letters of recommendation

Originally posted by mjl34

One of the residents told me that some schools actually have a mathematical formula that incorporates a letter writer's position (dean vs. dept chair vs. assistant professor). Anybody who could validate/invalidate this claim might solve my problem for me.

Any suggestions?

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Wow... that's too complex for me. I cannot dispute that some programs may incorporate an equation when evaluating LORs. On the other hand, one distinguished letter can help you greatly.

For instance, I had one letter from a distinguished neuro-ophthalmologist. I worked with this physician for one month and received high marks during the rotation. This letter carried much weight and was mentioned during my interviews by several people.

What's the take home message? Reviewers may not implement an exact formula, but in their minds, they determine the value and weight of each LOR.

In your situation, I recommend getting the third letter from an ophthalmology faculty who you worked with (either at UT or Utah). A letter from an ophthalmologist would carry more weight than from a research advisor not related to the field.

Originally posted by mjl34

Our department chair writes a letter for everyone applying from my school (UT Southwestern) whether he knows you or not.

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Summary letters from Deans and department chairs may be very good. If the letter incorporates concrete examples and quotes from various attendings, then the letter will likely carry substantial weight.

One more comment... 🙂

UT Southwestern is a great program. I liked it a lot, and residents are well-trained from there.

Are there still eight residents per year?

Good luck!

A letter from the chair at our program will go a long way on the interview trail, he is respected and well known by everyone in the country. I think that having a letter from the chair of ophthalmology and medicine is great. UT has a great medicine department. I have really enjoyed my first year of Opthalmology here also. I think that if you get a letter from a distinguished ophthalmologist all the more power to you. However if you did research with one of the faculty and the really know you well, and they will write you a great letter, that will also help a lot. Your other two letters will already be very impressive, so getting a letter from someone who knows you very well but may not be as distinguished nationally will also be valuable.

The issue of LORs is somewhat concerning. I go to a medical school whose ophtho department consists of one doc - a neuroophthalmologist. Obviously that makes it a little more difficult for me right from the start.

I got one letter from a retina doc that I spent 2 weeks with elsewhere. I also got a great letter from a medicine doc that I worked with during my IM clerkship. I had hoped to get a third letter during rotations at either Ohio State or Mayo, but I've found that the students really don't get extensive time with attendings one on one. When I was at OSU, I spent maybe 3 days with an attending before being shipped elsewhere. At Mayo, I have worked primarily with residents, seeing attendings through them. How good of a letter can someone write if you only get to work with them for a few days?

While I was at OSU, I spoke with the program director about this issue. He told me that in the years that he has been selecting residents, he has only seen one bad letter of recommendation. Occasionally he sees an outstanding letter, but he said the huge majority of letters are essentially the same. He stated that he would much rather see a letter from someone who really knows the student (even if they are not an ophthalmologist) rather than a generic letter from an ophthalmologist. I'm not so naive to believe this is true of every program director, especially if the letter is from someone very prominent, but it made me question what I should do.
I spent 3 months doing research with a Ph.D (not a bigwig by any means) who I'm sure would write me a fantastic letter. Wouldn't that be better than getting a letter from some guy who I only worked with for a few days, even if he is an ophthalmologist? I'm especially interested in any input that I could get from Ophtho_MudPhud as Iowa is currently my top choice.

This is my opinion and if I was putting together an application this year, then this is how I would rank the letters of recommendation:

1) Letter from a well-known ophthalmologist who you worked with.
2) Letter from an ophthalmologist who worked with you.
3) Letter from a physician/PhD who worked with you.
4) Letter from an ophthalmologist who does not know you well.
5) Letter from a physician/PhD who does not know you well.

You have to do with the resources available. If a letter from a physician/researcher is all you have, then it's definitely better than option 4 or 5 above.

Good luck!

First thing, and most important. . .take a deep breath. I know you're freaking out now like a good little overachieving med student, but you can relax a little. We all went through this, and it ends up ok.

Second, wait for the chairman. A week or two isn't going to kill you, but there's a big difference between a good letter from the ophthalmology chairman and someone else, especially if you're considering going outside of the department. (Which you should NOT do, unless you really really have to. And you don't.)