I'm starting my 4th year soon an was wondering about letters of reccs. I'm applying to internal med. I have 1 letter from the GI doc I rotated with, 1 from gen internal med doc I've known since first year, and need one more letter. I will not be able to do my sub-I before I get submit my application, so I'll have to do another internal med rotation. Would it be OK to do an elective rotation in GI since that is what most I'm interested in and get a letter from another GI doc? Also how important are these letter really?
Letter of reccs
- Thread starter premedk
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Are you at a US school? If so, you're way behind in getting your 4th year scheduled! Didn't your school give you any guidance on where to get LORs? You also need to talk to your department chair about getting a department letter, because I understand that those are generally needed for IM.
In any case, you have almost 3 months before ERAS opens on 9/15, plus a "grace" month where as long as you have 2 letters in already, you can wait until mid-October to get your third letter in. Schedule some electives in IM for the summer! Preferably not all in GI since you already have a letter from a GI. Do at least 1 sub-I level month that is not GI and get a letter. In fact, I would suggest planning to get 2 letters since 3rd-year letters are generally not as strong as letters from 4th year.
In any case, you have almost 3 months before ERAS opens on 9/15, plus a "grace" month where as long as you have 2 letters in already, you can wait until mid-October to get your third letter in. Schedule some electives in IM for the summer! Preferably not all in GI since you already have a letter from a GI. Do at least 1 sub-I level month that is not GI and get a letter. In fact, I would suggest planning to get 2 letters since 3rd-year letters are generally not as strong as letters from 4th year.
Thanks for the advice. I am infact a US student, but my schedule got screwed because I didn't get a sub-I until Nov, and I decided to take Step 2 in August instead of July. The dept chair recommended doing an IM consult service early enough to get a letter. I'm thinking either heme/onc or GI. I'd be able to kill the GI rotation, since I already did a community rotation in it, but I guess its a good idea to get a variety of letters :/
