Lor

[IM05]

I need an opinion on this : for the 2005 IM residency I am getting ready gradually and want to know if a LOR last year would look outdated in the sense is it better to get the same people to give another letter with and updated date. will appreciate your comments .

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[dharmabum7]

as long as the letter is from someone you worked with on the wards it will still be valuable...the date itself doesn't matter...a good letter is a good letter...

the only reason i would ask for an updated letter if you wanted to them to include something new about you in the letter that wasn't there when you first asked for the letter....

good luck with applying...definately try to get letters early since a lot of writers take a while...

-dharma

 

[lf777]

If the letter is good, comes from somebody that is well-known, and it was written during your medical school, I don't see a reason not to use it.

good luck
lf

 

[souljah1]

This may sound silly, but how do you know if someone is well known at other programs? I know of many Professors of Medicine are are very well known here, but it is hard to say just how well known they have become at other institutions.

 

[irlandesa]

This may sound silly, but how do you know if someone is well known at other programs? I know of many Professors of Medicine are are very well known here, but it is hard to say just how well known they have become at other institutions.

exactly, the whole "well-known" thing is very relative and probably BS unless you are applying in a very competitive specialty. Not to say it will hurt you to have a letter from someone with a strong national reputation (in fact, quite the opposite), but in reality very few people do. I do know that a letter from someone who went to med school at the programs you are applying to or from someone who is a graduate of a residency program of interest, can be quite helpful. So if you are interested in BID (just an example of one program up here), it would be a good idea to see if you can get a letter from someone who graduated from their program and/or is on the Hah-vahd faculty; they don't have to be world famous. Ditto with any other school.