Strong Sample Letter of Recommendation
Letterhead (if available)
Name of Institution
Your Street Address
City, State Zip Code
Re: Rory Panther
AAMC: 1234567
Date
Dear Program Director,
It is my pleasure to write this letter in strong support of the application of
Ms. Rory Panther for your residency program. I have been clinical faculty
with Florida International University since its inception and have worked
with family medicine students in the clinical setting for the last 8 years.
Overall, I have taught and worked with medical students in the clinic
setting for the past 20 years. I worked personally with Ms. Panther over
the course of the 8 week rotation in a family medicine clinic. In this
capacity, I was able to closely observe and assess her clinical skills.
Ms. Panther was always prepared for each day’s census, reading about
every patient’s history, labs, and diagnoses. An example of the level of
her preparation was seen in her recommendation that we follow up on
sleep issues documented by the therapist in the EMR, indicating Ms.
Panther’s thorough knowledge of the patient, including notes by other
providers. Another example is that she correctly interpreted abnormal
thyroid function studies, and made appropriate treatment
recommendations (including strength of medication) and follow up lab
recommendations.
Ms. Panther demonstrated her clinical curiosity by asking and answering
a clinical question using evidence-based resources. Specifically, she saw a
patient with symptoms of a urinary tract infection, but with a clean urine
dipstick and looked up the sensitivity and specificity of the urine dip in
the face of a strong pretest probability and then seeing that the clean
urine dipstick did not negate the history, Ms. Panther looked up the
appropriate treatment, including dose and frequency. For a patient with
testicular pain, she came up with at least five differential diagnoses,
including important “can’t miss” diagnoses.
Ms. Panther also demonstrated strong teaching skills in working with a
first year medical student coming to the clinic to learn how to obtain a
history from a patient. Ms. Panther went over the patient they were
What makes a strong letter?
The letter is written on
letterhead.
The letter describes the letter
writer’s qualifications for writing
this letter, specifically, her
experience in medical education
The letter describes the writer’s
current role as a clinical teacher.
The letter describes how long and
in what capacity the writer has
known the student.
The letter includes opinions and
observations.
The letter is specific and accurate,
including details.
The writer states specific qualities
the candidate possesses:
preparedness, clinical curiosity,
and teaching skills.
The writer provides details to
demonstrate how the candidate
exhibited a certain quality.