COMSEP and APPD are pleased to share these Guidelines for Letters of Recommendation (LORs) in Pediatrics.
These guidelines have been developed by members of the Residency Recruitment Action Team (COMSEP, APPD, AMSPDC, Future Peds Res, NextGenPediatricians, and AAP Section on Pediatric Trainees) in response to broad concerns about the tremendous variability in the content of LORs. We hope that the guidelines will help letter writers and selection committees communicate meaningfully and efficiently.
We realize that many disciplines have their own approaches to LORs, so it is instructive to point out what the Pediatrics guidelines are intended to accomplish (and what they are not intended to do).
It is intended that these guidelines will: Standardize expectations for LORs, particularly for departmental letters of recommendation; Provide a shared structure for communicating about students, much as patient presentations have expected content delivered in a familiar rhythm that enhances communication; Provide a tool for faculty development, particularly for inexperienced letter writers; Mitigate bias in letter writing through enhanced awareness
Conversely: These guidelines are not mandatory – schools may use these guidelines, or not, as they wish; These guidelines do not contain, or promote, checklist evaluations of students; These guidelines do not promote ranking students by percentiles
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