Strong letter of rec but for a different specialty!!

[Chocolateagar04]

---

Members do not see this ad.

So I am applying to neurology but I only recently decided. Most of my letters are written generally and don't specify a specialty. One of my letters specifically says I am applying for Internal Medicine or that Ill make a good internist. This letter is really good and it comes from a prestigous place! Should I still use this letter?

 

[jcu]

If it's an explicit recommendation for Internal Medicine, ERAS will (or should) actually contact you and let you know. And as great as the letter is, I would rethink your strategy here.

 

[alwaysaangel]

If it's an explicit recommendation for Internal Medicine, ERAS will (or should) actually contact you and let you know. And as great as the letter is, I would rethink your strategy here.

....I've never heard of them doing this.

ERAS doesn't check your letters. Your school is supposed to - but apparently they didn't check it.

I have several classmates who had the wrong name or specialty on letters last year. They didn't find out until they were interviewing.

 

[jcu]

Woops, sorry I did mean school not ERAS.

 

[LMarie_MD2b]

I don't know the exact rules on this, but if you have a strong letter, maybe you could ask the author to change the specialty listed in the letter and submit a new document. (Hopefully he/she don't feel strongly about your ability to be a good neurologist rather than an internist!!)

I don't know if, at this stage in the game that would be possible, given the letter has likely been both finalized and assigned to programs already.

 

[turkeyjerky]

....I've never heard of them doing this.

ERAS doesn't check your letters. Your school is supposed to - but apparently they didn't check it.

I have several classmates who had the wrong name or specialty on letters last year. They didn't find out until they were interviewing.

Wow, that would suck--whether or not it affected their app, it would just suck to be told that at an interview.

To the OP, why don't you just email the letter writer and ask them to change it for you. That's not really an outlandish request, you know.

 

[Chocolateagar04]

Hey, because its just so late in the game now. I was thinking wouldn't an internal medicine letter though be good for neurology too? I could just explain that at the time I did want to do IM?

Thanks for the help.

 

[Chocolateagar04]

The main reason I wanted to use it is because its a good letter from a TOP 5 institution from a professor of medicine. That is something very rare for an osteopathic student like myself.

DOes this stuff really matter?

 

[peppy]

The main reason I wanted to use it is because its a good letter from a TOP 5 institution from a professor of medicine. That is something very rare for an osteopathic student like myself.

DOes this stuff really matter?

I would really recommend trying to contact the writer and asking if there is any chance that the specialty name could be changed.
A lot of programs want to see evidence that you are sincerely interested in their specialty. It could look very bad if a program interpreted the letter as evidence that you're really interested in IM and just applying to neuro as a backup.

 

[GuzzyRon]

It's not that late in the game. MSPEs haven't even been released yet. Some programs even have January and February interviews. If your transcript is tight and your steps are good, schools will take a look at you and may offer interviews with incomplete # of LORs (1 or 2).

In my opinion, ask the letter writer to do you the favor of changing the speciality otherwise don't use the letter at all. The problem with using it is that you may never get a chance to explain yourself at all. Some program will reject you right away. You're a defection risk. And when you're given a chance to explain yourself, the conversation is going to be very awkward. They're not gonna trust that you won't jump the neurology ship just like you did the IM.

Hey, because its just so late in the game now. I was thinking wouldn't an internal medicine letter though be good for neurology too? I could just explain that at the time I did want to do IM?

Thanks for the help.