LOR question

[switchfoot]

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Is it better to have the non-ophtho LOR from a certain specialty such as medicine or surgery? Would it be detrimental to have that letter from psych or peds?

 

[Andrew_Doan]

Is it better to have the non-ophtho LOR from a certain specialty such as medicine or surgery? Would it be detrimental to have that letter from psych or peds?

Your non-ophtho LOR is stronger from medicine or surgery IF you did well on the rotation.

My non-ophtho LOR was was from peds and I did okay with it.

 

[xaelia]

Only one non-ophtho letter? I wasn't anticipating having more ophtho letters than the one from the chair of our ophtho department, and multiple non-ophtho ones....

 

[rubensan]

this is how most people advised me:

1 LOR from ophtho
1 LOR from medicine (ok to substitute peds if you must)
1 LOR form surgery (ok to substitute OB/GYN if you must)
your 4th LOR, which can be submitted after your ophtho application should be from an ophthalmologist

as you can see, dr. doan did things a tad differently and matched at a great residency program. there are no set rules for these things. i think the most important thing is to make sure your LORs (ophtho and non-ophtho) are STRONG

Only one non-ophtho letter? I wasn't anticipating having more ophtho letters than the one from the chair of our ophtho department, and multiple non-ophtho ones....

 

[switchfoot]

Only one non-ophtho letter? I wasn't anticipating having more ophtho letters than the one from the chair of our ophtho department, and multiple non-ophtho ones....

The only stipulation the application gives is, "it is recommended that one letter come from a core rotation at your medical school". I'm just kinda taking that to mean the other two can be ophtho.? But, as Rubensan said, this is not absolutely necessary, but possible.

I like Rubensan's "well rounded and strong" approach.

 

[splice]

The only stipulation the application gives is, "it is recommended that one letter come from a core rotation at your medical school". I'm just kinda taking that to mean the other two can be ophtho.? But, as Rubensan said, this is not absolutely necessary, but possible.

I like Rubensan's "well rounded and strong" approach.

Dr. Sanchez hit the nail on the head in that the most important thing is that the letters are very strong, regardless of from whom they come. I also used a pediatrics as my "core rotation" letter because it was one of the only core clinical rotations in which I formed a strong relationship with my attending rather than just the residents. My other letters were from ophtho, my research PI, and a late 4th letter from an away rotation in ophtho.
Your letter writers ideally should be people who know you personally, I think this is always better than the common practice of asking a department head who has never seen you to write a letter based only on resident feedback and your final grade.

 

[OphthalmicPilot]

Good letters are the most important. A weak or non-commital letter from the high priests of ophthalmology is bad. Once you get together a list of possible names, then you can pick the well known ophthalmologists, unknown ophthalmologists, well respected specialties, then Rodney Dangerfield type specialties. Big names from outside ophthalmology are often unknown to ophthalmologists.

The well respected specialties include ENT, surgery, derm, plastics, and other surgical specialties, etc. ER, OBGYN, radiology are probably in the middle. The ones with little respect include medicine (to some extent and particularly those with no medicine sub-specialty), family practice, psychiatry, path (unless they are ophthalmic path), etc. It's not my fault that some fields get no respect.

 

[rubensan]

The well respected specialties include ENT, surgery, derm, plastics, and other surgical specialties, etc. ER, OBGYN, radiology are probably in the middle. The ones with little respect include medicine (to some extent and particularly those with no medicine sub-specialty), family practice, psychiatry, path (unless they are ophthalmic path), etc. It's not my fault that some fields get no respect.

i agree with some but not all of the above post. i think a strong LOR from medicine carries a lot of weight. ophthalmology is both a medical and surgical field (incidently, i believe neuro-ophthalmology and retina are more closely related to internal medicine than any other surgical subspecialty). demonstrating that you can do well in a core rotation such as internal medicine means that you read a lot, can apply that knowledge to clinical situations and work really hard (all traits that ophtho people look for). dept chairs and program directors are most interested in choosing top medical students. how do they do this? by evaluating how you did on core rotations, particularly gsurg, internal medicine, peds and obgyn. these are the rotations, that at most schools factor in to things like AOA and class rank. of course you need to get a great ophtho LOR. but also remember, to be a good specialist, you need to know how to be a good generalist. that's why you go to medical school and do an internship before starting an ophthalmology residency rather than going straight into ophthalmology fresh out of college, right? in my opinion, i think program directors and dept chairs would rather read strong LORs from core rotations (IM, peds, Gsurg and obgyn) than from highly specialized fields such as dermatology, radiology and ENT. remember, everyone is going to have an ophtho letter that states that they will make an excellent ophthalmologist. i think additional LORs that state that you would have made an excellent general surgeon, internist or pediatrician if given the chance will set you apart from the pack! good luck!

 

[cdql]

Rubensan makes a good point!

I've heard from PD's that sometimes, they may actually give more weight to a LOR that isn't from their field. Their thinking is that if you really want to do opthal, then there is no way you would goof around during your opthal rotation.

By viewing LOR's from your other rotations, they get a better sense of what kind of person you really are and what kind of work ethic/helpfulness/teamwork you can provide as a physician in their residency program.

 

[xaelia]

Our Dean of Education, who is also an ophthalmologist, did mention that, when reviewing residency applications, he appreciates clinical honors in clerkships besides Surgery and Medicine. His theory was that it means something when a student continues to impress, even outside his/her area of interest, or outside rotations that are generally considered "important."

 

[rubensan]

so the moral of the story is: work hard, do well, give each rotation 110% whether it be gsurg or psych and strong LORs will be yours for the choosing. i think that many people who have matched in competitive fields found themselves in positions where attendings were offering to write them LORs after most rotations. 👍

Our Dean of Education, who is also an ophthalmologist, did mention that, when reviewing residency applications, he appreciates clinical honors in clerkships besides Surgery and Medicine. His theory was that it means something when a student continues to impress, even outside his/her area of interest, or outside rotations that are generally considered "important."

 

[switchfoot]

thanks everyone