Another LOR question, sorry...

[flabs]

Ok, so I'm planning on rotating at a few sites in the next few months (Aug, Sept, Nov, Dec). I already have 3 letters on file with ERAS that are from attendings I've previously rotated with (none of whom are at the institutions I'll be rotating with).

Now, everyone always says to "rotate where you want to go, and get a letter". So what is the best way to go about doing this,(and doing it in a timely manner) - considering it takes most letter writers a month to get you a letter, then another week or two to get it mailed in to your registrar's office, etc.

Should I just load my 3 letters and call it a day? Or should I still try to get letters and go through the whole upload to ERAS process - understanding that these letters won't get uploaded until late in the process.

An alternative Idea I was told....just have the letter writer send their letter directly to the program director for you? In my case: submit my 3 letters, then have the attendings email/mail the letter to the PD, thus giving me 4 letters on hand. good idea or bad? I certainly don't want to piss off any PDs

Thanks!

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[QofQuimica]

I think it's at least possible to get a letter from your August rotation. That's early enough for you to get it uploaded in ERAS in a reasonable amount of time. Maybe just let the writer know that you need the letter soon and give them some warning ahead of time, at least a couple of weeks if you can. As in, don't ask for the letter on the last day of the rotation and say you need it tomorrow!

As for the other aways, I guess you could ask for another letter if you want, but if you're only applying in one specialty, and you already have four letters, is there really much to be gained by getting more letters? Even if you do, I have gotten the impression that most PDs don't want more than four letters, so I wouldn't send a fifth without asking permission first.

 

[IHeartNerds]

What is traditionally done in my future specialty (which is used to having lots of "away" letters) is this:

get your three required letters from whoever, home program people or early (july/august) aways, and put them as your first three on ERAS. this means your application will be "complete" sept 1 ie you won't be missing letters.

then, later letters (aug-sept-oct) can be sent from the faculty to your dean's office. you can then either have them transmit the letters to programs outside ERAS (ie email/fax), or give you sealed printed versions to take with and hand the coordinator when you get there. many people do this for an additional two letters (ie have a total of 5 -- no PDs are angered by this as far as i'm aware)

remember that ERAS only lets you submit so many letters per program. You can get around this by "un-designating" a letter already sent and replacing it with a new letter, but this is generally frowned on.

I would say that a letter from a December rotation won't be very useful, as its chances of arriving before you interview are almost zero. Rotating at many institutions helps you match there (if, you know, they like you) regardless of the letter.

 

[34140]

wow you have 3 in? i only have one in, waiting on 3 more to give me their LORS i asked all of these people back in march/april. and asked them to give me the LORS in june, but theyve still not given them to me they keep saying theyll give it to me mid Aug

i feel like im so behind

 

[hippiedoc13]

What is traditionally done in my future specialty (which is used to having lots of "away" letters) is this:

get your three required letters from whoever, home program people or early (july/august) aways, and put them as your first three on ERAS. this means your application will be "complete" sept 1 ie you won't be missing letters.

then, later letters (aug-sept-oct) can be sent from the faculty to your dean's office. you can then either have them transmit the letters to programs outside ERAS (ie email/fax), or give you sealed printed versions to take with and hand the coordinator when you get there. many people do this for an additional two letters (ie have a total of 5 -- no PDs are angered by this as far as i'm aware)

remember that ERAS only lets you submit so many letters per program. You can get around this by "un-designating" a letter already sent and replacing it with a new letter, but this is generally frowned on.

I would say that a letter from a December rotation won't be very useful, as its chances of arriving before you interview are almost zero. Rotating at many institutions helps you match there (if, you know, they like you) regardless of the letter.

Overall, this is good advice.

Upload the 3 letters you already have, so that your application is complete.

Even if the programs you're applying to only require 3 letters, I *think* ERAS will let you assign up to 4 letters to a program. (At least that's what I remember from when I applied). You can always later assign your LOR from your rotation at program X as a 4th "extra" letter in ERAS. That's what I did--had my 3 LOR ready to go so my app was complete (2 from 3rd year core rotations, 1 from my July sub-i), and then I did a September sub-i at my #1 choice program, the letter wasn't done until mid to late October, but I assigned it as an "extra" letter and it was there in my file when I interviewed at programs during Nov-Jan.

But as the poster above notes, just having rotated at a program and made a good impression, and having the attending communicate that good impression to the PD and other faculty (whether through an ERAS LOR or just via email/personal vouching) can be very helpful for getting an interview, and ultimately being ranked well.

 

[ally1]

I kinda asked this on the main forum too (thanks for your answer Iheartnerds!) but when you say to have 3 just so your application is complete and then mail the rest in aug/sept/oct--are you saying that those initial three can be from whoever, people not in your "specialty". Obviously, you would later send in specialty letters i assume is what you all mean

 

[flabs]

On another note...

Many programs state that you can "submit 3/4 LORs, 1 must be from the Head of the Department of Medicine at your home institute, and the other 2/3 being your choice"

The Head of the IM department at my school barely knows me and has never worked with me clinically. Whereas all my letters are from attendings I've worked with over the past 1.5 years. Can I just submit my letters, or do I need to get this letter from the department head? This seems like such a waste to me

What have people done in the past? Can aprogdirector comment?

 

[NotAProgDirector]

I can happily comment.

For US Allopathic schools, the "Department Chair Letter" is a specific letter written usually by a committee. It's like a mini dean's letter that reviews your performance only on IM rotations -- your 3rd year clerkship, 4th year subI, ambulatory IM, and any medicine electives / ICU that you might have done. Hence, it doesn't matter if the chair doesn't know you, as in most places the chair doesn't even write it (but usually signs all of them). Some schools do a great job with them. Some suck. The clerkship director for IM should know whom to ask, or sometimes you actually have to go and ask the chair and have a small interview with them.

If you're a DO, or an IMG, then you should simply ignore this since it doesn't exist. Programs that insist on a Dept letter will either ignore it's need for DO/IMG's, or will simply ignore DO/IMG's altogether.

 

[bigbluedoc12]

Quick question about the Department chair letter. How is the letter denoted a "chair letter" in ERAS? For example, should I have a letter slot entitled,
Dr. X, MD. Department chair letter?? Thanks

 

[gstrub]

Is the process of undesignating a letter and then assigning a newer one really frowned upon? This was what our deans office told me to do with the letter I expect after my away rotation which starts on Monday.. I already have 4 letters assigned (3 from clinical faculty, one from my PhD advisor).

Anyone know for sure? I want to follow the best procedure.

 

[gutonc]

Is the process of undesignating a letter and then assigning a newer one really frowned upon? This was what our deans office told me to do with the letter I expect after my away rotation which starts on Monday.. I already have 4 letters assigned (3 from clinical faculty, one from my PhD advisor).

Anyone know for sure? I want to follow the best procedure.

Only after its downloaded would it be frowned upon to de-assign it and assign a new one. Just do it now and no one will know the difference.

As an aside, on the off chance you totally flail on your away and decide you won't get a good LOR out of it, just go ahead and re-assign the other letter and you're golden.