Bracing for worst case scenario: no psych LoR or SubI before ERAS

[NRP]

---

Members do not see this ad.

My psych clerkship was only a pass and I feel like the attending would not necessarily write me a strong letter. I don't have my schedule finalized for next year, but how can I prepare if I'm not scheduled for a psych subi/psych elective in time for ERAS and therefore no LoR in time?

Will a psych letter from someone in their research department work or is that not clinical enough?

 

[splik]

why do you feel the attending would not write a strong letter? When asking for LoRs you should always ask the attending if they can write a strong LoR, and then you will know if they can't as they should make excuses or politely decline. You should absolutely make sure that your school schedules some psych elective before ERAS. I don't think the psych clerkship pass will be a problem (especially if you have better grades in medicine and/or peds) but you do want to have the best letters you can. You need at least one clinical psychiatry letter. It is fine to have a psych letter from a research person, but that should be a 4th leter (i.e. you need 3 clinical letters, at least one of which should be in psychiatry).

 

[NRP]

why do you feel the attending would not write a strong letter? When asking for LoRs you should always ask the attending if they can write a strong LoR, and then you will know if they can't as they should make excuses or politely decline. You should absolutely make sure that your school schedules some psych elective before ERAS. I don't think the psych clerkship pass will be a problem (especially if you have better grades in medicine and/or peds) but you do want to have the best letters you can. You need at least one clinical psychiatry letter. It is fine to have a psych letter from a research person, but that should be a 4th leter (i.e. you need 3 clinical letters, at least one of which should be in psychiatry).

They're the same attending that gave me a pass rather than a high pass or honors so they probably don't think I'm that good. Regardless I will ask them. We get our schedules next week and I really only have one good block available for psych (the other block is later and ends beginning of September which seems too late to ask for a LoR).

 

[FlowRate]

Depends on why you got a pass. Shelf score terrible but otherwise great with patients? Still possible to get a good lor.

I feel like these basically-WAMC threads could just go in the WAMC thread... The Official (2017-2018) WAMC for Psychiatry Thread

 

[Stagg737]

why do you feel the attending would not write a strong letter? When asking for LoRs you should always ask the attending if they can write a strong LoR, and then you will know if they can't as they should make excuses or politely decline. You should absolutely make sure that your school schedules some psych elective before ERAS. I don't think the psych clerkship pass will be a problem (especially if you have better grades in medicine and/or peds) but you do want to have the best letters you can. You need at least one clinical psychiatry letter. It is fine to have a psych letter from a research person, but that should be a 4th leter (i.e. you need 3 clinical letters, at least one of which should be in psychiatry).

Going off this a little, what letters should one try and obtain if planning to apply for psych residencies. Obviously strong psych letters are wanted, but what about other fields? I was told by an attending that Psych + IM LORs are what PDs generally want, but I don't really feel comfortable asking my IM attending for a letter as we didn't really click all that well (he gave me positive comments, but I feel like it would be a weaker letter). I haven't had my FM rotation yet and my peds attending was just generally grouchy and it seemed pretty clear he didn't want to be working with students. Would a letter from OB/Gyn not be ideal even if I knew it would be pretty strong?

 

[splik]

It doesn't matter. I have seen letters from plastic surgeons, rad onc, radiology, plastic surgery, emergency medicine etc - You want letters from people who know you best and will write the strongest letters. IM/Peds/Neuro may have some more relevance but you really want letters who can actually say something of substance. OB/GYN is fine. as long as they don't say "stagg737 will make a great gynecologist" but instead say "we tried to recruit stag737 to ob/gyn because s/he would be a great addition to the field, but s/he is committed to a career in psychiatry, a field in which I suspect him/her to become a leader in" or something like that. but yes strong ob/gyn much better than lukewarm IM letter.

 

[HarryMTieboutMD]

LORs don't really matter as long as they don't say anything bad (I don't even care if it says "will need to work on..." because 3rd year rotations are mostly a farce anyway. In fact, most sound more or less the same. Sometimes the faculty members will have you write your own, and then he/she will edit it.

Your Step 1 score and where you went to med school are way more important

 

[Armadillos]

I'm my opinion does raise some red flags if you can't get atleast one psychiatrist you worked with clinically to say nice things for you in a letter. Mostly because usually even the dregs of medschool can manage to get one glowing psych letter, so if an applicant can't I really wonder why.

 

[psychattending]

They're the same attending that gave me a pass rather than a high pass or honors so they probably don't think I'm that good. Regardless I will ask them. We get our schedules next week and I really only have one good block available for psych (the other block is later and ends beginning of September which seems too late to ask for a LoR).

Ending the beginning of September is not too late for a letter. Programs don't see applications until Sept 15 and the Dean's letter comes out on Oct 1.