Recommendation Letters

[balladevil]

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I dont know if that has been addressed before so please direct me to old posts if it has... but I will be applying to ophthalmology next year and wanted to know of the 3 recommendation letters we can use for CAS, did anyone get all three from ophthalmology attendings or did you do a split of 2 ophthalmology letters and 1 from FM, Surgery, Medicine, etc.... Also, if you guys did the 2/1 split, what is the best rotation to grab that 1 non-ophtho letter from? Thanks for the help!

 

[eyesonme]

I did two ophtho (one from our chairman) and one from gen surg.

I'd say for your non ophtho letter, have it be from a general surgeon (or specialty) or a internal medicine doc, whoever will write you a good letter. If you can't find one of those, any other doctor will do but I think those are the key core rotations that people are looking for.

For your letters, definitely have them be from your academic institution or another one and NOT from a private doc.

Choose people who will write you GREAT letters. A great letter from an assistant professor is better than a tepid or mediocre letter from a full professor. In a sea of Step 1 230s, 240s, and 250s, these will help you stand out.

Also, spend a good deal of time on your personal statement. Unlike medical school, they only have a few hundred of these applications to go through per program, not a few thousand, so they will be read and you will be asked about them on your interviews.

Good luck and it's great that you're thinking about it early! Do as much research between now and then as possible!

I dont know if that has been addressed before so please direct me to old posts if it has... but I will be applying to ophthalmology next year and wanted to know of the 3 recommendation letters we can use for CAS, did anyone get all three from ophthalmology attendings or did you do a split of 2 ophthalmology letters and 1 from FM, Surgery, Medicine, etc.... Also, if you guys did the 2/1 split, what is the best rotation to grab that 1 non-ophtho letter from? Thanks for the help!

 

[CastroViejo]

i think most recommend 2 ophtho, 1 non-ophtho. probably the best for that one would be medicine or surgery, but could be really anyone who knows you pretty well.

 

[Visionary]

I agree that two ophtho letters are probably best, though not required. I've heard some preference for a letter from your home department's chairman, though depending on how well you can get to know him/her in medical school, the letter may or may not actually be that beneficial. The third could also be ophtho, but one from a "primary care" field, like medicine or general surgery, would round it out. My third was actually from my dissertation advisor, since I had academic aspirations.

As has been stated above, the key is to try and get good letters. By "good," I mean they should have a personal, rather than a generic form letter, feel. Those will tend to be from people with which you have had a lot of contact. For that reason, medicine and general surgery are strong third options. By the time you apply, you likely have had a lot more face time with certain attendings in those fields through your clinical rotations than with the ophtho attendings. They will thus be able to comment more thoroughly on your clinical judgement and patient care.

 

[VikingFavre]

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[EeyeEeyeO]

i also went against the grain...i got 2 ophtho and 1 non-ophtho, research person with whom i did no rotations with at all. my main reason was due to the way my rotations were split. I did ~2 weeks with each attending during my medicine months, and none felt extremely comfortable enough to write a strong letter. My research person, however, felt like he was comfortable writing a strong letter of recommedation.

so yes, go with strong letters, even if they are against the grain!

 

[vivitastic]

I agree with all that's been said. The most important thing is to make sure you get really strong letters. I would say at least 2 ophtho letters is probably a must. A third non-ophtho letter would make your app more well-rounded, but having your third as an ophtho letter is not necessarily detrimental either. I ended up with 3 ophtho letters, but that's because I felt all 3 would be really strong.

It's also nice to keep in mind if your letter writers have any connections... I've been told on multiple occasions that interviewers regard more highly a letter from someone that they know or have met.

On a side note, it's still important to make sure you can get good letters of rec from non-ophtho people for your PGY1 application.

 

[Mirror Form]

Choose people who will write you GREAT letters. A great letter from an assistant professor is better than a tepid or mediocre letter from a full professor. In a sea of Step 1 230s, 240s, and 250s, these will help you stand out.

This can be variable. A good letter from a "big name" may impress many program directors much more than a great letter from someone they've never heard of. One PD even told me that he doesn't bother reading rec letters unless he's knows of the person who wrote it. That's a very extreme example, but if you have the ability to get a decent letter from a big name do it.

Way back when I was interviewing for ophtho, many of of my interviewers talked to me about the one letter I had from a big name ophthalmologist. Nobody ever mentioned either of my other two letters (at least during interviews).

 

[alesdu1]

It isn't entirely obvious to me how to best secure a very strong letter. When I was in college for example applying to medical schools, my letter writers had known me for years and I think knew me extremely well. I had done research with them, taken their classes, they had helped me with national scholarships, etc.

What was the contact time that most of you had for your ophtho letters for residency? Just your rotation? Research (how many months if so?) Extracurric shadowing? Any other suggestions for how a medical student can secure great letters? Thanks so much...