Cooney publishes reflection in Fertility and Sterility

Cooney’s article “Are we writing letters of mis-recommendation?” is a reflection essay in response to the article “Do gender differences exist in letters of recommendation for reproductive endocrinology and infertility fellowship?”, published in the same issue of the journal. In the reflection, she outlines possibilities for bias and inequity in narrative letters of recommendation and asks whether a different approach may be better:

“On a larger scale, it may be time to think about the need for a culture shift, away from the traditional “narrative” letter of recommendation and toward a more “standardized” letter of recommendation. This has been endorsed by the Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine in their recommendation that program directors use standardized letters of recommendation for fellowship applications in internal medicine. Their report recommends that residents be assessed on 6 competencies: patient care, medical knowledge, interpersonal and communication skills, systems-based practice (i.e., leadership skills), practice-based learning and improvement (willingness to accept feedback), and professionalism as well as a description of scholarly contributions.”

Read the whole article here.