Reference letters: Dated far earlier than CaRMS ok? Do refs need to make copies?

[mdfever]

Hi there,

To my understanding, you should ask your preceptor for a reference letter right after your block elective, that makes sense and most people agreed to it.

However, wouldn't it be odd that your letter dated in Jan and you submitted it in Nov? Also, it is confidential and should be in a sealed envelop, if I want to use this letter for all programs I am applying to, what am I supposed to do, ask for three copies? Thanks for your input in advance.

[TimmyMax]

Hey,

 

Perhaps I can be of some assistance.

First, yes you should ask for a letter immediately following your block elective, and make sure that your preceptor makes a note of agreeing to write one for you- that way they will be sure to remember. Your preceptor may choose to either write it right away, so that you are fresh in their mind when they write it or do it later. Either way, I would highly recommend a reminder telephone call when it gets to be closer to the CaRMS deadline in September or October.

Second, it would not be odd for your letter to be dated January and submitted in November. A reference is a reference regardless of when it was written (within reason, of course- I'm not sure that letters written more than two years ago would carry much weight), and so long as it was written during your clinical years, it will be good. As outlined above, if a referee decides to write your letter early, so that they don't have to try and remember you months and several other students down the line, it will be dated back a few months anyway, so I wouldn't sweat it.

Thirdly, you are not supposed to see your letters of reference. Referees are supposed to send them into CaRMS directly, so they should never pass into the sight of your prying little eyes. In fact, there is a checkbox that asks if the candidate has seen the letter right there on the referee form. I guess you can look at them if you really, really wanted to, but then that would have to be documented properly on the submission form (or coversheet). I would suspect that having the candidate see them ahead of time devalues the letter, but I don't know for sure.

Finally, the letter gets sent to CaRMS, who then open it, scan it to their central computer/your file and distribute to the programs indicated by your document assignment (usually done in November). Only one letter need be submitted per referee.

Hope this helps!

[007]

Do you then get to decide which letters go to which program you're applying for somewhere along in the application process?

[Kirsteen]

Hi,

 

Yes, you assign letters to programs to which you are applying. That is, if you have a bank of letters you can pick and choose which ones to assign to specific programs.

 

Cheers,

Kirsteen