Fellowship LOR limits and handling "multiple PD's"

[hardyharhar]

So I am looking way ahead on this one, but I was wondering if there is a limit to how many LOR's an applicant in an IM subspecialty can submit in their fellowship application?

What if, say, you have been meeting regularly with an "associate PD" because he/she was assigned as, say, a mentor, and so he/she knows you pretty well.

But then your fellowship app requires a letter from, say, a "PD."

Is there a rule saying you cannot then submit 1 letter from your "associate PD/mentor" AND another letter from the "official PD"? My understanding is that fellowships in subspecialty IM require 1 letter from the PD, 1 from the subspecialty chair at your institution, and 1 from another faculty member in that subspecialty?

Are you limited to sending just 3 letters?

Anyone with experience please help shed light?

Thank you so much.

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[gutonc]

So I am looking way ahead on this one, but I was wondering if there is a limit to how many LOR's an applicant in an IM subspecialty can submit in their fellowship application?

What if, say, you have been meeting regularly with an "associate PD" because he/she was assigned as, say, a mentor, and so he/she knows you pretty well.

But then your fellowship app requires a letter from, say, a "PD."

Is there a rule saying you cannot then submit 1 letter from your "associate PD/mentor" AND another letter from the "official PD"? My understanding is that fellowships in subspecialty IM require 1 letter from the PD, 1 from the subspecialty chair at your institution, and 1 from another faculty member in that subspecialty?

Are you limited to sending just 3 letters?

Anyone with experience please help shed light?

Thank you so much.

All (or nearly all) IM fellowships use ERAS. Therefore they are subject to the ERAS limitations on LORs. Just as you can submit up to 4 LORs to any particular program for residency, so it is for fellowships.

Also, aside from the PD letter, there aren't any "required" letters for fellowship apps (and whether that particular letter is truly required is probably up for debate). For my onc application, I submitted the PD letter, a letter from an onc attending, another from a MICU attending and one from my PhD thesis advisor. Interviewed everywhere I wanted to and matched at my #1.

 

[hardyharhar]

Okay. Thanks so much, gutonc!

 

[dragonfly99]

Yeah, there really aren't any requirements for most of the fellowships except you have to have one program director letter...it's supposed to summarize your overall performance. I had 1 PD letter, 1 letter from a clinical cards faculty, one letter from a research mentor, and one from an IM faculty who wasn't from my chosen subspecialty but who knew me well and had supervised me on the wards. I think you could get the associate PD to write his/her own letter, and use that as one of your 4...a lot of places only require 3 including the PD or chair's letter, but none of them ever complained about me having 4.