Of all the skills I anticipated learning during my PhD, writing my own reference letters was not one of them. I had no idea that people did this in academics, but it appears that after med school (and presumably residency, but maybe not? Don't know, haven't applied yet.) people expect you to write your own letters. I guess nobody really has time to do it for real once they get to the point where their word actually counts for something.
At first it felt kind of weird to me, you know, to talk about myself in hyperbolic terms. After the first couple I've begun to get the hang of it, though. Now I have a template of sorts that I can adapt to a variety of different audiences' and writers' desires.
Do any of you have any bizarre/unanticipated skills you learned during your training? Please share so that I may be forewarned!
7 Pearls of Wisdom:
How to hold urine for > 24 hours and live for 3 days on a bag of honey roasted peanuts left over from your last plane trip that you miraculously found in the bottom of your coat pocket.
The most unanticipated skill I've perfected during my graduate training is baking. I work in a world of males and I've found that nothing keeps them quite as happy as baked goods. Most of the males are unattached and don't see home-cooked or baked goods very often.
That IS odd! I can't really imagine writing about myself like that.
You think that's odd? I'm also expected to write their biosketches for them.
AWKWARD!!!! The couple times I've had to write my own letter, I've been SURE that the person who was signing it was going to read it and be like, "Who did you write this letter about? Do you actually think you're this good? Write it again and be honest this time." Obviously you're supposed to praise yourself to the stars, because that's just how it works, but it feels so weird to actually do it!
STRESSFUL!!!
LIVS -- Totally. My mentor gave me one of his letters (about himself) and it was seriously like, "This person is the GREATEST RESEARCHER, MOST BRILLIANT MIND, and BEST HUMAN BEING I HAVE EVER MET." How does one write this about oneself without it feeling weird? Is this another woman thing?
I just wanted to say that I'm so happy I found your blog. I'm on a similar path you were 7 years ago, working in the department of Epidemiology at UCLA and currently applying to medical school--I have written my own letter, letters from others in support of grants, biosketches etc. I have become quite the impersonator, but writing a letter for myself has been the hardest by far.
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