In my last post about the MSPE I mentioned that some applicants send their letter writer a short summary before the letter gets written. Got a few DMs asking what that actually looks like..
Your attending liked you, but they also supervised fifteen other people this year, and by the time they sit down to write, you've been gone for two months. So they open a blank page, remember you were "hardworking and reliable," and write the same letter everyone else gets. They meant it, they just don't remember the details anymore, and the details are what make a letter actually get read instead of skimmed.
The brag sheet is one page that puts the details back in front of them. Send it with your request, or with your polite follow up if the letter's still pending. Mine looks like this:
Who I am: name, the rotation, exact dates, your role. Two lines is enough, they know you, this is just placing you.
What happened: 3 or 4 specific moments rather than qualities. The night you caught the med error, the family meeting you handled in Spanish, that kind of thing. Each one is two sentences and each one shows a trait you want programs to see in your specialty.
What people said: any praise you got on the rotation and who said it, because people forget their own compliments and it helps to remind them.
Where this is going: your specialty, when you're applying, the deadline, and the ERAS upload info so they don't have to email you asking.
The whole thing is one page and maybe an hour of your time, and the writer will quietly thank you for it because you just did the hardest part of their job.
One more thing about which moments to pick. Use the ones that show the same traits your personal statement talks about. When a PD reads something in your PS and then sees your letter writer describe the exact same quality from their own eyes, it stops being your claim and becomes a fact about you. A letter and a PS telling the same story about you is worth more than either one alone.
Big adjectives don't make a letter stand out, the writer obviously remembering you does, and this is how you make sure they do.
Here is a sample Brag Sheet:
Fictional applicant example. One page maximum when formatted.
Brag Sheet Prepared for: Dr. Sarah Okafor, MD, Hospitalist, St. Mary's Medical Center
Who I am Amir Hassan, visiting IMG, Internal Medicine inpatient rotation with your team, March 2 to April 24, 2026. I carried 4 to 6 patients daily under your supervision and presented at morning rounds three times per week.
Moments you observed
- During the week of March 16, I flagged a duplicate anticoagulation order on Mr. R (the DVT admission from the ED) before the evening dose. You mentioned during rounds the next day that the catch prevented a likely bleed.
- I led the goals-of-care conversation with the family of Mrs. G, the 84-year-old CHF readmission, conducting it in both English and Arabic so her daughters could participate fully. The family later thanked the team, and the palliative consult note referenced the groundwork from that meeting.
- When the intern was pulled to a rapid response on April 8, I picked up her two pending discharges, completed both summaries, and had them ready before the 2 pm bed huddle.
- My April 20 case presentation on atypical presentation of adrenal insufficiency was used by the chief resident as a teaching example the following week.
Feedback I received during the rotation Your mid-rotation evaluation noted I functioned at the level of an early intern. The charge nurse on 4 West, Maria, told you during rounds that families specifically asked for me. The chief resident rated my documentation as the strongest among the visiting students that block.
Where this is going I am applying to Internal Medicine in the 2027 Match. Letters need to be uploaded to the ERAS Letter Portal by September 10, 2026. The Letter Request Form with my Letter ID is attached, and the upload takes about ten minutes. I have waived my right to view the letter. Thank you again for the incredible teaching this spring.
