A Standardized Letter of Recommendation for Residency Application

TLDR

EM program directors seek more evaluative data in recommendation letters, citing concerns over inconsistent information, unclear interval grading, and ambiguous terminology. In 1995, the Council of Emergency Medicine Residency Directors introduced a standardized recommendation form that requires faculty to provide objective, comparative, and narrative data about applicants.

Abstract

Emergency medicine (EM) program directors have expressed a desire for more evaluative data to be included in application materials. This is consistent with frustrations expressed by program directors of multiple specialties, but mostly by those in specialties with more competitive matches. Some of the concerns about traditional narrative letters of recommendation included lack of uniform information, lack of relative value given for interval grading, and a perception of ambiguity with regard to terminology. The Council of Emergency Medicine Residency Directors established a task force in 1995 that created a standardized letter of recommendation form. This form, to be completed by EM faculty, requests that objective, comparative, and narrative information be reported regarding the residency applicant.