PhD/PsyD Letters of Rec. for postdoc positions

[Bryan91]

Hello everyone,

I was wondering about who to pick to have written letters of recommendation for PCBH clinical postdoc fellowships in VA's, academic hospitals, and medical centers. Each site requires 2-3 letters of recommendation and I am unsure if I should include supervisor-only letters or if providing one from the academic/research perspective would be good.
Would you recommend that I include a letter from my dissertation chair that showcases my research and academic abilities?
Also, what is your opinion on submitting four letters of recommendation when a potential site asks for three letters? I have been thinking about providing three clinical supervisory letters (2 from internship and 1 from practicum) and one research-related letter.

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[WisNeuro]

Hello everyone,
Also, what is your opinion on submitting four letters of recommendation when a potential site asks for three letters? I have been thinking about providing three clinical supervisory letters (2 from internship and 1 from practicum) and one research-related letter.

If they ask for 3, just send 3. My policy is, if there are extra letters in the packet, I only read the first 3 and ignore anything after that. I'm sure others are fine with it, but to me, it just seems that someone did not read our application thoroughly and just sent the same thing to each site. Just looks sloppy.

 

[Bryan91]

If they ask for 3, just send 3. My policy is, if there are extra letters in the packet, I only read the first 3 and ignore anything after that. I'm sure others are fine with it, but to me, it just seems that someone did not read our application thoroughly and just sent the same thing to each site. Just looks sloppy.

Yeah, I was thinking about the sloppiness of sending four in. I will stick it to what the directors ask for and not send more. Thanks!

 

[AbnormalPsych]

Personally, I like to see 1 from the academic advisor or dissertation chair. It can let me see more about the person than just their clinical side.

Always follow directions. 3 letters means 3. I definitely take notice when I review apps where people have ignored directions.