LOR Questions

[BeastInfection]

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Apologies if these have been asked before, didn't see anything useful by search...

1. I know some common advice in other specialties is that 2 of the 3 LORs be from faculty within your specialty of choice. Does this apply for psych?

2. If the answer to the above is "yes," would someone who was a chief resident when I worked them, but is now an attending be acceptable? If not, then I'm out of options.

3. What's the general recommendation for what to tell letter writers for those who are not 100% set on a specialty? I'm quite confident that I'm going to do psych, and have written my personal statement for psych, but am still considering another specialty what I can't rotate through until August. I'd say I'm 90/10 in terms of confidence. Should I go ahead and tell writers to tailor letters specifically to psych, or keep it general?

Thanks all.

 

[TexasPhysician]

To be on the safe side, I requested 4 faculty for letters in case 1 dragged his/her feet. I ended up with 2 psych, 1 Neuro, and 1 peds letter. I had an interest in child psych which was obvious in my application. As a mini experiment, I used different letter combinations for different programs to see if a certain set was more beneficial. It was a worthless experiment as I received interviews everywhere I applied. I doubt it matters as long as you use at least 1 psych letter.

Faculty turnover exists. If you worked with a faculty during their training as well, I don't think it would be a problem.

If you aren't sure on specialty I'd strongly advise using 3-4 faculty for psych applications, and then request 3-4 other faculty for the other field. You want the letters to clearly demonstrate how you will be an asset in that specific field.

 

[BeastInfection]

To be on the safe side, I requested 4 faculty for letters in case 1 dragged his/her feet. I ended up with 2 psych, 1 Neuro, and 1 peds letter. I had an interest in child psych which was obvious in my application. As a mini experiment, I used different letter combinations for different programs to see if a certain set was more beneficial. It was a worthless experiment as I received interviews everywhere I applied. I doubt it matters as long as you use at least 1 psych letter.

Faculty turnover exists. If you worked with a faculty during their training as well, I don't think it would be a problem.

If you aren't sure on specialty I'd strongly advise using 3-4 faculty for psych applications, and then request 3-4 other faculty for the other field. You want the letters to clearly demonstrate how you will be an asset in that specific field.

Great, thanks for the advice! I'll do that.