A question for those on or having completed the interview trail:
In multiple resources I've read, they say not to get LORs from "random" people. That is, you don't want a LOR from a private practice doc or a "random" research PD who nobody has any connection to. People generally advise to try and get LORs from clinical faculty and chairmen of institutions who have big names and influences.
Obviously, however, that's not very easy for us DOs without home institutions. I'm sure a lot of us spend most of our rotations in a private practice/outpatient setting to begin with.
To those DOs who interviewed at Allo programs, how were your LORs viewed (any problems?)? If you had amazing LORs, how did you obtain them?
Before I start, let me preface this by stating that I am applying FM, so the LOR standard may be different. But I'm not certain it is for some/most specialties.
I got 3 "private practice" LOR's for my ERAS this year. All from docs I rotated with. I haven't read them, but every single interview I've been on I've recieved comments from interviewers that my letters were particularly strong. One interviewer even said that one of my letters was the strongest he'd ever seen. So I don't think my lack of academic letters has hurt me.
That being said, in FM residency community/unnopposed programs are where it's at. My top choices were all community programs where there are no other residencies in house. Maybe having private practice docs, who practice the way the residents will be trained to practice, is a desirable thing?
I did apply to three "academic" centers, where I did not get interviews; but they were at very competitive schools in (what I would consider) desirable locations; and I'm a DO applicant so im sure that didn't help either.
At one of these places, the roster is currently filled with people from Stanford, UCLA, WashU, UDub, etc. my chances were always probably slim to none there regardless of LOR status. Another one of the academic centers was UofA, and I did get an interview to their South Campus, just not the main University Hospital.
At the end of the day I'm OK with not interviewing at these places because all of them are heavily opposed. This meaning I'd be competing against Peds residents for access to good pediatrics cases, surgery residents for OR time, OB residents for deliveries, and IM residents for the best wards cases and procedures. Good FM training really requires some skill in all of these areas, so having unfettered access is a huge plus. In FM, the most desirable places are generally those with only FM residents around.
Also, I did get interviews at some other university/university affiliated programs that look quite strong to me on paper. Including Texas A&M, UTSW, IU-Ball Memorial, UC-Swedish, etc. these were either unnopposed or minimally opposed.
At the end of the day, I've interviewed/will interview in the most desirable residencies in my target areas. My #1 choice about half way through interviews is a community hospital where one of my LOR writers works and trains residents. My #2 (and it's very close to being #1) is another hospital in the same company and the place where one of my LOR writers was a recent Cheif Resident and resident teaching award winner. These places have the strongest training I've seen so far.
So my advice is this: rather than taking the advice to get PD, Chair, and Academic letters as universal; look at what's specifically desired in the particular field you will apply in. The recommended/advised type of letter may be more flexible.
Also, never underestimate the power of a letter from a grad of the program, especially if the grad was a superstar. I don't think having a letter from a community doc who was the Cheif resident a few years back will ever be a bad thing. And these are the types of people who can go to bat for you at rank time.
In short, I don't think it's as cut and dry as some folks would like to believe.
