Not enough LoRs before the ERAS deadline

[narutouzumaki12]

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Hello,
I am a fourth year medical student. I will be applying to family medicine residencies this upcoming cycle. How mandatory is it that I have 3 letters of recommendation before the October 21 deadline? Currently, I only have one letter from a family physician, and I am still waiting for my other attendings, who haven't replied back to my emails. By the deadline, I might be able to pull in 2 LoRs and maybe more afterwards, but of course before ranking. With the pandemic, I lost my early rotations this year and my next rotation is to begin around early September, 2020. How will programs view this? Will they still consider my applications. What do you think?

Thank you.

 

[narutouzumaki12]

Would it be possible for you to get other letters from non-FM attendings you've worked with previously if that's not what you were already planning on doing? Peds, IM, and OB are great for obvious reasons, but other specialties are okay too.

Thank you for your quick reply. Yeah, it's my non-FM attendings from my third year rotations, whom I am still waiting to hear back from. I guess they have been busy with the COVID in the hospital.

On a side note, can I still ask for a letter from an IM physician, whom I shadowed in an ICU, before applying to medical school? would the letter still count? I still keep in touch with the attending and I think he knows me well.

 

[studentxx8800]

Thank you for your quick reply. Yeah, it's my non-FM attendings from my third year rotations, whom I am still waiting to hear back from. I guess they have been busy with the COVID in the hospital.

On a side note, can I still ask for a letter from an IM physician, whom I shadowed in an ICU, before applying to medical school? would the letter still count? I still keep in touch with the attending and I think he knows me well.

Nah that won’t work. Letter should be a person that can comment on your clinical skills and your performance as a med student not how pleasant you were shadowing him as a pre med

 

[narutouzumaki12]

Nah that won’t work. Letter should be a person that can comment on your clinical skills and your performance as a med student not how pleasant you were shadowing him as a pre med

Got it. That makes sense.
Thank you.

 

[Dr Tapatio]

Hello,
I am a fourth year medical student. I will be applying to family medicine residencies this upcoming cycle. How mandatory is it that I have 3 letters of recommendation before the October 21 deadline? Currently, I only have one letter from a family physician, and I am still waiting for my other attendings, who haven't replied back to my emails. By the deadline, I might be able to pull in 2 LoRs and maybe more afterwards, but of course before ranking. With the pandemic, I lost my early rotations this year and my next rotation is to begin around early September, 2020. How will programs view this? Will they still consider my applications. What do you think?

Thank you.

One of your letters has to be the chair of Family Medicine from your school, so you should have 2 by now. Get a third letter from literally anyone (except that idea of a shadowing doctor from premed) including a preclinical advisor or professor that got to know your work ethic. Is it ideal? No, but it's better to be complete on day 1

 

[narutouzumaki12]

One of your letters has to be the chair of Family Medicine from your school, so you should have 2 by now. Get a third letter from literally anyone (except that idea of a shadowing doctor from premed) including a preclinical advisor or professor that got to know your work ethic. Is it ideal? No, but it's better to be complete on day 1

That's a great idea! Thanks a lot for that Dr. Tapatio. I'll speak with my school asap.

 

[Dr Tapatio]

Do you need a chair letter for FM? I never heard that, I didn't have one and neither did my classmates now in FM that I know of. Obviously n=1 and could be a regional thing. But OP, this is a great suggestion for another possible letter.

I thought so? That's what my school told me, and that's one of the letters that I had

 

[Sardonix]

One of your letters has to be the chair of Family Medicine from your school, so you should have 2 by now. Get a third letter from literally anyone (except that idea of a shadowing doctor from premed) including a preclinical advisor or professor that got to know your work ethic. Is it ideal? No, but it's better to be complete on day 1

This was not true as of last year in my experience.

 

[Dr Tapatio]

This was not true as of last year in my experience.

Good to know. I'll keep that in mind