LOR advice

[VALSALVA]

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Hi,

I'd really appreciate some advice from those of you who have either completed an EM residency or are currently in one.

First, I'm an osteopathic student. I'm going to participate in the Allopathic Match in hopes of matching into EM. My question has to do with which letters of recommendations to use. I'm confident that my three strongest letters from my third year are from the following:

1. One from a D.O. OB/GYN who serves as a PD for a strong osteopathic OB/GYN program and happens to be the current president of the state osteopathic OB/GYN association, in which he resides.

2. The second is also from a D.O. general/plastic surgeon who currently serves as the state osteopathic medical assocation president, in which he resides. It's a big state, too, by the way...lot's of D.O.'s for that position.

3. The third is from an M.D. family practitioner who is great young practitioner, but does not have the prestige of the above clinicians.

Most programs require three letters - one of which must be from your EM rotation(s). So that leaves room for two more. If I were entering the osteopathic match, there would be no question in my mind as to which two to submit. Ultimately, the question I'm asking is whether I'd be better off submitting the M.D.'s letter because I'm entering the M.D. match?

Which of the above two would you choose to submit?

Thanks!

 

[Seaglass]

3 EM letters. Seriously. I think that even with great non-em letters they count SO MUCH less than EM letters that you should strive for as many great EM letters as possible. 3 letters from the same program are OK if that's what it takes. Discuss.

 

[EctopicFetus]

Agreed.. My app had 3 EM letters and one IM letter. I rotated at 2 programs and used 2 LORs from 1 and 1 LOR from the other.

 

[EctopicFetus]

Oh.. and I know my IM letter (My advisor saw it) was solid but I only recieved comments during my interviews on my EM LORs. My IM letter was never mentioned. Just a thought..

 

[Jimmy1]

I am in a bit of a stickty situation concerning LOR. I am doing an EM rotation at my school in August, but we don't have an EM residency program. I am also doing an away rotation in late Oct/early Nov, but that is too late to get LOR.
Should I just get letters from the emergency folks at my school, even though it's not a residency program?!

 

[VALSALVA]

Wow! Okay...thanks for the advice! I hadn't even considered more than one letter from one program. I guess that's why I asked...I'm glad I did so.

Thanks again,

VAL

...further comments are super-duper welcome!

 

[kungfufishing]

The other letters are good "extra" letters but are not ones you should count on. Rotate through one or two residency associated EDs. Get SLORS.

 

[bartleby]

As the first two letters are from people who have likely written many letters before, they would probably be more helpful. New attendings, particularly in community practice tend to write letters which are very pleasant and kind, but do not use the right buzzwords or couch things in the right perspective. I can say you're pleasant, dependable and smart. But to the residency people reading your letter, that means nothing as those things are baseline expectations. Saying that someone is a "sure match" or that you functioned at the level of an intern while still an MS3, or that "I would be pleased to have this person as a resident in my program" are all more meanful praise which would be less obvious points to address.

Of #1 and #2, pick the writer who hopefully knows you personally at least a bit and could write something more individual about you and whose rotation you did better in.

Hi,

Which of the above two would you choose to submit?

Thanks!

 

[ispic]

Hi,

I was just recently at the SAEM med student symposium in SF and that question came up, unfortunately, it wasted my chances with one of my letters from a surgery attending. The main point was that (3) letters from academic EM faculty are what the PD's are looking for nowadays. Hope this helps.