Letters of Reference for the US Match

[Pollicis]

Hi,

I'm looking to apply for the 2008 match. My question is how useful / useless are letters of reference from Canada when applying for programs in the States? Lets say pretty high level letters from program directors at large Canadian universities like Toronto or McGill.

Thanks for your help.

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[eastcoastyall]

Just an educated guess, but I would say that they are not going to be helpful at all. I would imagine that you would maximize your chances of matching in the states with letters from people in the states.

 

[sponch]

McGill is very well known and senior attendings there are just as influential as ones from the US. I would however, recommend doing some aways and getting letters from US programs as well just to round out your application. These days, away rotations are becoming more and more of something you've got to do even if you're US medical student.

 

[Pollicis]

Hi thanks for your replies. My plan is to do 1 elective in Canada and 1 in the USA. Thus, I will likely get 1, or very optimistically 2 letters from each country. I hear the magic number is 3 letters from the USA if you want to apply there, but my situation is more like 1 letter from USA, 1 from Canada, and one from my school abroad (I'm an IMG).

Thoughts? Help

 

[Winged Scapula]

I agree with sponch....Canadian schools are LCME approved and both Toronto and McGill are well regarded, with many US faculty also having trained at one or the other. The typical advice to only supply LORs from US faculty really doesn't apply to Canadian schools as the standards are the same as in the US and it would be expected that a LOR from here would be familiar with the requirements. Although if you are doing a US elective, at least one letter from a US surgeon would be desirable.