“I Highly Recommend”: Mitigating Bias when Writing Effective Letters of Recommendation

Saturday, May 4, 2024

8:00 AM – 9:30 AM ET

Location: Metro Toronto Convention Centre: 713 B

CE: Live CME: 1.5

Leader(s)

Sumeet Banker, MD, MPH (he/him/his)

Associate Professor
Columbia University Irving Medical Center
New York, New York, United States

Slides

Co-Leader(s)

Melanie Wilson-Taylor, MD (she/her/hers)

Pediatric Residency Program Director
New York Presbyterian- Weill Cornell Medicine
New York, New York, United States
NM

Nicole Meyers, MD (she/her/hers)

Pediatric Hospital Medicine Fellow
NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital
New York, New York, United States
JF

Jennifer Fuchs, MD (she/her/hers)

Associate Professor
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine
Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States
CJ

Candace Johnson, MD (she/her/hers)

Assistant Professor of Pediatrics
Columbia University Irving Medical Center
New York, New York, United States
Patrisha Woolard, MD, PhD (she/her/hers)

Pediatric Residency Program Director
NYP/Columbia University Irving Medical Center
NEW YORK, New York, United States

Disclosure(s):

Sumeet Banker, MD, MPH: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.

Melanie Wilson-Taylor, MD: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.

Nicole K. Meyers, MD: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.

Jennifer Fuchs, MD: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.

Candace L. Johnson, MD: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.

Patrisha Woolard, MD, PhD: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.

Workshop

Description: Letters of recommendation (LORs) are a key component of residency and fellowship applications and are becoming increasingly important as recruitment processes move toward holistic review and away from metrics such as clinical grades and examination scores which are subject to bias. Letters of recommendation may correlate to performance in pediatric internship and provide insight into the individual. On the other hand, LORs lack standardization and present known and potential biases for LOR writers and readers. For example, letters written for applicants who identify as female tend to be shorter, focus less on ability and leadership, and mention physical description more than letters for applicants identifying as male. Teaching faculty are frequently asked to support trainees’ career trajectories by writing LORs and need to be adept at composing letters that provide insight by accurately describing an applicant’s attributes and characteristics, while avoiding biased language.

This session will review what is known about LORs and the differences seen based on gender, race, or other identities that an individual may hold. Participants will engage in interactive small-group exercises to review example LORs and analyze their structure, content, and language. Presenters will also discuss how to approach difficult scenarios that may arise such as declining to write a letter and addressing areas of weakness. This workshop will provide professional development for faculty who work with trainees in diverse teaching settings; attendees will be provided with tangible resources and tools to aid in the process of letter-writing.

Learning Objectives:

List key components of letters of recommendation for trainees applying to residency and fellowship programs.
Implement methods for identifying and mitigating bias in letters of recommendation.
Address difficult scenarios that writers of letters of recommendation may face (e.g., declining a letter request, addressing professionalism issues and areas of improvement).