number of LORS

[Conjuctiva]

so i have 4 spots... should i put 3 ob/gyn and 1 other LOR?

also, for California, i'm an IMG, 1 spot is PTAL... other 3 should be ob/gyn or 2 ob/gyn and 1 "general"
??

thanks!

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[HumbleMD]

so i have 4 spots... should i put 3 ob/gyn and 1 other LOR?

also, for California, i'm an IMG, 1 spot is PTAL... other 3 should be ob/gyn or 2 ob/gyn and 1 "general"
??

thanks!

There are a lot of school specifics. Some schools say "2-3," "3," whereas some say at least 3. From what I've gleaned, if you have 3 letters, at least 2 from OB-GYN faculty, it will cover you everywhere. Some (Michigan, Hopkins) require a letter from the OBGYN chairperson at your medical school.

After talking with my program coordinator, I ended up sending 4 letters to all schools. My OBGYN chair letter, 2 letters from OBGYN faculty, and 1 letter from my Medicine sub-internship attending (it seems a good idea to have a non-obgyn letter in there).

Note the the required MSPE/Dean's letter is not counted in these 4.

Can't help you on the IMG stuff (though why would you only be an IMG in California?), and I have no clue what PTAL stands for.

 

[LoveSparkle]

I submitted 4 letters, 3 were from obgyn, and 1 was from another primary care field. I don't think its necessary to have 3 obgyn letters, but i think at least 2 separate LORS in the field you want to go into would be good!

 

[FutureDoc734]

Completely agree with the two statements above - I am submitting the chairman's letter, another letter from an Ob-Gyn, and another two (one from a surgery rotation and one from a medicine rotation).

Hope this helps!

 

[wannabeOBGYN]

I have a similar question: if a program lists a number for LORs on their site (e.g., "3"), does that mean they want exactly 3, for example, or is that just a minimum? Thanks.

 

[HumbleMD]

I have a similar question: if a program lists a number for LORs on their site (e.g., "3"), does that mean they want exactly 3, for example, or is that just a minimum? Thanks.

My dean's office, chairwoman, and program coordinator at Penn seemed to infer that it was a minimum. I thought I'd folllow all the different program recs, but ended up submitting 4 letters to everyone regardless.