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Choosing Your Letter Writers: Making networking work for you

Choosing Your Letter Writers: Making networking work for you. Kitt Shaffer, MD PhD FACR, Chair BUSM FAP Committee Vice-Chair for Education in Radiology Professor of Radiology. Key components of promotion. publications summary. publications summary.

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Choosing Your Letter Writers: Making networking work for you

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  1. Choosing Your Letter Writers: Making networking work for you Kitt Shaffer, MD PhD FACR, Chair BUSM FAP Committee Vice-Chair for Education in Radiology Professor of Radiology

  2. Key components of promotion

  3. publications summary

  4. publications summary

  5. No single number can express the full range of scholarly output! • H factor • Awards for papers • Impact factor of journals • Trends in scholarly output over time • First vs Last authorship • First authorship by mentees

  6. Key components of promotion

  7. What does the president say? • LETTERS are the first thing he looks at!!! • LETTERS that are strong can overcome virtually any apparent deficits in the CV

  8. ideal letters • NOT from any program where applicant trained • NOT from anyone who knows the applicant very well personally • NOT from mentors, collaborators

  9. How do you know you are ready? • Is it EASY to come up with six or more names of people OUTSIDE your institution that are not friends, co-workers or collaborators that could write a letter about your work?

  10. BU CV format (pg 2-3)

  11. ideal letters-where to find them • Chairs of national committees on which applicant serves • Editors or section editors of journals for which applicant reviews • People who invite the applicant to speak at a national course, or be a visiting professor • Speakers at conferences at which applicant also spoke

  12. ideal letter sample I am happy to write a strongly supportive letter for the promotion of Dr. Jane Doe to the rank of Associate Professor of Medicine. I have not collaborated with Dr. Doe and know her only from mutual service on several NIH Study Sections as well as having invited herto give Grand Rounds in Medicine at my institution. I feel that I can give an unbiased assessment of her qualifications and the significance of her scientific contributions to her field.

  13. Not ideal letter sample I am thrilled to write a very supportive letter for Dr. Jane Doe’s promotion to Professor of Medicine. I have known Dr. Doe for over 20 years and have collaborated with her on many projects. I consider her a close friend. I feel that I can comment in detail on her many qualifications and on the value of her scholarly work.

  14. Not ideal letter sample In summary, I feel that Dr. Doe has definitely earned this promotion. On a personal note, we have remained in contact since fellowship and I can attest to her honesty and work ethic. She is a very nice person and is well liked by her colleagues and patients. She is deserving of reward for all of her hard work.

  15. Not ideal letter sample As you can see from her CV, Dr. Doe has written papers on the following topics. She has spoken at the following meetings. She has published XX number of peer reviewed articles and XX book chapters. She has served on the following national committees. (recap of the CV without comment on significance or impact of any of these scholarly activities)

  16. ideal letter sample I would rank Dr. Doe at the top of her field nationally. Her research has changed the way we care for patients with XXX disease and her papers on the topic are used in most fellowship training programs as examples of clarity and rigor. She has mentored many trainees who have gone on to successful academic positions of leadership. She serves tirelessly on committees for her national organizations and has chaired a number of influential work groups. Her work is recognized internationally in part due to her extensive outreach and frequent speaking engagements as well as her participation in development of guidelines.

  17. There are probably plenty of people who are as good or better than any of us at what we do…

  18. Who will conference organizers, editors, study section leaders, committee chairs choose to take on positions of responsibility? • Someone good that they have never met and don’t know if they are interested • Somewone good that they have met andwho has expressed interest in participating

  19. Networking is not a dirty word • If you don’t express your willingness to contribute, people won’t ask you • If you don’t introduce yourself to others and share your enthusiasm, they won’t think of you for positions • If you don’t promote your work, others may not see it

  20. How do you get a national reputation? • VOLUNTEER • NETWORK • CONTRIBUTE

  21. Once you have a national reputation… • Picking letter writers becomes trivially easy

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