General Surgery Residency LoR

[Popemobile18]

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Hey Guys and Gals,

I'll be applying to a general surgery program, mostly in the midwest (Chicago area) this upcoming fall. I've read several programs' websites stating that they want 3 letters of recommendation (LOR), not specifying from whom.

Obviously, you want most of LOR to be from surgery people, but can one be from a internal medicine doctor, or from another specialty? Does it make a difference if both are same quality? Does an outstanding LOR from IM MD count more than strong LOR from surgery MD? Thanks.

 

[SouthernSurgeon]

Hey Guys and Gals,

I'll be applying to a general surgery program, mostly in the midwest (Chicago area) this upcoming fall. I've read several programs' websites stating that they want 3 letters of recommendation (LOR), not specifying from whom.

Obviously, you want most of LOR to be from surgery people, but can one be from a internal medicine doctor, or from another specialty? Does it make a difference if both are same quality? Does an outstanding LOR from IM MD count more than strong LOR from surgery MD? Thanks.

Generally speaking, you want to have all your LORs from surgeons.

 

[Winged Scapula]

Your letters should be from surgeons.

If you have an outstanding letter from IM (especially if an ICU attending or Gastro), it can be used as a supplemental letter (ie, a 4th letter if only 3 are requested).

I suppose if it were really outstanding and one of the surgery letters sucked, then its ok to substitute the IM letter for the core surgery letters requested.

<awaiting responses from students who state they got in without having all surgery letters. This is not the point. The point is that MOST, if not all LORs for surgery residency SHOULD be from surgeons.>

 

[Popemobile18]

Got it, thank you for the responses!