When asking for LOR, how to assure confidentiality?

[Ruban]

Hi,
I will soon be requesting LORs from my attendings for ERAS. My question: what do we tell the writers to do once they write the LOR?

When I applied to med school, I gave the letter writers an envelope and they sent the LOR to my undergrad school's "LOR holding service." Upon my request, the service would then forward letters to schools to which I applied.

Is the same thing done in med school? Or is there another way?

Thanks!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Gfunk6]

Generally there will be an individual in your med school who is responsible (among other things) to upload student LORs to ERAS. All LORs should go to them. I would just ask your Medical Student Services office for the address.

 

[gutonc]

Hi,
I will soon be requesting LORs from my attendings for ERAS. My question: what do we tell the writers to do once they write the LOR?

When I applied to med school, I gave the letter writers an envelope and they sent the LOR to my undergrad school's "LOR holding service." Upon my request, the service would then forward letters to schools to which I applied.

Is the same thing done in med school? Or is there another way?

Thanks!

My program gives us a cover sheet to request LORs with. It includes your name and contact info and room for you to put the name and contact info for the letter writer. It instructs the letter writer who they should fax/mail/email the letter to. Basically it acts as a holding/distribution service. You should be getting that info from your program shortly.

BE

 

[Hurricane]

My program gives us a cover sheet to request LORs with. It includes your name and contact info and room for you to put the name and contact info for the letter writer. It instructs the letter writer who they should fax/mail/email the letter to. Basically it acts as a holding/distribution service. You should be getting that info from your program shortly.

BE

Or use the cover sheet provided by ERAS. You can download it from their website. The letters are typically sent to your medical school's dean's office, and they scan them in and upload them to ERAS, then you specify which letter get sent to which program using the web interface, without ever seeing the letters. There is a place on the cover sheet to fill in the address for the letter writer, as well as a "I waive the right to read the letter" checkbox. And instructions for the letter writer.

 

[thos]

You don't have to sign the "I waive the right . . ." box, but I don't think anyone would advise that.

 

[neutropenic]

Good l-rd. You people have too much to worry about. During the interview season I was shown my letters multiple times by my interviewers, given my interview folder with my letters in it to carry around to different interviewers and read my letters by interviewers. Your letter writers would be silly to actually believe that the content of their letters will be held from you in a "lock box."

At the very least most of my classmates had our dean and/or advisor read our letters to make sure they would not impair our candidacies.