Non-neurology rec letters

[Rogue Synapse]

Hi neuro crowd, sorry for the med student question. I have multiple great rec letters from neurologists, but have somehow found myself without letters from anyone else. I could easily get a letter from a Psych attending with whom I recently worked well. It's been a full year since I did medicine - I did OK in the rotation, but being a new M3 at the time, I completely forgot to ask for a letter. I'm sure my attendings have long since forgotten me.

Will a lack of a medicine letter hurt me in applying to neurology? Isn't it pretty much required to get a medicine prelim? And is it extremely poor form, even for categorical programs, to only have letters from neurologists? Any suggestions appreciated.

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[bustbones26]

Hi neuro crowd, sorry for the med student question. I have multiple great rec letters from neurologists, but have somehow found myself without letters from anyone else. I could easily get a letter from a Psych attending with whom I recently worked well. It's been a full year since I did medicine - I did OK in the rotation, but being a new M3 at the time, I completely forgot to ask for a letter. I'm sure my attendings have long since forgotten me.

Will a lack of a medicine letter hurt me in applying to neurology? Isn't it pretty much required to get a medicine prelim? And is it extremely poor form, even for categorical programs, to only have letters from neurologists? Any suggestions appreciated.

I am not sure what the right answer to you question would be but to partially answer it, no! What would be in poor form is to have three letters from orthopaedic surgeons talking about how you showed great interest in ortho and demonstrated excellent surgical skills (I have seen it happen). Go with what you have for now.