best LOR

[loveumms]

Hey all -

Just wanted to get some opinions on who I should get LOR from. I'm an MS III and did well in medicine and neuro this year (I did good in surgery, but am afraid that the course director wouldn't write a good LOR). I have a MICU month in July and a SICU in November (which will be too late for applications). Unfortunately, I could not get an anesthesia elective until January which is too late for LOR.

Who are the best people to get LOR from?

Thanks!

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[jennyboo]

Hey all -

Just wanted to get some opinions on who I should get LOR from. I'm an MS III and did well in medicine and neuro this year (I did good in surgery, but am afraid that the course director wouldn't write a good LOR). I have a MICU month in July and a SICU in November (which will be too late for applications). Unfortunately, I could not get an anesthesia elective until January which is too late for LOR.

Who are the best people to get LOR from?

Thanks!

Medicine, ICU, or surgery are all good. Neurology, peds, ob, also decent.
One anesthesia letter is also very helpful, although the anesthesiologist who wrote mine felt that an anesthesia letter is not required -- some people get all their "anesthesia" experience as part of their surgery rotation, etc, and a surgeon's letter is well regarded.

I had two anesthesia letters and one research/independent study letter. I wouldn't recommend that combination, but it worked fine for me. The most important part is not who the writer is, but how well he or she writes (and what s/he writes about you).

 

[burntcrispy]

I'm a 4th year just waiting to graduate to start my internship. I don't know what the right answer is but I can tell you what I did.

I got letters from several different people. I had anes chairman because I heard that some programs wanted a letter from the chair. Although, I don't remember ever seeing that as a requriement for application at any of the programs I applied to. The others were from anes, OB and surgery. It probably doesn't matter so much who writes them as what they write. You want to try to get letters from people who kind of know you and can write more of a personal letter than just a generic format. You may want to try to shadow an anesthesiologist or something like that so one can get to know you enough to write a letter for you. There are some attendings floating around on this board who can probably give you some good info.

Good luck with the process.

 

[UTSouthwestern]

Mine came from radiation oncology, radiology, and cardiology. It doesn't matter who writes it, just how well they write it.

 

[NYGasGirl]

I agree with the above posts. My LOR came from anes, surgery and peds. I have several good letters from different specialties, but I choose the LOR that described me the best to include in my application. What's in your LOR is more important than who writes it. Good luck