Psych letter of recc for Ophtho application?

[agedwhitecheddar]

For letters when applying to SFMatch, would PDs look unfavorably if my third letter outside of two from Ophtho, was from a psychiatry attending? I know the general consensus is to get it from a IM or Surg attending

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[agedwhitecheddar]

bump

 

[watermelon master]

I don't know man but at least I will say it's better than no letter of recommendation

 

[831929]

Ophtho is a small field. I would recommend trying to get all ophtho letters. Psych is completely different from ophtho so having a letter from someone who went through psych training might not reflect the things you want for an ophtho resident. If you cannot get an ophtho letter maybe look for a surgical specialty letter.

This is just an opinion. I'm just an M3 but this is how I would imagine faculty think about it.

 

[FindMeOnTheLinks]

I didn’t apply ophtho so take this with a grain of salt. Get to know another ophtho attending who can write you a letter. You have ~9 months to do so. If you can’t get a 3rd letter at your home institution, do an away rotation. In my opinion, if somebody can’t form a professional relationship with 3 faculty in order to get letters in the field, I would wonder why they couldn’t get enough letters and must conclude they must a) not be very interested in the field, b) not be on top of their ****, or c) be difficult to work with.

If you are applying to a small field like ophtho, you should be getting to know people in your home department. This is your RESIDENCY application - do it once, do it right. Put in the effort to get that 3rd letter so you won’t have any regrets later.

 

[Bronze Medal]

Having a third letter from a non-ophthalmology attending was essentially a requirement when I applied 4 years ago. I believe the SF match application used to request two ophthalmology letters and one letter from one of your required third year rotations. My third letter came from a pediatrician. If the psychiatrist knows you well and can write you a strong letter then I say go for it.

In the future, you'll have better luck getting knowledgable answers regarding ophthalmology if you post on the ophthalmology forum. Good luck!

 

[agedwhitecheddar]

thanks all for your responses. My only question would be, how do you go about building relationships with faculty in the department other than doing research with them. Unlike other fields we don't have a long clinical exposure to Ophtho until your Sub-I and since letters need to have input on your clinical performance, what's the best way to 'get to know faculty'?

Just going on days off from other rotations and shadowing?