PhORCAS Reference: How Preceptors Fill It Out
PhORCAS references for PGY1 and PGY2 applicants arrive one program at a time. What the Liaison Letters form asks, the reuse setting, and what to write.
PhORCAS Reference: How Preceptors Fill It Out
A PhORCAS reference reaches you as one email request per program, from support@phorcas.myliaison.com, and you complete it in Liaison Letters. Depending on the program, the form asks for relationship answers, an essay box, Likert ratings, an overall recommendation and one uploaded letter. PhORCAS says completed evaluations "cannot be removed or replaced."
In PhORCAS a reference is not one letter but a set of requests, one per program, for the same student. Our recommendation: write the first one so it is true for every program the student applies to, then decide about reuse. If the student is writing their own letter of intent, the pharmacy residency letter of intent guide covers that document.
Every PhORCAS and Liaison help page quoted below was checked on November 7, 2026. The PhORCAS help center says the 2026-2027 application is open. ASHP's own PhORCAS page refused our retrieval that day (HTTP 403), so ASHP's standardized reference criteria are not quoted here. The help pages describe the form's parts; the exact criteria appear in the request you open.
How PhORCAS requests reach you
The PhORCAS Program Materials help page sets the rules:
"Program Evaluations (sometimes called Letters of Evaluation, Letters of Reference, or Letters of Recommendation) are submitted by the evaluators themselves; they cannot be completed or submitted by the applicant or another party on behalf of the evaluator."
Three facts on that page shape your workload:
- Requests are per program. Evaluations sit in each program's materials, and "PhORCAS also saves your evaluator information. After you add evaluator information once, you can select those evaluators from your list and add them for other programs." A student applying widely can add you to several programs.
- Completed means final for the applicant. "Many programs have strict guidelines and completed program … evaluations cannot be removed or replaced."
- The applicant sets your due date. The student picks a completion date that "should be before your program(s) deadline." The Liaison Letters FAQ adds that this date "may or may not be the same date as the actual deadline."
PhORCAS's own quick start timeline tells applicants to complete the Program Evaluations section "At Least 3 Months Prior to Deadline" and to check that evaluators received the request at least 10-12 weeks before it. If a student asks you late, that timeline is the one they skipped.
What the reference form asks
PhORCAS says evaluators "may complete assessments such as writing essays, completing Likert scales, and/or uploading letters." The Liaison Letters page Complete a Recommendation lists the parts you may see:
| Part | What Liaison says | What to write |
|---|---|---|
| Relationship | "answer questions regarding your relationship with the applicant" | Your role, the rotation, how many weeks, how closely you supervised |
| Essay | "respond to essay/short-answer questions about the applicant" | One observed decision per question, not a list of traits |
| Likert criteria | "Click the information icon under each rating to view more details about it" | Read each definition before you rate; use the optional comment on your highest and lowest ratings |
| Overall recommendation | "the Recommendation Concerning Admission drop-down" | The level your essay and ratings support |
| Upload | "You can upload one document" | One letter; .doc, .docx, .pdf, .rtf or .txt, file name "less than 95 characters" |
The FAQ caps the file at "15 MB or smaller." Paste essay text as plain text: the help page warns that copied formatting "may not copy over correctly."
The reuse setting: decide before you click
Liaison Letters offers a reuse option on some application services. After your first submission, you can choose to have the same recommendation submitted automatically for later requests of the same type from that student. The help page is blunt about the cost: "if you select Yes, you can't review or edit the recommendation before it is submitted for any future recommendation request." Its advice: "keep it generic so it can be reused for any program at any school an applicant may apply to."
Whether a given PhORCAS request offers reuse depends on how it was set up. If it does, the choice comes at the moment you submit.
Our view: write the first reference so it names no program, no city and no PGY2 track, and center it on one rotation decision the student made that you watched. Then reuse is safe, and the second and fifth programs read a reference that is still true. Ratings should not change between programs either: the student is the same person.
The countercase: a program may ask its own essay question, or the student may ask you for a reference aimed at one PGY2 specialty you know well. Answer that request on its own and leave reuse off for it. Liaison says you can edit a completed recommendation "If available", so check for an Edit button before assuming a fix is possible.
Constructed comments: a weak one and a revised one
Constructed example, written by us, not a real reference. Context (invented): Dr. M. Delacroix, PharmD, precepted a fourth-year student, Neha Rahimi, on a six-week internal medicine rotation and is answering an essay box about clinical skills.
Weak version (37 words):
Neha was an excellent student on my rotation and would be a great fit for your PGY1 program at Pinecrest. She is hardworking, knowledgeable and a team player, and she was well liked by the medical team.
Revised version (77 words):
In week three, Neha noticed that a patient on enoxaparin had a falling creatinine clearance that the team had not yet adjusted for. She checked the trend, drafted a dose recommendation with her reasoning, and presented it to the attending herself on rounds; the team accepted it. I precepted her for six weeks on internal medicine, and this was typical: she found the problem, worked it out, and owned the conversation. I rate her clinical judgment accordingly.
The weak version names a program and a site, so it is wrong the moment it is reused or sent to a second program. It also offers three adjectives and no evidence. The revised version gives one dated, observed decision, says what the student did herself, states the basis of your knowledge, and ties it to your rating. It names no program.
A preceptor's checklist for each request
- Open the request and read the "Applying To" list, the applicant's note and the Access field, which shows whether the student waived access.
- Check the due date the student set, and ask the student for the real program deadline if it is close.
- Answer the relationship questions with your actual role and the rotation's length.
- Write each essay answer around one decision you saw, with no program name.
- Read the information icon for each Likert criterion, then rate. Use the same ratings for every program.
- Choose the overall recommendation your evidence supports.
- Preview before you submit, then decide on reuse.
Questions preceptors ask about PhORCAS
Why did I get three PhORCAS requests for the same student?
Requests are per program. PhORCAS saves your details so the student can add you to other programs, and each one sends its own request.
Can the student upload my letter for me?
No. PhORCAS says evaluations "cannot be completed or submitted by the applicant or another party on behalf of the evaluator."
Can I change a reference after I submit it?
Liaison Letters says you can edit a completed recommendation "If available." PhORCAS tells applicants that completed evaluations "cannot be removed or replaced."
Will the student see what I wrote?
Not if they waived access. PhORCAS says a waiver means the student "will not be able to see the content of the program evaluation." The page on an applicant asking to read your letter covers what to say if they ask.
Is a PhORCAS reference the same as a PharmCAS evaluation?
No. PharmCAS is the pharmacy school application; the PharmCAS letter of recommendation page covers that letter. PhORCAS is for pharmacy residency.
Get a free review of the letter
Get a free Quick Review of your recommendation letter, the one document you upload, against GradPilot's residency letter of recommendation rubric. It checks that the letter names your role and the rotation, rests on patient-care decisions with the student's own action, and closes with a recommendation your essay answers support. For a reference about research or non-clinical work, the health professions evaluation letter rubric reads for incidents instead of adjectives.
Helping a student with their own documents? The PhORCAS letter of intent review explains what is checked, and the PhORCAS letter of intent rubric is public. More pages are in the medical school and residency essays hub.
Sources
Retrieved November 7, 2026, except where noted.
- Liaison, PhORCAS Program Materials (no year stated): per-program requests, saved evaluators, no removal, due date, waiver.
- Liaison, PhORCAS Quick Start Guide and FAQs (2026-2027 application): suggested timeline.
- Liaison, Complete a Recommendation (no year stated): form parts, upload rules, reuse, Access field.
- Liaison, Liaison Letters FAQs (no year stated): due date, file size.
- Liaison, Edit Completed Recommendations (no year stated): editing "If available".
- Not retrieved (HTTP 403): ASHP, PhORCAS page on ashp.org, including its standardized reference criteria.
Review the Letter Before It Is Submitted
See how the letter reads against the rubric for its destination.