LOR question

[weanprednisone]

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[eteshoe]

I'm starting to think about LORs.

I have a mentor that works at my top Med school diversity department that does research. I was hoping to receive a LOR from him, I spent a summer researching. He was recently fired/resigned (not sure) from his position because his co-workers (boss above him) didn't like the way he interacts with students (too transparent about the research program). Which I don't really get...

Is it worth it to ask him for this LOR? I can predict that he would be someone to just sign-off at the end of a LOR I write. Risky? or not? What's your opinion?


Also, I understand that what matters is if the letter writer knows you well. Can someone debunk that PhD & MD>MEd&MPH... when it comes to LORs. Do Adcoms really care about what is behind the name, or the LOR content?
Thanks in advance.

Those are all very different types of degrees and shouldn't be lumped together like that. It would be akin to comparing oranges to basketballs to throwing knives to pizza.

Also I wouldn't ask that guy for a LOR.

 

[thatwouldbeanarchy]

PhD & MD>MEd&MPH

I've never heard this. I was always under the impression that a letter writer's degree isn't really important (as long as they're a faculty member, not a grad student / your work supervisor, not your coworker, etc.).

I wouldn't ask that guy for a LOR either. You likely don't know all the details surrounding his leaving the school and it could be risky to associate yourself with him. If you really need/want a letter from him, at the very least, I wouldn't send it to the school he was fired/resigned from. But keep in mind that academia is a small world.

 

[weanprednisone]

Thanks @thatwouldbeanarchy @eteshoe