Letters of recommendation: an analysis for evidence of Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education core competencies.
OBJECTIVE
To determine if letters of recommendation contain content pertinent to the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) outcome project core competencies and to quantify the content.


METHODS
Letters of recommendation for candidates accepted into the obstetric/gynecologic residency program at Jersey Shore University Medical Center since 1998 were reviewed by the authors. Letters were evaluated for structure and sentence content. Each sentence was characterized as pertaining to any of the ACGME core competencies or other content. Descriptive statistical analysis was performed.


RESULTS
Seventy letters of recommendation were reviewed. Sixty-five (93%) of the letters had at least one sentence related to a competency. Other content made up the bulk of each letter. None of the letters contained negative information.


CONCLUSIONS
Letters of recommendations for candidates to our residency program addressed core competencies; however, the information was not abundant. (J Re-
Blechman
Andrew
A
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Jersey Shore University Medical Center, Neptune, New Jersey 07754, USA. ablechman@meridianhealth.com
Gussman
Debra
D
D000068:Accreditation; D002983:Clinical Competence; D003162:Competency-Based Education; D004503:Education, Medical, Graduate / Q000592:standards*; D006176:Gynecology / Q000193:education* / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency / Q000592:standards; D009774:Obstetrics / Q000193:education* / Q000592:standards; D012189:Retrospective Studies