Three recommendation letters, all psychiatrists?

[JoseyCali123]

What are your thoughts on submitting recommendation letters for residency from only psychiatrists?

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[TankTuck]

2-3 letters from psychiatrists, 1-2 from other, probably IM, FM or neuro (peds is good if you are interested in CAP).

 

[FlowRate]

The thought comes to mind "could this person not convince anyone outside of the specialty to write them a decent rec letter?"

 

[MacDonaldTriad]

I think who writes letters is best determined by who knows you the best and not so dependent on what specialty. Letters that clearly indicate that the writer knows the applicant as a person trumps even chairman of psychiatry letters if the chairman is formulaic and uninformative. I think it would be bad to not have a letter from psychiatry, but after that I'm not very picky.

 

[pbdoctor1]

It is a toss up and the match is random unless you got family with close ties or deep pockets. There have been recommendations letters from chairs of less prestigious alma matters where applicants were still rejected. Quality letters and if you can swing it an influential phone call would be the best recommendations.

 

[Oedipa Maas]

Related - any thoughts on my PI writing a letter? He has known me the longest and could attest to my work-ethic. My one hang-up is that he has supervised me in basic science research, and has not seen me in a clinical context.

 

[Stagg737]

Related - any thoughts on my PI writing a letter? He has known me the longest and could attest to my work-ethic. My one hang-up is that he has supervised me in basic science research, and has not seen me in a clinical context.

I would think this would be a good thing as it shows you can thrive in multiple settings. Also, I don't think there are any programs that say a maximum of 3 letters, so 3 LORs from rotations + PI seems like a solid lineup to me.

 

[Celexa]

Related - any thoughts on my PI writing a letter? He has known me the longest and could attest to my work-ethic. My one hang-up is that he has supervised me in basic science research, and has not seen me in a clinical context.

If you are applying to residencies where you expect to keep doing research probably a great (or necessary) idea. Might make places that don't have lots of research wonder why you included that, though. IIRC ERAS let's you send letters to some residencies and not others which is helpful.

 

[NickNaylor]

I would agree with others that it would be ideal to get a letter from a non-psychiatric specialty. I would have the same concern as @FlowRate if all I saw were psychiatric letters.

 

[TexasPhysician]

Related - any thoughts on my PI writing a letter? He has known me the longest and could attest to my work-ethic. My one hang-up is that he has supervised me in basic science research, and has not seen me in a clinical context.

You would need to be selective on where you send that letter. Programs with minimal research may think interviewing is a waste of time as you’ll likely choose a research place.