Letter of Rec question

[Gryphes]

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I am a dual degree student returning to my medical school next year in the spring. I am strongly interested in radiology and virtually bent on pursuing this specialty. From hearsay, I often hear that I need at least three letters of rec, one or two from the radiology attendings, and the rest from the core surgery or medicine attending.

I am in a bit of a bind, since I completed my core surgery and medicine rotations before I took my LOA for my second degree. When I return, I will basically be starting off with my elective radiololgy rotation, then go through rotations OB and Psych before my ERAS will be due.

I am wondering if there will be a problem if I actually obtain a letter of rec from an attending other than med/surgery rotations. I am thinking about obtaining a letter from OB, Psych, or family medicine. But since I heard so often about how much radiology PDs care about medicine and surgery performance, I get somewhat afraid that this would penalize me. Yet, I feel it is more relevant to get a letter from someone who knows me really well, rather than someone who will try to remember who the heck I was, since I worked with them more than a year ago.

I already finished Step I (above 240), and have so far completed medicine and surgery - honor and high pass respectively. No research or AOA. If anyone could provide some counsel, I would strongly appreciate the help.

 

[UnderPar22]

I am a dual degree student returning to my medical school next year in the spring. I am strongly interested in radiology and virtually bent on pursuing this specialty. From hearsay, I often hear that I need at least three letters of rec, one or two from the radiology attendings, and the rest from the core surgery or medicine attending.

I am in a bit of a bind, since I completed my core surgery and medicine rotations before I took my LOA for my second degree. When I return, I will basically be starting off with my elective radiololgy rotation, then go through rotations OB and Psych before my ERAS will be due.

I am wondering if there will be a problem if I actually obtain a letter of rec from an attending other than med/surgery rotations. I am thinking about obtaining a letter from OB, Psych, or family medicine. But since I heard so often about how much radiology PDs care about medicine and surgery performance, I get somewhat afraid that this would penalize me. Yet, I feel it is more relevant to get a letter from someone who knows me really well, rather than someone who will try to remember who the heck I was, since I worked with them more than a year ago.

I already finished Step I (above 240), and have so far completed medicine and surgery - honor and high pass respectively. No research or AOA. If anyone could provide some counsel, I would strongly appreciate the help.

Congratulations on a strong step 1 score!

Based on my own experience, I don't think having a letter from medicine and/or surgery really matters. Performance in these rotations def matters and that will be evident from your grades on your transcript and your comments on the MSPE.

Asides from the one rads letter I got (I only recommend sending in one), I got one form a neurologist and another from an anesthesiologist. I worked with these two docs closely during my rotations and felt that they knew me best. I have a form letter from my medicine department that I also sent out, but I figure this one is probably impersonal and is really meant for the prelim/TY programs I applied to. You'll have to get at least one medicine letter for your intern programs. Your home med department secretary/coordinator usually saves all comments from MS3 rotations and will basically pass this along to the chairman or residency program director who compiles the comments, writes a few generic words then signs their name on the bottom. This is pretty much the only medicine letter I got.

So far things are working out for me as I'm sitting here with 13 interviews 😀. So take it for what it's worth, but I think you should be fine.

More important than the letters, if you're interested and have time, getting involved in rads research would be great. It's really tough to get to know an attending well during a rads rotation given the passive nature of the rotation compared to an inpatient ward rotation where you're given actual responsibilities. By getting involved with research, you'll get the opportunity to meet a mentor, have them learn more about you and your skills which in turn gives your mentor something to actually write about when he/she prepares your letter. In theory this interaction should be a win-win situation--you help your mentor out by doing research, he/she helps you out by writing you an awesome letter.

Best of luck!

 

[PokerDoc]

Yeah about that only one rads letter thing.. everyone says it.. but I don't believe it. I truly felt my 3 best letters were all radiologists (2 were IR). I ended up sending 2 rads and 1 medicine letter, and even sent the 3rd radiologist's letter to many programs as the '4th' letter. And the interviews keep rolling in.

As for your specific questions, only you can really answer that, since you know how well certain attendings may remember you. If there was one in particular who you clicked with, I'd ask that person. If not, it would be better to get a strong letter from one of your remaining clerkships than a weak one from someone who may not remember uwell in medicine or surgery.

 

[2012mdc]

Yeah about that only one rads letter thing.. everyone says it.. but I don't believe it. I truly felt my 3 best letters were all radiologists (2 were IR). I ended up sending 2 rads and 1 medicine letter, and even sent the 3rd radiologist's letter to many programs as the '4th' letter. And the interviews keep rolling in.

As for your specific questions, only you can really answer that, since you know how well certain attendings may remember you. If there was one in particular who you clicked with, I'd ask that person. If not, it would be better to get a strong letter from one of your remaining clerkships than a weak one from someone who may not remember uwell in medicine or surgery.

Out of curiosity did you get any invites from programs who explicitly stated they wanted 2 non rads letters?

 

[Gryphes]

Thanks for reply to everyone. I guess I will try to get some research spot, sooner than later. I appreciate the informative responses. Good luck to you guys during this interview season.