Ask LOR from fellow?

[donaldtang]

As an international medical student, I am currently taking a rotation (hematology consult service) in an US hospital and a fellow is my preceptor. Since each attending only work with me for a short period of time (1 week) but the fellow works with me all the time, I believe that the fellow has a better knowledge of my performance. Do you think a fellow's letter of recommendation is useful for residency application? Or the LOR from a fellow will be discounted as compared with an attending?

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[smq123]

As an international medical student, I am currently taking a rotation (hematology consult service) in an US hospital and a fellow is my preceptor. Since each attending only work with me for a short period of time (1 week) but the fellow works with me all the time, I believe that the fellow has a better knowledge of my performance. Do you think a fellow's letter of recommendation is useful for residency application? Or the LOR from a fellow will be discounted as compared with an attending?

Most places really want LORs only from attendings. Getting a letter from a fellow is probably next-to-useless.

 

[Winged Scapula]

In most cases, the fellow talks to one of the attendings who then writes the letter for you.

The OP should discuss this early on with the fellow so that plans can be made. Another option is if the fellow is nearly finished with his training, he writes you a letter after he is done and working as an attending (but you'd have to keep track of him and its generally better to get the letter before you leave).

 

[atsai3]

Most places really want LORs only from attendings. Getting a letter from a fellow is probably next-to-useless.

Agree. Ask your fellow to write the letter and co-sign it with an attending.

-AT.

 

[dragonfly99]

Yes,
what you do I think is that you ask the fellow to "help you" by putting a good word in for you with one of the attendings. If he seems agreeable, then you give a copy of your CV or resume to the fellow and whichever attending is going to write the LOR. If the fellow wants to be helpful and has a good relationship with the attending, he might just write some or most of the letter, and then the attending will sign it. I don't think a letter signed only by the fellow is going to be very helpful - only exception would be if he's going to be an attending next year, and you aren't applying until next year/next cycle.