Letter of Rec From Post Doc

[coninuteremedia]

Hi SDN, I was curious as to whether getting a letter of recommendation from the post-doc I worked under would be a good idea. The post-doc knows me very well and would give me a very strong letter of rec. The PI on the other hand, wouldn't. We've had a falling out and I don't think he'd be open to writing me a letter. However, the post-doc told me during numerous occasions that she'd be willing to write me a letter. Would this suffice for medical schools?

For the record, I worked primarily under the post-doc and my work was integral for the progress of her project. Thanks in advance!

PS, I search for a similar topic, but only found a few outdated threads and a couple under the dental forums. Any advice is much appreciated!

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[dr zaius]

A friend of mine had a post doc write one of her letters and got in. Purely anecdotal.

 

[soundnin]

i think it would be fine, but i would suggest sitting down to talk to your PI and settling things. then ask if he/she would be willing to put his/her name on your post-doc's LOR. don't know what "falling out" means, but i can't imagine why a PI would not agree to help you progress in your career track. the main reason i suggest doing so is because it's not good to have enemies in science, especially this early on!

 

[coninuteremedia]

Well, falling out in the sense that the he put me on a dead end project just to occupy my time and after doing it for a while, I decided enough was enough and I quit. While I was tendering my resignation, he stated that I don't know if I can write you a recommendation letter if you quit now. I gave him some BS reason (school getting time consuming/ MCAT) for quiting and broke it off as amicably as possible. He wasn't very happy. The lab was falling apart. Many of the post-docs quit themselves and the left over post-docs were very unhappy. There was dissension between many of the members and the politics of the whole thing was nauseating. I needed to get out of there. However, I did have a wonderful experience with a post-doc early on and she's willing to write me a letter. I don't know if it's possible to make amends with the PI at this point though.

 

[soundnin]

... he stated that I don't know if I can write you a recommendation letter if you quit now...

sounds more like he meant that he didn't know you well enough, not that he hates your guts and would not want to help you at all . but back on point, a letter from a post-doc should be fine especially if you're not applying md/phd.

 

[ANATOMYgirl22]

Hi SDN, I was curious as to whether getting a letter of recommendation from the post-doc I worked under would be a good idea. The post-doc knows me very well and would give me a very strong letter of rec. The PI on the other hand, wouldn't. We've had a falling out and I don't think he'd be open to writing me a letter. However, the post-doc told me during numerous occasions that she'd be willing to write me a letter. Would this suffice for medical schools?

For the record, I worked primarily under the post-doc and my work was integral for the progress of her project. Thanks in advance!

PS, I search for a similar topic, but only found a few outdated threads and a couple under the dental forums. Any advice is much appreciated!

I've actually been wondering the exact same thing... Are you planning on applying to any really research-heavy schools? Because I've heard that some of those schools prefer PI letters if possible... but it seems like most people say that its better to have a really good recommendation from someone who knows you well than a mediocre letter from a big shot. I would recommend contacting your schools of interest and asking them what they prefer just to make sure. (I will probably end up doing that myself)

 

[sirenomelia]

In an interview situation I would ask why a letter from the actual researcher wasn't in your file. Thats just me.

 

[KTownGT]

See if it is possible to have the Post-doc write the letter and your PI simply co-sign the letter.

/thread

 

[bucks2010]

See if it is possible to have the Post-doc write the letter and your PI simply co-sign the letter.

/thread

why would a PI cosign if he already said he wasn't willing to support him with a letter?

 

[soundnin]

See if it is possible to have the Post-doc write the letter and your PI simply co-sign the letter.

/thread

why would a PI cosign if he already said he wasn't willing to support him with a letter?

does anyone read a thread before commenting?

 

[coninuteremedia]

Thanks for all the advise, friends. I'll try to see if the PI would be cool with co-signing. It's been a while so the bad blood might have blown over. Maybe he got a really fat grant and is happy now.

 

[LizzyM]

Just get the post-doc. The post doc has a doctoral degree, some may assume that the big guy (PI) has many worker bees and that he wasn't particularly hands on and couldn't speak to your daily work.

 

[LoveBeingHuman:)]

BUMP:

@LizzyM
In a very recent thread you suggested only the PI to write a rec letter:

https://forums.studentdoctor.net/th...-pi-or-project-manager.1243319/#post-18647370

The current thread is a few years old so I was wondering if your feelings towards it just changed?

 

[LizzyM]

BUMP:

@LizzyM
In a very recent thread you suggested only the PI to write a rec letter:

https://forums.studentdoctor.net/th...-pi-or-project-manager.1243319/#post-18647370

The current thread is a few years old so I was wondering if your feelings towards it just changed?

Yes.