Lor

[Repdsesstuinas]

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I know that the general rule is that it is best to get letters from an ENT. If I knew I could get an outstanding LOR from the clerkship director of IM that would really be a great LOR is it still better to get all three letters from ENT?

 

[ZagDoc]

General rule, more ENT letters, the better. Practically, most programs take 3-4 LORs. You should make sure 3 of those are from otolaryngologists. The fourth is a toss up. If you think said letter would give a strong and unique perspective on you, you could probably throw it in.

 

[resxn]

The best letter I got was not from my ENT chair or any other famous ENT, it came from the chair of the department of surgery who was a respected vascular surgeon. His letter said simply, "The best way I can express my thoughts on Resxn as a future ENT is to say that I am tremendously disappointed he decided not to be a vascular surgeon" or something close to that--can't quite remember now.

Sometimes your best letters aren't the longest nor from the most famous ENT you know.

 

[OtoHNS]

You can also consider asking for more letters than you actually need. A lot of Dean's offices will look over your lors and let you know which ones are the best to send with your application. (Probably ask your Dean's office first about this). I agree that a truly glowing and eloquent letter from a non-ENT can certainly help you, but in general ENT letters are better than non-ENT letters.

The best letter I got was not from my ENT chair or any other famous ENT, it came from the chair of the department of surgery who was a respected vascular surgeon. His letter said simply, "The best way I can express my thoughts on Resxn as a future ENT is to say that I am tremendously disappointed he decided not to be a vascular surgeon" or something close to that--can't quite remember now.

Sometimes your best letters aren't the longest nor from the most famous ENT you know.

 

[nacholibre]

I keep hearing "if you do get a letter outside of ENT, it should be from a surgical specialty" What do you all think about an LoR from an interventional cardiologist, I'm asking because he wrote me by far the best evaluation I got all of 3rd year it was the kind of eval that you go back to read a few times because it makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside :smile:

And all of the programs on ERAS have spots for 4 LoRs. For some reason I have had it in my head that we needed 3 letters. Do we really need 4?

 

[neutropeniaboy]

I read all letters of recommendation.

There are some very good ones from physicians who are not otolaryngologists; sometimes the otolaryngology letters downright suck compared to these

I weigh ENT letters more heavily, however, because they say something about your ability to be an ENT resident. The others assess you in a broader scale, which is good as well.

So, I would get at least three ENT letters and support them with others if you can.

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[nacholibre]

I will have one solid letter from my chair whose name will def be well known across the country, I have researched with him for 2 years (unless he secretly hates me).

But as far as the other ones go. I was really not thinking about the need to develop other relationships in the field and now I have only my Sub-I to get to know attendings and at my school we only spend 1 week on 4 different services and in that one week we work with a few attendings.

Attendings, is this common? Are you able to assess a student that quickly?

I've considered meeting with a couple of docs before I rotate with them to review my application and to point blank ask them what they would expect to see from me in the coming week to merit a good letter so that they are aware and will maybe pay a little more attention to how I perform. What do ya'll think?

 

[resxn]

I will have one solid letter from my chair whose name will def be well known across the country, I have researched with him for 2 years (unless he secretly hates me).

But as far as the other ones go. I was really not thinking about the need to develop other relationships in the field and now I have only my Sub-I to get to know attendings and at my school we only spend 1 week on 4 different services and in that one week we work with a few attendings.

Attendings, is this common? Are you able to assess a student that quickly?

I've considered meeting with a couple of docs before I rotate with them to review my application and to point blank ask them what they would expect to see from me in the coming week to merit a good letter so that they are aware and will maybe pay a little more attention to how I perform. What do ya'll think?

9/10 I can spend 1/2 day in clinic and a 1/2 day in the OR and know exactly how well a student will end up as a resident. It's scary easy to see a winner and a loser with that little amount of time. The hard ones to predict are the ones that are right on the borderline, but not quite there. The harder ones to judge are the ones that have great personalities but the cognitive skills aren't there. You really want those students but there's a lot of hesitation that they won't ever "get there."

It's easy to know who's a loser, who's a brown noser, who's lazy, who's a BS'er, etc. It's also easy to differentiate those from the hard workers, the genuine ones, the smart ones. It's really hard to fake who you really are and do it effectively to someone who's seen scores of students come through.

 

[neutropeniaboy]

^^This.

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