Letters of Rec: One Hospital Versus Another?

[flipasta]

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Hey guys,

I was wondering how important location is for your third year experience in terms of LOR, overall experience, and otherwise.

I have to decide between whether I'll do my third year experience at my medical school's hospital or another one in a nearby major city (Houston, but not in the medical center). I'd like to be in Houston to be closer to family and the city.

However, I've heard that I'd be giving up something significant in terms of letters of recommendation in that I'll have more opportunities to work with doctors established in the academic community if I stay at my university's home hospital.

The Houston hospital does not have much experience with medical students but it does have residents and the suspicion is that I may be losing something in terms of my LOR. Is this true?

In general, what is important as far as a letter of rec, in terms of a doctor's title in a hospital, and what do people mean by a 'doctors standing in the academic community'?

Thanks for any help ya'll can give.


Some background info: The home hospital is UTMB's John Sealy in Galveston and the Houston hospital is St. Joseph's in Houston. I'm not sure what specialty I want to go in (I'm a second year, but I have to make this decision within the next week).

 

[SouthernSurgeon]

LORs are pretty far down on the list of things to worry about third year. Realistically most people get their letters fourth year; at most maybe 1 letter from third year.

That said, your post raises another concern - this is a hospital that isn't used to teaching med students (and no, having residents isn't the same - residents are highly useful and can sometimes make life easier; med students...not so much). I'd be concerned about the quality of teaching and that you might get lost in the mix. I also don't know what the didactic teaching would be like in that environment.

 

[flipasta]

Thanks southernIM,

I'm hoping the learning part won't be as much as an issue. We've been told that Shelf scores have been similar and most of the people I've talked don't regret their internal or surgical experience. My understanding is the attendings and residents are generally receptive to third years, and the experience is a solid one. Hopefully this holds up.

Thanks for the advice.

 

[Waysensei]

This post interests me. I'm a 2nd year also, and am curious to what the "didactic portion" is like during rotations, and what kind of SHELF preparation rotation sites are supposed to provide. I am a student at a new school and most of the rotations are preceptorships, and as a result, the SHELF scores from the 3rd year class have been worrisome.