the dean's letter

As my friends were applying for residency, a lot of their nervousness bled onto me.  I'm not sure if they're an extra nervous bunch, or if it's just pretty average for the rest of the med students in the US.

If you're not familiar with the dean's letter, part of it contains all the comments written by everyone who has evaluated you on rotations.  You shouldn't be worried about negative comments appearing on there (I haven't really heard of that happening), but more so the very generic ones.  The sort of stressful part is that you don't have full control of what an evaluator writes about you.  You can feel like a star medical student and get a lukewarm evaluation and some pretty general comments too like "punctual and hardworking" for example.

The quality of the comments you get also depend on how much the faculty really like you.  I've gotten a lot of comments that are in fact really touching, and those make me feel better than some of the generic ones I've gotten.  

That subjective part of medical school grades can be a significant source of stress, but you shouldn't feel bad if you're giving it your all everyday.  I've been lucky to work with some faculty and residents that really recognize my effort, and that's one thing that keeps me going.  When it comes to electives, find the faculty you work well with, and keep working hard.

well, goodnight everyone.  I've a long day of both inpatient work and emergency room duties tomorrow.  thanks for your readership