LOR: Clinical Instructor vs. Assistant Professor

[ModernAlchemist]

Hello SDN! Been a long time since I've signed in, but I have a conundrum.

I am in the process of getting letters of rec squared away and I just found out that one of my letter writers has the title of "clinical instructor". I thought that this person was an assistant professor. I rotated for a month with this person as part of my clerkships and they got to know me pretty well.

I am wondering if anyone has insight into if this will negatively impact my chances of matching to the best program I can. Thoughts?

Thanks in advance!

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[gutonc]

If your choice is this person or nobody, this person.

This person vs someone with a more advanced academic standing that you barely worked with or who you didn't get along with? This person.

This person vs someone with a more advanced academic standing that you also closely worked with? The other one.

The title is nice but not a huge deal.

 

[Law2Doc]

Many places start people out as instructor for the first attending year before giving them a longer appointment. But the catch is that many fellows also carry the title of "instructor" as well, so there may be some confusion as to whether this person is still in training or done. The further along their career progression an attending is the more clout they will have. As gutonc said, this would still count, but you might get more mileage from someone slightly more senior if they also know you well.

 

[ModernAlchemist]

Thank you for your responses. That's what I thought the answer might be. This is the preceptor that knows me best out of anyone I worked with in 3rd year. I have a couple other letters from full professors and just wanted to see how this one would fit into my app. Thank you both again for the advice.