Rodican's Advice: Write Your Own LOR?

[sto27]

So I'm a pre-PA planning to apply through CASPA this coming summer. I've been reading through Andrew Rodican's infamous book, and I stumbled across something interesting. Regarding the acquisition of letters of recommendation, he writes:

 

When it comes to obtaining great letters of recommendation, there's a valuable lesson to be learned from those in the military. Both enlisted and officer personnel write their own evaluations and simply present them to their supervisors for approval and signature. You can try this with your references as well. This is a great way to ensure that your letters meet all four criteria. If a supervisor (i.e., your reviewer) does not agree with any of your comments, he or she can make changes--but that usually doesn't happen. If you are concerned that your referee is too busy to do an effective job, or maybe doesn't have the best writing skills, you can write the letter of recommendation and simply present it to him or her for evaluation and signature.

 

So in essence, he's saying to write the letter yourself if necessary. To be honest, this passage certainly elicited some raised eyebrows from me. I know it is not preferential to engage in this type of activity because it could be perceived as a breach of professional integrity. However, some of the issues he listed pertain to my situation. I do not know any PAs personally and so I was only able to shadow a handful for about a day each. And I already know that they are all pretty busy -- that's the major reason I couldn't shadow them for anything more than a few hours. So coupling that busyness with the fact that none of them know me in-depth, his advice is starting to sound a little more reasonable...

 

What do you guys think? Is writing your own LOR, then presenting it to your referee, acceptable? Has anybody done that when they applied, and if so, what was the result?

[cinntsp]

You should be getting LORs from folks that have seen your performance in academic and clinical settings and can vouch for your abilities. I wouldn't risk my app on a PA that I hung around for a couple of hours, regardless of whether I wrote the LOR myself.

[marktheshark89]

I think his advice applies to someone whom you have gotten to know well, but who may not have the time or writing skills to write you an effective letter. In that situation, it may be appropriate to outline a letter, or something along those lines, to present to this person (assuming they are okay with it). I do not think his advice is intended for anyone as a means of getting a quick LOR (i.e. shadowing or working with someone once and then having them sign a letter you have written). Some programs follow up with the people who wrote the letters for you, and if that person doesn't remember you or know enough about you when speaking with someone from a PA program, that will not look good.