Questions about letters of recommendation for ENT residency

[hewmanoid]

Hey all. I have some specific questions about letters of rec for the ENT residency application, and I wonder if there are people out there who can give me some answers on these:

1) The ENT department at my school has two separate departmental chair and residency program director. Do I need to get letters of rec from both of them? Or does it suffice to get a letter from the residency director only?

2) I'm also thinking about getting a letter from my school's surgery chair. He's pretty well known nationally, and do you think his letter would offer me any boost even though he's a general surgeon? (Given that I honored my surgery rotation and I know the guy somewhat..)


Thanks in advance for sharing your insight!

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[OtoHNS]

Your department has 2 chairs? That's weird. You have to get a letter from your chairman. I would recommend that you get all your letters from ENTs unless you are MD/PhD in which case you should get one from your dissertation advisor. The ENT world is small and people know people. If attendings at other programs know your letter writers, those letters are going to carry more weight.

 

[neutropeniaboy]

Your department has 2 chairs? That's weird. You have to get a letter from your chairman. I would recommend that you get all your letters from ENTs unless you are MD/PhD in which case you should get one from your dissertation advisor. The ENT world is small and people know people. If attendings at other programs know your letter writers, those letters are going to carry more weight.

I agree with this.

Unless the person outside ENT is Sanjay Gupta or Ben Carson, don't bother with it. It won't be weighed as heavily as ENT letters.

Be careful about who writes your letter. People feel compelled to have chairs write their letters. Your home department chair absolutely must do so; anything less would be considered odd by a review committee. On away rotations, if you spend time with the chair, then get the letter. But you must weigh the time and quality of time you spend with the chair. Many a letter I have read from chairs that consist of a paragraph of impersonal review and recitation of the applicants grades and board scores -- not very insightful.

Make sure the person writing your letter knows you well enough to do so. It does not hurt to ask that person if s/he feels s/he has gotten to know you well enough to write a quality letter of recommendation. There are skillful and tactful ways of asking an attending to write you a letter, but only if it will be a good letter.

 

[resxn]

Hey all. I have some specific questions about letters of rec for the ENT residency application, and I wonder if there are people out there who can give me some answers on these:

1) The ENT department at my school has two separate departmental chair and residency program director. Do I need to get letters of rec from both of them? Or does it suffice to get a letter from the residency director only?

2) I'm also thinking about getting a letter from my school's surgery chair. He's pretty well known nationally, and do you think his letter would offer me any boost even though he's a general surgeon? (Given that I honored my surgery rotation and I know the guy somewhat..)


Thanks in advance for sharing your insight!

A well-selected non-ENT highly respected person's letter can carry some weight. The best letter of rec I got came from a vascular surgeon/chair of dept of surgery/chair of my med school admissions. I got more compliments during my interviews on this the shortest of all my letters than any of the other well-written ENT Chair letters I received. His simply said,

"Of course you can read of his accomplishments and numbers, but I cannot provide a more profound recommendation for resxn than to say I am deeply disappointed he decided to pursue a career in otolaryngology rather than join me in general or vascular surgery."

 

[neutropeniaboy]

His simply said,

"Of course you can read of his accomplishments and numbers, but I cannot provide a more profound recommendation for resxn than to say I am deeply disappointed he decided to pursue a career in otolaryngology rather than join me in general or vascular surgery."

That's not too shabby...That just means your letters from the oto guys were even more phenomenal.