4th yr schedule and LOR's

[coffeestat]

Hey guys,

Im currently a MSIII and turning in 4th yr schedules soon. My dilema lies in the first part of the yr 4. EM is a 4th yr only course, so soonest is august. My questions are how late can you feasibly due a rotation and get a letter in? Is Oct. really to late? Also, I know standard thinking is at least one SLOR via EM. Who else would be OK for LOR's? Appreciate any advice or good lies.

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[GCS:3]

October's not too[/] late, but it's getting there. I didn't have a SLOR from a PD in until November, and my number of early interview offers took a hit because of it.

I'd do a rotation at a strong program that you'd want to go to in August, and maybe another by November. You really have to do 2 EM months in order for some places to take your app seriously.

On the other hand, if your school has a program, maybe pulling a few shifts in the ED could net you a letter from your home program's PD, which would give you the flexibility of waiting until Nov. That is, unless you don't already have one from him.

Good luck!

 

[greatdane]

Is Oct. really to late?

In my opinion, it is to late...the earlier the better. If it is an away rotation, you need to remember that it might take a month to get a letter....that would put you with an incomplete file approaching December...not good. I think July (I know some disagree with this month, but it worked great for me), aug and sept are your prime months. I would get at least two letters for EM physicians. I had three from EM and one from the trauma chair. I think a trauma or ICU letter is good to have...anyways, just my .02 cents worth

 

[coffeestat]

Well, there goes my pipe dream of taking some time off after 3rd yr. Reality blows sometimes. Anyway, follow-up question(s). Can you get more than one letter per EM rotation? And say you do an away EM rota in Oct., would you still get a SLOR and add it later? Thanks again for the replys.

 

[basementbeastie]

agree with above posts. i started getting interview offers by halloween after doing 2 ER rotations, home and away, in aug and sept. that is as late as you want to be. i asked for and received timely SLORs from the 2 PDs. i also had a trauma surgeon write a letter earlier in the year. i think that one letter from each program would be sufficient, although if there are more than one attending who could write you strong letters then go for it.

 

[GCS:3]

Originally posted by coffeestat
Well, there goes my pipe dream of taking some time off after 3rd yr. Reality blows sometimes. Anyway, follow-up question(s). Can you get more than one letter per EM rotation? And say you do an away EM rota in Oct., would you still get a SLOR and add it later? Thanks again for the replys.

You can get more than one letter per program. Especially if the 2nd staff in question has connections to a program you like. You can definitely add it later, but be sure to have at least one SLOR in by the time programs start choosing who to interview.

 

[basementbeastie]

plenty of pipe dreamin' in fourth year....

 

[Apollyon]

Originally posted by basementbeastie
plenty of pipe dreamin' in fourth year....

You know where the term "pipe dream" comes from?

From dreams and hallucinations encountered by people smoking the opium pipe.

Watch out for that whiz quiz!

 

[coffeestat]

OK Apollyon, no pimpin' on my post! Life is bad enough right now. I feel like I can't go to the can without someone scheduling didactics over in the next stall. Thank's for the responses everyone. Need that slap in the face every so often I guess. So, EM SLOR's & ICU LOR's are good. Any problem with say an excellent Ped's or FP LOR?

 

[GCS:3]

My ICU month was my first month in the hospital. Needless to say I didn't get an LOR for that rotation. Here's what I ended up sending programs:

2x SLOR's from PD's/EP's
1x LOR from IM
1x LOR from FP (I've known the guy since M1, so it was a pretty strong letter)