Guidelines for Soliciting Letters or Recommendation

• The “Dean’s Letter of Evaluation” is a must for all residency programs.
• Some programs require a letter from the student clerkship director.
• Some programs require a letter from the department chair. Most chairpersons will require a brief interview before writing the letter. Contact the chairperson’s secretary or administrative assistant to arrange this interview.
• When other letters are required, one of them should be written by your faculty adviser. Others should be written by faculty members who know you well, who have worked with you, and who can comment in detail on your personal and professional qualities. These faculty members do not necessarily have to be obstetrician–gynecologists. The higher ranking the faculty member who writes the letter, the better. It is helpful, but not absolutely essential, if the person writing the letter is known at the institutions to which you are applying.
• Do not submit more letters than requested by the individual program.
• Do not solicit letters from residents. Although they may know you well, their recommendations will not be as influential as those from faculty members.
• When soliciting letters, provide faculty members with copies of your curriculum vitae and personal statement, and with information concerning your cumulative GPA, performance on clinical rotations, and class rank. Inform the faculty member of any special constraints you may have, such as a couples’ match or narrowly defined geographic preference.
• Provide faculty members with your information at least 4–6 weeks before the letters are due. Usually, you will want these letters to be submitted via ERAS by mid-October.
• Approximately 2 weeks before you want your letters transmitted, verify with the appropriate faculty or staff member that the letters have been entered into the ERAS program. 

The above infromation is from: http://www.apgo.org/binary/ResidencyProgram.htm