Do most psych residency programs require two psych lors? I currently have one psych. letter. I won't be able to schedule another psych elective in time to acquire a psych. lor so should I try to volunteer or do an observorship while doing my rotation? Or should I be more concerned about getting a good lor from medicine, family med. or surgery? Thanks.
need psych lor
- Thread starter harmnot
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You definitely want at least one that's very good. If you can't get more than 1, I wouldn't sweat it, unless you have reason to believe that 1 isn't a good LOR. In fact I don't remember a requirement that you HAD TO HAVE 1 psychiatry LOR though you should for obvious reasons.
Having 2, well if you can great, but I don't see why you'd have to have 2 if you have 1 good psyche LOR.
I don't think I'd want to see more than 2, and I'd be happy with 1 good LOR from psychiatry. Reason why is there's so much more to psychiatry than just psychiatry. A good LOR from an IM or FM doctor shows broad interests and can imply good medical knowledge outside of psychiatry which is helpful in the field.
One of the applicants that most impressed me during my stint as Chief (and I know he frequents this forum) had extensive experience in surgery & research. The fact that he had done so much in that field, could've easily gone into it and was making a switch made me think, "if this guy did this much, and he's sure wants to go into psychiatry, and does half as much in psychiatry-he'll be at least good." The fact that he had so much surgical & medical knowledge made me think he was going to be one of those psychiatrists that actually kept on top of their medicine which is a needed thing.
The only times where I was turned off by a candidate in this type of situation is if there was clear indications they were ambivalent about psychiatry. E.g. I had a few applicants who didn't even mention an interest in psychiatry in their personal statement, or seem to show any during the interview. I also had a few who applied to several fields, but presented themselves as not having much passion for any, or using psychiatry as a safety.
I certainly don't mind a resident who loves psychiatry & another field, in fact to me that's a good sign. Where are our future CL & reproductive psychiatrists that have a strong interest in medicine or ob-gyn in addition to psychiatry? However I did mind an applicant who clearly was applying for psychiatry as a safety, and didn't show any interest in it.
Having 2, well if you can great, but I don't see why you'd have to have 2 if you have 1 good psyche LOR.
I don't think I'd want to see more than 2, and I'd be happy with 1 good LOR from psychiatry. Reason why is there's so much more to psychiatry than just psychiatry. A good LOR from an IM or FM doctor shows broad interests and can imply good medical knowledge outside of psychiatry which is helpful in the field.
One of the applicants that most impressed me during my stint as Chief (and I know he frequents this forum) had extensive experience in surgery & research. The fact that he had done so much in that field, could've easily gone into it and was making a switch made me think, "if this guy did this much, and he's sure wants to go into psychiatry, and does half as much in psychiatry-he'll be at least good." The fact that he had so much surgical & medical knowledge made me think he was going to be one of those psychiatrists that actually kept on top of their medicine which is a needed thing.
The only times where I was turned off by a candidate in this type of situation is if there was clear indications they were ambivalent about psychiatry. E.g. I had a few applicants who didn't even mention an interest in psychiatry in their personal statement, or seem to show any during the interview. I also had a few who applied to several fields, but presented themselves as not having much passion for any, or using psychiatry as a safety.
I certainly don't mind a resident who loves psychiatry & another field, in fact to me that's a good sign. Where are our future CL & reproductive psychiatrists that have a strong interest in medicine or ob-gyn in addition to psychiatry? However I did mind an applicant who clearly was applying for psychiatry as a safety, and didn't show any interest in it.
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