an opportunity fully and bolstered your candidacy tremendously.

AAMC is Encouraging Both a Systemic Virtual Medical School Interview and Virtual Residency Interview Policy During the COVID Pandemic

There is no time like the present to plan how you'll practice for your virtual medical school interview: Last week the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) announced that they are strongly encouraging medical schools and teaching hospital faculty (that's you, residency programs) to conduct all interviews with applicants in a virtual setting. In an additional, reinforcing announcement on away rotations (see below), the AAMC specifically addressed the residency cycle for this coming year saying that they recommend that all residency programs commit to online interviews and virtual visits for all applicants for the entire cycle. The AAMC suggests "that the medical education community commit to creating a robust digital environment and set of tools that will yield the best experiences for programs and applicants." I applaud the AAMC for their willingness to be proactive, encourage public health, and decrease medical school and residency applicant anxiety. 

Assuming there are no in-person interviews, this medical school and residency application cycle will look completely different with no applicant visits to institutions or face to face conversations with current students/residents and faculty. Schools and residency programs will be left with quite a burden to make their institutions looks distinctive and to select qualified applicants.

For the latter, be prepared to strategically handle a virtual medical school interview. Consider getting my help. For the virtual residency interview, get my help here. 

On the same date that AAMC announced the recommendation regarding the virtual medical school interview, they also announced that for the 2020-21 academic year, because of COVID, away rotations should be discouraged and that ERAS' opening be delayed. The latter has already come to fruition: While ERAS will open on September 1 for candidates to submit their applications, residency programs will not being reviewing applications and MSPEs will not be released to residency programs until October 21 this year (compared to September 15 and October 1 last cycle). Of note, ERAS did not announce a change in Match Day yet. 

There are a lot of changes afoot. To keep up, check this web page, which AAMC has been updating regularly. 

How to Use the MSAR to Your Advantage

The Medical School Admission Requirements (MSAR) is an online database that allows users to search, sort and compare information about U.S. and Canadian medical schools.The 2020 MSAR came out last month, and if you are applying to medical school, I'd recommend purchasing it ($28 for one year) because it provides so much information about schools and their admissions statistics. The MSAR allows you sort and compare schools by median MCAT scores, AMCAS GPAs, and other criteria.

You should use the MSAR to help determine which schools are in your range and which are "reach" schools. While it's fine to have a lot of "reach" schools (if you can afford it), it's critical to ensure you are applying wisely to schools that match your numbers. The advantage of the MSAR is that you can make evidence-based decisions. I've found some applicants have eye-opening experiences when they thoroughly review schools' statistics and either realize that their numbers are low and that they should apply accordingly or, happily, that they have numbers that match with top schools. Either way, reviewing the data is critical to good decision making.

USMLE® Step 1 Scoring Will Change to Pass/Fail

Some students were pleasantly surprised this February to find out that the USMLE will be making a major change to Step 1: The test will be scored as pass/fail starting in 2022. Despite what seemed like a bombshell announcement to some, the USMLE had been working on the transition for over a year. Check out this piece, "Step 1 Score Change: One Small Step for USMLE, One Giant Leap for Medical Student Well-Being" on why the USMLE implemented the new scoring system, what opponents had to say, and the timeline for implementation.