3 or 4 letters?

[thecoldwind]

I hope this isn't a stupid/nervous questions, but many programs just state that they require 3 letters- however you can post up to 4 on the ERAS website. So should I post 4- or will they only look at 3 regardless? I would like to post 4, but not if they will only pick three to look at.

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[aredoubleyou]

if you've got 4, send 4. They seem to print out all 4 of them from my experience.

 

[DCBigBAPS]

For programs that say only 3... should all 3 be anesthesia? or if you had another strong letter like a medicine chair letter, should you include that? From anesthesia I have program director, med student coordinator, and peds anesthesia head letters. I was deciding whether to include the peds anesthesia head letter or my medicine chair letter. Both should be strong, but not as strong as the other two.

Do they care about non anesthesia letters?

 

[pillowhead]

For programs that say only 3... should all 3 be anesthesia? or if you had another strong letter like a medicine chair letter, should you include that? From anesthesia I have program director, med student coordinator, and peds anesthesia head letters. I was deciding whether to include the peds anesthesia head letter or my medicine chair letter. Both should be strong, but not as strong as the other two.

Do they care about non anesthesia letters?

I would think so. My attendings in Internal Medicine frequently knew me better than my anesthesiology attendings just because I spent more time with them--it's the nature of the specialty. I think that the skills acquired in a Pediatrics, Internal Medicine, Surgery, or perhaps Ob/Gyn rotation are important in Anesthesiology (good H&Ps, systematic approach to problems, procedure skills, relating to patients, etc) and someone, even if non-anesthesia, who could write to that would be very helpful.

Getting a letter from something like Psychiatry or Family Medicine may not be quite as useful just because Psych is so different from everything else and Family Medicine being outpatient and continuity oriented is just the polar opposite of what you would do in Anesthesiology.

Just my two cents.