LoR question

[MedAnes2017]

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ERAS is already submitted, and as LoR get uploaded, I can assign them to programs. I have 2 questions though.

I have 5 LoR from: (I haven't seen the letter, but this is what I expect based on how well the faculties know me)

Psych - Very strong
Medicine - strong
Anesthesia #1 - strong
Anesthesia #2 - strong
Anesthesia chair - Generic

For anesthesia programs, I've been hearing mixed opinions from different people. Some say to use 2 anesthesia and 2 from other specialties (Chair + 1 anesthesia + psych + medicine) to show that you are well rounded. Some say to use 3 anesthesia (Chair + 2 anesthesia + psych OR medicine) because people won't care about non-anesthesia letters. Since I've been getting mixed opinions, I wanted to see what you guys think. Which combination of letters should I use?

Also, for medicine prelim, is Anesthesia chair letter required? Since the chair letter is probably the weakest in terms of content, I was thinking about sending psych, medicine, and 2 anesthesia letters, but again, I've heard from some people that prelim programs still want the ANESTHESIA chair letter... Could anyone verify this?

Thank you in advance guys!

 

[AdmiralChz]

If you have a very strong letter, by all means you should use it because it can address intangibles like work ethic and teamwork ability. I would probably use the 2 anesthesia letters as well.

As for the chair, I understand your dilemma. Unlike IM or other specialties, I don't think a chair letter is absolutely required but name recognition can play a role. Probably a good idea to include it, but you don't have to.