How to get references from big names?

[nychila]

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For residency applications, how does a medical student get reference letters from big names in his/her field of choosing (if you don't go to a school with a strong department in that field)?

- do research with a big name during the first/second year summer
- rotate at hospitals with strong departments in your field and try to get acquainted with the big names
- at the very least, rotate at your own hospital's department and get a letter from the Chair

anything else?

 

[Winged Scapula]

Forget about "trophy hunting" just for the sake of the kill. These letters from big names are meaningless if they haven't really worked with you in any significant capacity.

Big names don't always impress. Remember sometimes those guys can be dinguses and not everyone is impressed by a letter from them.

 

[SurgeDO]

i am struggling with this as well.

i cannot brown-nose for the life of me; i feel like it was terribly obvious what i was doing whenever i had to suck up to physicians in the past (getting LORs for med school...ugh).

i have shadowed several surgeons in the university hospital who i genuinely enjoy being around and observing their work. however, i feel if i ask for a LOR or a "hook-up" that it would appear as if i was just using them.

 

[sakata8242]

A cookie cutter form letter from a "big name" who would probably barely remember you if asked about you is less useful than a letter from a "lesser known" faculty who can actually tell others why you're worth recommending. If you actually do have a close professional relationship with a big name, by all means get a letter but don't think the name behind the letter is the most important factor. With regards to Chair letters, it's pretty common for residency programs to expect a Chair's letter to accompany an application so having one doesn't necessarily make you stand out. Most of these are pretty generic and usually just confirm that yes, you did the rotation at your med school, and no, there were no red flags noted by staff and residents. In other words, how subordinate faculty and residents evaluate you is more important because the Chair will write his/her letter based on those evaluations.

And remember that recipients of applicant LoRs see thousands of these each year; they have a pretty good sense of which ones are shallow "trophy" letters and which ones are genuine.

 

[Trogghunter]

Do an away rotation/research with a chairperson of xxxxxxxxx.

 

[SouthernSurgeon]

Yes but on the flip side, the "big names" know how the game is played and know what readers expect from a good LOR.

My LORs were all from full professors who are very well known in the academic surgery world, including one who approaches "legend" status and who has a prominent textbook named after him. Those letters got a LOT of positive feedback when I was interviewing.

 

[SCOTTYDAWG]

Damn I wish I could get legendary letters too 🙁 sigh

 

[SCOTTYDAWG]

No I'm not as awesome as you

 

[CodeRedDew]

Has anyone ever gotten an LOR that they imminently dumped into the trash?

I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt on this post, have you?

 

[organdonor]

I think you know the answer here. If you want a letter from a big name, then spend a rotation with a big name, whether that be at your home institution or away.

 

[madchemist89]

If I recall correctly, you are not supposed to see your LORs for your medical school application. I still have no idea what was written in mine.

 

[CodeRedDew]

If I recall correctly, you are not supposed to see your LORs for your medical school application. I still have no idea what was written in mine.

Exactly! At least that's how it was for me.

 

[Chipster.]

.

 

[evilbooyaa]

I'm not answering this to be judged. What I will say is...if the letter is awful, why wouldn't you just put it back on their desk and walk off? Okay, I've done it but it wasn't a clinical rotation LOR. It was undergrad. Who needs a pitiful LOR? And there's more to the story - like him not being happy that I got an LOR from his "rival" as well. I'm just saying.

Yeah, no. Every person I've ever asked for a LOR, I've always checked the 'I give away my right to see what this person wrote about me, even if says I'm a dickhead with no useful skills'. Whenever I ask if someone can write a LOR for me, I ask if they can write me a *good* LOR. I had one person back in high school tell me that they would be unable to write me a *good* LOR, and I thanked them (for not being a dick about it) and moved on.

I've never gone through getting a LOR from someone who I didn't know wasn't trying their hardest to get me into whatever I needed the LOR for.

If you want a LOR from a big name, do a rotation with them and blow their socks off. Impress them with your 1337 medical student skillz and get the big letter from the big name.

 

[Winged Scapula]

Yes but on the flip side, the "big names" know how the game is played and know what readers expect from a good LOR.

My LORs were all from full professors who are very well known in the academic surgery world, including one who approaches "legend" status and who has a prominent textbook named after him. Those letters got a LOT of positive feedback when I was interviewing.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with obtaining letters from big names if you are in a position to do so.

If however you only have a passing acquaintance with them ( or none at all as in the OPs case), then you'd likely be better off with a less well recognized full professor who is familiar with your capabilities.

So do tell: Sabiston (RIP)? Cameron? Greenfield? Zollinger? Schwartz?

 

[Winged Scapula]

Yes but on the flip side, the "big names" know how the game is played and know what readers expect from a good LOR.

My LORs were all from full professors who are very well known in the academic surgery world, including one who approaches "legend" status and who has a prominent textbook named after him. Those letters got a LOT of positive feedback when I was interviewing.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with obtaining letters from big names if you are in a position to do so.

If however you only have a passing acquaintance with them ( or none at all as in the OPs case), then you'd likely be better off with a less well recognized full professor who is familiar with your capabilities.

So do tell: Sabiston (RIP)? Cameron? Greenfield? Zollinger? Schwartz?

 

[SouthernSurgeon]

I'm not answering this to be judged. What I will say is...if the letter is awful, why wouldn't you just put it back on their desk and walk off? Okay, I've done it but it wasn't a clinical rotation LOR. It was undergrad. Who needs a pitiful LOR? And there's more to the story - like him not being happy that I got an LOR from his "rival" as well. I'm just saying.

You generally don't get to read your LORs. The letter writers send them to your deans office who uploads them into ERAS. And pretty much every letter writer puts a standard disclaimer that the student has waived their right to view the letter somewhere in the body of the LOR itself.

 

[SouthernSurgeon]

There's absolutely nothing wrong with obtaining letters from big names if you are in a position to do so.

If however you only have a passing acquaintance with them ( or none at all as in the OPs case), then you'd likely be better off with a less well recognized full professor who is familiar with your capabilities.

So do tell: Sabiston (RIP)? Cameron? Greenfield? Zollinger? Schwartz?

Sometimes you write a post from your phone that on re-reading sounds way douchier than you meant it.

My only point was that the senior letter writers do a pretty good job of hitting all the buzzwords and writing a very good letter. And I don't think that necessarily correlates that well to how well they know the applicant.

 

[GangaMaster]

Did you get a letter from Acland's or Netters? I got one from Hippocrates

 

[Winged Scapula]

Sometimes you write a post from your phone that on re-reading sounds way douchier than you meant it.

My only point was that the senior letter writers do a pretty good job of hitting all the buzzwords and writing a very good letter. And I don't think that necessarily correlates that well to how well they know the applicant.

LOL...not sure who the "you" is here: you or me.

At any rate, I understood what you meant and agree with you: senior faculty do generally write a better letter. I disagree however, that there isn't a correlation with how well they know you. I find that some of these come across as boilerplate letters.

 

[Doctor Bob]

My LOR from Dr. Debakey simply read "Dr. Bob is the only person I would ever allow to operate on my heart."

I didn't think it was good enough so I didn't send it out.

 

[JJMrK]

There's absolutely nothing wrong with obtaining letters from big names if you are in a position to do so.

If however you only have a passing acquaintance with them ( or none at all as in the OPs case), then you'd likely be better off with a less well recognized full professor who is familiar with your capabilities.

So do tell: Sabiston (RIP)? Cameron? Greenfield? Zollinger? Schwartz?

I agree with the sentiment. IMO, it's worth it though to figure out a way to get at least one well-known faculty member somewhere to write a letter. In the field I applied to I got the feeling it was almost a box they checked off during interviews, and weren't super interested in looking at my letters unless one was written by someone they knew.

 

[Kahreek]

If you have to ask you probably wont get them.
You see it is complicated.