(Med student here) Where to get Rec Letters?

[dextor2003]

I'm fairly new to this subforum so I apologize if this has already been asked. But I'm currently a 2nd year med student thinking of applying for outside MPH programs later this year for fall 2016. But I'm not just sure where to get rec letters from at this point. I have a PI I did some research with, but it was in no way public health related. I haven't really formed any close relationships with any of my professors or other faculty at my school, so I'm not sure they would work either. My last employer I worked with was from 3 years ago, so I could ask them, but I'm not sure how well they'd remember me, and how strong the letter would be. And I guess the same would apply if I ask any of my college professors from over 3 years ago. Would anyone have any ideas about what sorts of people I could ask for letters in my case? Or if anyone knows what some of their med student friends have done in terms of letters and would be willing to share, that would be great.

Thanks so much.

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[IntriguedStudent]

First off, I would definitely ask your PI for a letter. It doesn't really matter that the work you did was not public health related. It's someone who knows you and your ability to perform in a research setting (plus, it seems like they are really your only option right now). I would then try to volunteer, at least for a brief period of time, with a public health organization. This would allow you to gain public health experience (the key thing adcoms look for) and it would allow you to gain a letter from your volunteer coordinator/supervisor. Your third letter will be the most difficult to get as it should really come from an employer or professor. Are you planning to do this before your clinical years begin or between your clinical years?

 

[jxa216]

Not a med student here, but like your med school recs, I think it should always be from people that know you best. I think it would be find for your PI to write a letter. My previous research experience was also not related to public health, but your PI can absolutely speak to your analytical skills as wells as time management and maybe even writing if you have been involve in grants, and over all your ability to succeed in graduate school.

Do you have an advisor at the medical school that could write you one? Are you applying for this year or next? I think you'll have a better chance of getting a good recommendation letter for matriculation in fall of 2016 (or if you don't want to wait a whole year, there are programs that start in the spring/Jan), because that'll give you a chance to form better relationships with faculty/ staff. I am absolutely positive that your medical school has faculty/staff that is involve in public health or have an MPH themselves. Perhaps It would benefit you to start talking to them about why they got involved in PH and how it's affected their medical practice etc. If you regularly volunteer as well, that would be a great resource for a recommendation letter.

 

[dextor2003]

First off, I would definitely ask your PI for a letter. It doesn't really matter that the work you did was not public health related. It's someone who knows you and your ability to perform in a research setting (plus, it seems like they are really your only option right now). I would then try to volunteer, at least for a brief period of time, with a public health organization. This would allow you to gain public health experience (the key thing adcoms look for) and it would allow you to gain a letter from your volunteer coordinator/supervisor. Your third letter will be the most difficult to get as it should really come from an employer or professor. Are you planning to do this before your clinical years begin or between your clinical years?

I was planning on doing it between my clinical years, ie after 3rd year. So I may potentially be able to ask residents/attendings from rotations I would have already completed before submitting the application for letters as well. Would that also count? And honestly, though unfortunately, I'm not sure I'll be able to volunteer with any organization between now and application time. I'm currently volunteering as a tutor for underprivileged children in our community, but I'm just not sure I can make the time for more on top of that, especially with Step 1 just around the corner.

 

[IntriguedStudent]

I was planning on doing it between my clinical years, ie after 3rd year. So I may potentially be able to ask residents/attendings from rotations I would have already completed before submitting the application for letters as well. Would that also count? And honestly, though unfortunately, I'm not sure I'll be able to volunteer with any organization between now and application time. I'm currently volunteering as a tutor for underprivileged children in our community, but I'm just not sure I can make the time for more on top of that, especially with Step 1 just around the corner.

I know time is severely limited for med students, so it'll definitely be harder to find the letters. Having a supervising resident or attending from one of your rotations write you a letter could be beneficial. They should be able to speak towards your work ethic. Do you have a supervisor for your volunteer tutor work? That kind of work could definitely be spun in a public health direction (interest in underserved populations). Since getting strong letters is going to be a difficult part of your application, I would definitely urge you to write a very strong personal statement. However, keep in mind that competitiveness for MPH programs is nothing like that for med school. I would not stress too much about the whole process. As you said, you've got a lot of other things on your plate. As long as you can provide solid reasoning for your intent to pursue an MPH and how you plan to use it in your career, you should be fine. Out of curiosity, which concentration are you pursuing?

 

[dextor2003]

Not a med student here, but like your med school recs, I think it should always be from people that know you best. I think it would be find for your PI to write a letter. My previous research experience was also not related to public health, but your PI can absolutely speak to your analytical skills as wells as time management and maybe even writing if you have been involve in grants, and over all your ability to succeed in graduate school.

Do you have an advisor at the medical school that could write you one? Are you applying for this year or next? I think you'll have a better chance of getting a good recommendation letter for matriculation in fall of 2016 (or if you don't want to wait a whole year, there are programs that start in the spring/Jan), because that'll give you a chance to form better relationships with faculty/ staff. I am absolutely positive that your medical school has faculty/staff that is involve in public health or have an MPH themselves. Perhaps It would benefit you to start talking to them about why they got involved in PH and how it's affected their medical practice etc. If you regularly volunteer as well, that would be a great resource for a recommendation letter.

Yes, I was thinking of applying for fall 2016 matriculation. And yes, I do have an advisor of sort. He's also an ER doc I've been shadowing from time to time, so he's gotten to know me decently well at least, so maybe he can be an option. But I have a feeling he hasn't really gotten the best impression of my clinical skills and acumen..I'll definitely try to talk to some of the MD/MPHs here though, thanks for the input.

 

[dextor2003]

I know time is severely limited for med students, so it'll definitely be harder to find the letters. Having a supervising resident or attending from one of your rotations write you a letter could be beneficial. They should be able to speak towards your work ethic. Do you have a supervisor for your volunteer tutor work? That kind of work could definitely be spun in a public health direction (interest in underserved populations). Since getting strong letters is going to be a difficult part of your application, I would definitely urge you to write a very strong personal statement. However, keep in mind that competitiveness for MPH programs is nothing like that for med school. I would not stress too much about the whole process. As you said, you've got a lot of other things on your plate. As long as you can provide solid reasoning for your intent to pursue an MPH and how you plan to use it in your career, you should be fine. Out of curiosity, which concentration are you pursuing?

Thank you so much for the sincere feedback, really means a lot. I'm interested in pursuing Global Health. I've had a strong interest in it since before college. I think it played a significant part in my med school statement, and I'll definitely try to convey the same passion in this statement as well. MPHs may not be as competitive as med schools, but I'm looking into the more competitive schools in the NE and SE, so I still want to do as much as I can to strengthen my application.

EDIT: Yes, I do have a supervisor for the volunteering I do, and I'll be sure to ask them for a letter as well.

 

[TheWorldWarrior]

I'm fairly new to this subforum so I apologize if this has already been asked. But I'm currently a 2nd year med student thinking of applying for outside MPH programs later this year for fall 2016. But I'm not just sure where to get rec letters from at this point. I have a PI I did some research with, but it was in no way public health related. I haven't really formed any close relationships with any of my professors or other faculty at my school, so I'm not sure they would work either. My last employer I worked with was from 3 years ago, so I could ask them, but I'm not sure how well they'd remember me, and how strong the letter would be. And I guess the same would apply if I ask any of my college professors from over 3 years ago. Would anyone have any ideas about what sorts of people I could ask for letters in my case? Or if anyone knows what some of their med student friends have done in terms of letters and would be willing to share, that would be great.

Thanks so much.

I asked my Site directors during clerkships. I used 1 from internal, 1 from OB and 1 from Family medicine. Since you're in Med school you'll be applying to 1 year programs. None of these recs were health policy/management related; they were specifically about my ability to work in a hospital environment/experiences with those individuals. Don't get a letter from a resident; senior attending would be better. While asking for the letter talk to 'em about why you want to do public health and what you want to focus on as a future physician, give them an idea of where you want to apply to as well. EDIT; saw that you're a second year: I'd recommend doing your IM clerkship at least [at a good hospital, that's intense and makes you work], and then getting a letter from that site director. Other recs at your discretion. Cost Effective Health Care FTW!!!!!

The GRE...is easy, relatively. Buy the kaplan book. I took it 4 days after CS and 12 days before CK; I did not care about this exam and I did fine.

Below is my profile:

Predominantly applied to Health Policy and Management/Administration tracts; no scholarships so far, no grants, no correspondence prior to acceptance emails/letters.

Undergrad School: University in the East [public school, not particularly high ranking]
Undergrad GPA: 3.447
Major/Minor: Biomedical Sciences
GradGPA (if applicable): No idea but probably 50% or lower class rank?
Grad Studies: Graduating Med School this Year [not AOA]
GRE (including date taken) or Other Test (if applicable): Verbal 156 71 Quant. 159 74 Writin 4.0 56

Experience/Research (please, be brief): No research at all

***Please include the following whenever possible: specific concentration/track, dates, type of correspondence (phone, email, letter, etc.), scholarships/grants. Judging by last year's thread, yes we are this obsessive and neurotic.***

Applied: Yale, Harvard, Columbia, Johns Hopkins
Accepted: Columbia, Yale, Johns Hopkins
Rejected: Harvard
Waitlisted:

 

[dextor2003]

I asked my Site directors during clerkships. I used 1 from internal, 1 from OB and 1 from Family medicine. Since you're in Med school you'll be applying to 1 year programs. None of these recs were health policy/management related; they were specifically about my ability to work in a hospital environment/experiences with those individuals. Don't get a letter from a resident; senior attending would be better. While asking for the letter talk to 'em about why you want to do public health and what you want to focus on as a future physician, give them an idea of where you want to apply to as well. EDIT; saw that you're a second year: I'd recommend doing your IM clerkship at least [at a good hospital, that's intense and makes you work], and then getting a letter from that site director. Other recs at your discretion. Cost Effective Health Care FTW!!!!!

The GRE...is easy, relatively. Buy the kaplan book. I took it 4 days after CS and 12 days before CK; I did not care about this exam and I did fine.

Below is my profile:

Predominantly applied to Health Policy and Management/Administration tracts; no scholarships so far, no grants, no correspondence prior to acceptance emails/letters.

Undergrad School: University in the East [public school, not particularly high ranking]
Undergrad GPA: 3.447
Major/Minor: Biomedical Sciences
GradGPA (if applicable): No idea but probably 50% or lower class rank?
Grad Studies: Graduating Med School this Year [not AOA]
GRE (including date taken) or Other Test (if applicable): Verbal 156 71 Quant. 159 74 Writin 4.0 56

Experience/Research (please, be brief): No research at all

***Please include the following whenever possible: specific concentration/track, dates, type of correspondence (phone, email, letter, etc.), scholarships/grants. Judging by last year's thread, yes we are this obsessive and neurotic.***

Applied: Yale, Harvard, Columbia, Johns Hopkins
Accepted: Columbia, Yale, Johns Hopkins
Rejected: Harvard
Waitlisted:

This is incredibly helpful information, thank you so much for the detailed post. Would it be alright if I PM you some questions?

 

[TheWorldWarrior]

This is incredibly helpful information, thank you so much for the detailed post. Would it be alright if I PM you some questions?

Sure that'd be no problem. Always happy to help a fellow person in need.