Letters of recommendation are a vital part of the application packet. While test scores and other aspects are largely homogenized across all programs, letters of recommendation can speak to a residency applicant’s unique qualities and how those qualities will make them an effective resident physician.
AMA member Suzanne Allen, MD, MPH—vice dean for academic, rural and regional affairs at the University of Washington School of Medicine—is a veteran of the Match on both the medical school and residency program sides.
In an episode of the AMA “Making the Rounds” podcast, Dr. Allen offered insight on how medical students can go about finding faculty members to give them the most comprehensive letters of recommendation. Here are some key takeaways.
Draw on your rotations
When you go through both your core clerkship rotations and any elective or away rotations, you build relationships with faculty members.
“As you're going through your regular required rotations—for most students, that's in their third year—think about who that you've worked with might be a good person to write a letter of recommendation for you,” said Dr. Allen, a former chair of the AMA Academic Physicians Section and a family physician from Boise, Idaho.
“In general, those are going to be people that you've spent a significant amount of time with,” she noted. “So for instance, if you were a student at the University of Washington and you were participating in our longitudinal integrated clerkship, we would highly recommend that the person you spend the most time with during that six-month experience is one of your letter writers.”
The AMA Road to Residency series provides medical students, international medical graduates and others with guidance on preparing for residency application, acing your residency interview, putting together your rank-order list and more.
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- “Meet your Match”: Perfecting your application packet
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Get advice on who writes a good letter
Not every faculty member—even those with whom you’ve worked closely—writes compelling letters of recommendation. Advisers, often in the office of student affairs, tend to know which faculty members have a reputation for writing detailed, personal letters that highlight an applicant’s unique strengths and include memorable anecdotes. By seeking their guidance, you will be able choose a letter writer who will elevate your application.
Conversely, choosing a prominent faculty member can backfire if they don’t know you well. These letters are often generic or reused, offering little unique insight. During an education session on preparing for the Match at the 2025 AMA Annual Meeting, Sanjay Desai, MD, said that going this route can result in a letter that lacks potency.
A potential pitfall with requesting letters of recommendation from “people who are well known is that often those people are asked to write lots of letters,” said Dr. Desai, the AMA’s chief academic officer.
As a program director, “it's obvious, when you read a letter of recommendation, whether this is a form letter or whether this is someone that understands the person.”
For those still finalizing the list of programs to which they plan to apply, FREIDA™—the AMA’s comprehensive residency and fellowship database—captures more than 13,000 Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME)-accredited residency and fellowship programs.
Get a specialty-specific champion
Hopefully, you already did the hard work of standing out during any clerkship or elective rotations in your chosen specialty. A voice from a faculty member in your desired specialty will likely be helpful as one of the letters in your application packet.
“As you do a subinternship or a rotation in whatever specialty you're going into, you also want to make sure you're going to be able to get a strong letter from someone during that rotation as well,” Dr. Allen said.
Some specialties “will require you to get a letter of recommendation from the chair of the department at your medical school—so again, making sure that you're doing a rotation in that specialty where you will work with faculty within the department is going to be important for your application.”
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Have the candid conversation
Residency programs are looking for letters of recommendation that sparkle. As you ponder potential letter writers, it’s OK to ask them if they are able write a strong letter for you, Dr. Allen said.
“I usually recommend to students when they are thinking about asking for a letter of recommendation from a faculty member is actually asking the faculty member if they feel comfortable writing the letter and if they feel like they can actually write a strong letter of recommendation for you,” said Dr. Allen.
“One of the reasons is that what I feel would be enough time for me to write a letter of recommendation for someone—a different faculty member may not feel comfortable with that.”
When you’re asking someone to write your letter, that conversation should happen in person, Dr. Desai said.
“This is not an email, in my opinion,” he said. “You meet with them, you bring your CV, maybe even a personal statement draft, you talk with them, you actually ask for advice.”
Give writers necessary information
Your letter writers need to know your qualifications and credentials. They also need adequate time to complete a letter.
“You want to make sure that if you want those letters of recommendation in by September, that you're giving your letter writers at least six weeks,” Dr. Allen said.
“If you want all your letters in by Sept. 1, you would want to let your faculty know: ‘Oh, thank you for writing this letter. Here's my CV, my personal statement. I'm applying in family medicine, and can you please complete this by Sept. 1?’
“If you don't see [submitted in your application platform] that letter then within a month of the faculty member confirming with you that yes, they will [write it] … sometimes a gentle reminder by the end of August can be really helpful for that faculty member.”
