LOR Question

[blondemed]

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I'm applying to categorical IM, so far I have a department letter from the chair of medicine, a LOR from my psychiatry attending since I honored in the clerkship and am considering having two heme/onc doctors I worked with write a dual letter. The reason I had considered a dual letter was that I did primarily research with the one physician, and that a combined letter would best reflect both my clinical and research experiences.

Now I find out that some programs request a minimum of 3 letters in addition to a departmental letter. My sub-I isn't till the fall and am not sure if I will get a letter (got stuck at a smaller hospital where the attendings don't round with the medical teams, yeah sucks I know).

So for now, I am considering having the heme/onc doctors actually write separate letters so I can least meet the minimum of 3. Will this look odd?

 

[Dr.LeoSpaceman]

I'm applying to categorical IM, so far I have a department letter from the chair of medicine, a LOR from my psychiatry attending since I honored in the clerkship and am considering having two heme/onc doctors I worked with write a dual letter. The reason I had considered a dual letter was that I did primarily research with the one physician, and that a combined letter would best reflect both my clinical and research experiences.

Now I find out that some programs request a minimum of 3 letters in addition to a departmental letter. My sub-I isn't till the fall and am not sure if I will get a letter (got stuck at a smaller hospital where the attendings don't round with the medical teams, yeah sucks I know). I've racked my brain about other people who could possibly write a LOR, attendings during my 3rd year medicine clerkship weren't very interested in medical students or mentoring. The same goes for some of the IM electives I took.

So for now, I am considering having the heme/onc doctors actually write separate letters so I can least meet the minimum of 3. Will this look odd?

Yes, have them write separate letters. To be honest, I'm not sure why this wasn't your initial strategy. Just a guess, but unless you had a good reason for it (like joint PIs in a lab), I think having a joint letter would seem a bit unorthodox.

 

[atsai3]

I'm applying to categorical IM, so far I have a department letter from the chair of medicine, a LOR from my psychiatry attending since I honored in the clerkship and am considering having two heme/onc doctors I worked with write a dual letter. The reason I had considered a dual letter was that I did primarily research with the one physician, and that a combined letter would best reflect both my clinical and research experiences.

Now I find out that some programs request a minimum of 3 letters in addition to a departmental letter. My sub-I isn't till the fall and am not sure if I will get a letter (got stuck at a smaller hospital where the attendings don't round with the medical teams, yeah sucks I know). I've racked my brain about other people who could possibly write a LOR, attendings during my 3rd year medicine clerkship weren't very interested in medical students or mentoring. The same goes for some of the IM electives I took.

So for now, I am considering having the heme/onc doctors actually write separate letters so I can least meet the minimum of 3. Will this look odd?

The only thing that would look odd about it (i.e., separate letters) would be if both attendings commented on the same experiences. In that case, the 2nd letter wouldn't really add much information (from the perspective of the residency application reviewer).

I have seen a few joint letters. I don't really think they are weird or unorthodox, but I more or less just assume that the junior person (e.g., the Assistant or Associate Professor) actually wrote the letter and the senior person (e.g., the Department Chair) just signed it.

-AT.