Letters of Rec

[HouseofCod]

I'm planning my letters of rec now, and I'm hoping that you all could provide some advice about them.

I have two letters coming from FM docs- both of them are community physicians. I also have a letter coming from an EM doc that I did clinical research with, but I did not rotate with this doc- would this letter carry much weight?

Also, I has considering asking for a letter from an FM faculty member (professor, but not a current chair or PD) to write a letter. I haven't worked with him clinically, but he writes a lot of letters for students that he doesn't work with. Are letters from faculty members who don't work with us directly of any value?

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[UCA2390]

also curious about the EM research letter. I have one of those as well, its really strong, but did not rotate with this person.

 

[simpler2]

When we would go through our program match LOR generally held little weight in decision making for most applicants. They tend to all read similarly. Some exceptions were when there was an applicant that had poor step scores or questionable things in their application...a LOR would sometimes save them from getting cut. The other was when the LOR was from a physician that was known by or associated with the program. I would make sure that you don't ask for a LOR from someone who might right ANYTHING negative, we did tend to notice those even when the criticism was very sugar coated and it often did hurt people's chances.