Letters of recommendation

[Lothric]

Hey all,

I'm a medical student from Sweden that will write the USMLE step 1 in 2019 (yeah, it's a while) and step 2 CK in 2020. However, in order to further strenghten my application I need letters of recommendation.

When my clinical semesters begin I'm thinking of doing externships/Clinical clerkships/Clinical elective in the US just to get letters of recommendation. But I've got to have a plan B in case I don't get any opportunity to do so. Unfortunately my university doesn't have exchange student-opportunities with any school in the US. We only have with Canada.

Worst case scenario is that the only thing I can do in the US is observerships. I know that I can get letters of recommendation by doing observerships as well but since I'm not doing anything clinical nobody can evaluate my clinical skills and therefore these letters will be weak.

If I stand between choosing either doing an observership in the US or an externships/Clinical clerkships/Clinical elective in Canada instead, what would be the best for my application for residency in the US? The dream is of course to become a doctor in the US and not in Canada. But if the latter can help me more than doing observership in the US I know this if this worst case scenario would occur.

Best regards,

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[justin1390]

Great question. I'd do this in two waves:

1. Apply to US programs first in March - April, give them a personal call showing interest and say you'd really love the opportunity to get to know the program more
2. If nothing is coming in by mid April, switch gears and start applying to both Canada externships and US observerships. Preferentially, you'd do one of each in a program you'd be likely to match to.

You might argue an observership doesn't help that much with residency, but I'd argue that by remaining curious and showing interest, you could get yourself into a rank list. Best of luck!