Letters of Rec

[drgas]

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Hi all,

How many letters of rec from Anesthesiology faculty do most programs require? Thanks!

 

[NaeBlis]

Most require none from aneshesia faculty, i suppose because some people take their AI late, and apply early. However i think most applicants have at least 1, the rest can be from anyone IM, or any core rotation. I actually had none from anesthesia faculty, buti would recomend at least one.

 

[Skylizard]

Originally posted by drgas
...How many letters of rec from Anesthesiology faculty do most programs require?...

I can't speak to anesthesia. However, in general when talking to PD's, they have told me they like strong letters from attendings in different fields (i.e. surgery, IM, OB/Gyn, etc...). Their reasoning was that if the attending strongly recommends you then you more then likely took your education seriously even in the fields you do not intend to practice...i.e. IM, etc... There is a common sense out there that attendings try to recruit to their own field and some may be over generous in their evaluation and less objective. So, letters from an IM attending saying you are great go far to support what the other recommendation writers say and clear any doubt that you might have only had a good month in anesthesia.

 

[DRNickiTay]

I have heard LOR should be 2 from fourth year and 1 from third year! Is this what everyone else has heard? THXS

 

[emdoc21]

You can use whatever letters you want, it's most important that they be the best they can be rather than from specific rotations or years. It definitely is a plus to have strong letters from attendings in fields you aren't going into. Also, letters from attendings who know you well are generally better because they don't just regurgitate your CV. PD's expect you to shine on the rotation for the field you are going into. They want to know that you have some exposure to anesthesia, so you really should get a letter from an anesthesiologist. Most programs want 3 letters, but ERAS lets you submit 4 to each program.
I used an anesthesia letter from an attending who knew me well, an anesthesia chairman's letter (not required but I used it because I worked with the chairman and he was well known in the field) one from peds (3rd year) and IM (3rd year). I got a lot of good feedback on interviews about my letters. A good letter from a surgeon is always well regarded.