Unreasonable PI writes negative recommendation letter

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I wouldn't want to risk having a letter you know will be negative in my application. Either include the research and skip the letter or leave both off.

Alternatively, I'd there's any chance you can get back into good graces with him before you need the letter, do that.
 
Biochemist3412 said:
Also, some med schools insist that they receive a recommendation from every lab worked in (like Harvard, Stanford, etc) - so I would either omit or include the research experience+rec from my app altogether.
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This is only really an issue for MD/PhD applicants as far as I know. n = 1 but I applied with multiple research experiences, only included a letter from one, and interviewed at both schools you mentioned. So you can definitely include it in your activities without including a letter.
 
perkelmo said:
This is only really an issue for MD/PhD applicants as far as I know. n = 1 but I applied with multiple research experiences, only included a letter from one, and interviewed at both schools you mentioned. So you can definitely include it in your activities without including a letter.
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I agree w/ the above. Include the research and leave off the PI letter. Thank God he told you he'd write a negative letter so you're not blindsided. I was an oldie applying to MD/PhD and a few of my college PI's had retired by the time I applied and I didn't have any issues interviewing at some of those top schools.

You have other people who can write strong letters - don't shoot yourself in the foot over something like this.
 
Biochemist3412 said:
Thanks, guys, my only fear is that not having the letter raises a red flag, or appears unusual - especially if I still keep the research experience on my app. I wish I could ask an adcom if this was a red flag or if I could justify it somehow and not tarnish my app.
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If you have the surgical PI letter plus 2 science and 1 non-science faculty letter, schools would rather not get more LORs unless it adds something new. I don’t think they have the time to question it and you were just there for 7 months anyways as opposed to multiple years.
 
Biochemist3412 said:
Thanks, guys, my only fear is that not having the letter raises a red flag, or appears unusual - especially if I still keep the research experience on my app. I wish I could ask an adcom if this was a red flag or if I could justify it somehow and not tarnish my app.
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When I get an app from someone with significant research but no PI letter, I generally assume the PI didn't want to see their precious baby workhorse escape their clutches and go to medical school. Research is often a cutthroat business, and sometimes the biggest jerks are the ones who pull ahead (and stay continuously funded).

If the rest of the LORs are positive and consistent then leaving this one out should cause you no discernible harm.
 
Biochemist3412 said:
Thanks, guys, my only fear is that not having the letter raises a red flag, or appears unusual - especially if I still keep the research experience on my app. I wish I could ask an adcom if this was a red flag or if I could justify it somehow and not tarnish my app.
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The red flag is a negative letter. I think it logical to say that the absence of a negative letter is the absence of a red flag. I agree, few people are going to care, and if they do care, don't apply to that school who thinks that all PI's are without any character flaws and are extremely good judges of character and professionalism.

I won't take sides with this question but I will ask: so what exactly does he mean by you having a problematic behavior pattern? What did you do to try to address this complaint, or did this just pop up without any notice or opportunity for correction?
 
Biochemist3412 said:
I am meeting with him on zoom next week, am going to be straight up and ask if he'd be willing to write a wholly positive rec, and if not that I can't include his rec or my lab experience in his lab in my apps. He is a PhD on many PhD panels, he surely knows that a negative rec tanks the chances of competitive applicants.
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If you're applying this cycle you still have a little time to win him back. Worth a try before being so blunt.
 
Mr.Smile12 said:
The red flag is a negative letter. I think it logical to say that the absence of a negative letter is the absence of a red flag. I agree, few people are going to care, and if they do care, don't apply to that school who thinks that all PI's are without any character flaws and are extremely good judges of character and professionalism.

I won't take sides with this question but I will ask: so what exactly does he mean by you having a problematic behavior pattern? What did you do to try to address this complaint, or did this just pop up without any notice or opportunity for correction?
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Yes, a bad LOR is a red flag, but no, it is not logical to say that the absence of something that is otherwise expected is the absence of a red flag. Hence, the query. 🙂 At a school like Harvard, if someone does a search and finds OP's pub, the absence of a LOR from the PI will indeed be a red flag.

True, this represents a lot of "ifs," but the concern is not misplaced and this could definitely be an issue at a school like Harvard. That said, OP is in a box and has no choice. Personally, I think he should list the research and the pub so that he gets credit for all the work he did, and so it doesn't look like he is hiding anything, and, of course, absolutely not get the letter. If it hurts at one or two schools, so be it. It's not going to destroy the cycle.
 
Biochemist3412 said:
That's true! I'll ask if there's any additional work I can do... in hopes that I can gain his enthusiasm for my medical school apps. But again I no longer work in his lab, so I don't know what much there is to do. He isn't very sympathetic, very scientifically robotic - he is very direct (and slightly socially unaware) in most interactions he's had with me and ones I've watched him have with others. That's why I think it might be a lost cause but you're right I won't be as blunt right off the bat.
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I wouldn't bother. You don't need it, and you'll never be able to 100% trust the letter regardless. You have more than enough research experience and productivity without it.
 
KnightDoc said:
I wouldn't bother. You don't need it, and you'll never be able to 100% trust the letter regardless. You have more than enough research experience and productivity without it.
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Thanks, worst case I omit it and hope the other research is enough
 
Biochemist3412 said:
@Med Ed Do you ussually assume a lacking PI letter is due to the PI and not the student? Is this in most cases, even when pubs are involved? When schools ask for all PI letters and don't see that I submitted one (especially from a lab where I first authored a paper), I feel like they'll wonder why the mentor who oversaw my first-authored pub wasn't included on the recommendation list. I am curious to know if you disagree with this logic.
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Look, relationships are sometimes messy. We've been around, we get that. Could some adcom at some med school you apply to decide to grab this bone and run with it? Sure. But odds are most won't notice or care. Besides, your only other option is to include a letter you know is problematic, which is a non-starter.
 
Okay, a few points:

1) I had one PI who I believed didn't like me. She ended up giving me an excellent recommendation to my current job that led to them hiring me on the spot at my interview. Yours seems a little more straightforward, but they also seem to be the type of person that you can approach and ask honestly if they're willing to write you a STRONG LoR. If you're determined to include an LoR from them, you can also ask what you could do differently and show that you're making an effort to implement their suggestions?

2) I applied to several T20s and did not have to include an LoR from every lab I worked in. I definitely didn't include a few because, even though I really liked the PIs, they weren't the most recent and relevant to my application. None of the schools I applied to cared...at all. Currently at Mayo, so it wasn't an issue for them either! I checked the Stanford and Harvard websites and there's really nothing about requiring a letter from every PI you've worked for. I honestly wouldn't sweat it. You need to put reference info if you include it as an activity, but you don't need a letter of recommendation necessarily.
 
As others have said, never include a letter that you know will be bad. The adage "better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and to remove all doubt" applies here. Even if just one or two lines in the LOR are questionable, these will be picked up by reviewers and insert unneeded doubt about your character / ability to work with others.

Also, the LOR from your Surgical PI should be more than sufficient for most schools (except the ones that explicitly ask for LORs from all PIs). After all, this is the PI who you have worked with longer and had a more impressive record with! Just my thoughts.
 
You are under no obligation to list every work/activity you've ever engaged in on the application. (This isn't a government security clearance application.) If you don't list something, no one will fault you for not having a corresponding letter.
Biochemist3412 said:
1 - I will definitely be straightforward as a last ditch effort.

2 - A few schools do say they want all PI recs. Example is from Harvard's site: "We should receive letters from all research supervisors for applicants to the MD-PhD program as well as applicants to the MD program. Applicants may exceed the six (6)-letter maximum if the additional letters are from research supervisors."

Letters of Evaluation

All letters of evaluation must be submitted to AMCAS. Applicants are allowed up to six (6) letters of recommendation in support of their application, but a minimum of three individual letters of recommendation or a committee letter are required. When considering the total number of letters to...
meded.hms.harvard.edu meded.hms.harvard.edu

Maybe it is a soft requirement?
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Biochemist3412 said:
2 - A few schools do say they want all PI recs. Example is from Harvard's site: "We should receive letters from all research supervisors for applicants to the MD-PhD program as well as applicants to the MD program. Applicants may exceed the six (6)-letter maximum if the additional letters are from research supervisors."

Letters of Evaluation

All letters of evaluation must be submitted to AMCAS. Applicants are allowed up to six (6) letters of recommendation in support of their application, but a minimum of three individual letters of recommendation or a committee letter are required. When considering the total number of letters to...
meded.hms.harvard.edu meded.hms.harvard.edu

Maybe it is a soft requirement?
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Ope, I missed that. Sorry. Blame the med school brain fog. Maybe? Nowhere I applied seemed to care! That's such a weird request.
 
Keep in mind that some premed committees will drop bad letters from the packet or at least warn applicants. Don’t have firsthand experience with this but I’m pretty sure it happens at my school.
 
Biochemist3412 said:
When did you apply?
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Literally last cycle lol. I didn't apply to Harvard/Stanford, but I did apply to Mayo/Michigan/Brown/Darty/Emory and other reasonably high-ranked research-y places.

Edited bc my brain is working slowly tonight lol.
I think that you've been with him for such a long time that it would be a shame to omit it completely from your app. Since you have time, maybe go with your plan of being blunt with him and asking "hey, you know I'm applying to med school. This lab and your mentorship have been an important part of my journey to med school, and for this reason, it would be an honor for me to include a letter of recommendation from you in my med school application. I understand that you've had some qualms about my performance, so I wanted to take this opportunity to seek feedback on how I can improve?" Or something like that? Just spitballing
 
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damn dude you got enough pubs to get into any competitive residency you want let a lone med school
 
Biochemist3412 said:
Thanks, guys, my only fear is that not having the letter raises a red flag, or appears unusual - especially if I still keep the research experience on my app. I wish I could ask an adcom if this was a red flag or if I could justify it somehow and not tarnish my app.
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Come back to reality please. A bad LOR will be lethal.

No amount of explaining will overcome that, either.
 
Biochemist3412 said:
Pub won't be out till the end of the cycle probably, we are sending for peer review next month. Does this make you think it's better to just not mention the experience? Since the adcoms won't search my name and find the pub in the app cycle.
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Maybe. Depends on how you feel about receiving credit for the work. If you are willing to let it go, you're not under any obligation to disclose and you're right, there will be nothing to search.
 
LizzyM said:
You are under no obligation to list every work/activity you've ever engaged in on the application. (This isn't a government security clearance application.) If you don't list something, no one will fault you for not having a corresponding letter.
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What about Harvard, where they are explicitly asking for it? Isn't omitting it for them analogous to omitting an unreported IA on AMCAS?
 
KnightDoc said:
What about Harvard, where they are explicitly asking for it? Isn't omitting it for them analogous to omitting an unreported IA on AMCAS?
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There are 15 spots on AMCAS, maybe it doesn’t make the cut. The letter requirement is really only there for listed activities. Even then, I remember reading it’s a suggestion. I don’t think this is anything like omitting an IA.
 
Biochemist3412 said:
Yeah I asked him to write a rec for a school scholarship I applied to a couple of weeks ago... the committee reached out to me and told me his rec was negative...
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Don’t even meet with him. If it’s true he cussed you out (as opposed to a lecture about checking product sheets/protocols to avoid wasting reagents), the guy is unpredictable and you’re better off without him. It’s supposed to be a professional environment and it sounds like you were the only one there to help him get anything done? There’s no telling that he wouldn’t just say “yeah I’ll write a positive letter” and then change his mind again.
 
chilly_md said:
There are 15 spots on AMCAS, maybe it doesn’t make the cut. The letter requirement is really only there for listed activities. Even then, I remember reading it’s a suggestion. I don’t think this is anything like omitting an IA.
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It's not about making a cut. AMCAS requires disclosure of all IAs, "even if the action does not appear on, or has been deleted or expunged from, your official transcripts as a consequence of institutional policy or personal petition."

Harvard requires a letter from ALL PIs, not just the ones you had room to fit on your primary, It's got nothing to do with listed activities, and everything to do with wanting feedback from ALL PIs, which is why they waive the limit for only that type of letter.

I don't know what the answer is here, which is why I'd love to get @LizzyM's take on this, but I honestly don't see the difference.
 
KnightDoc said:
It's not about making a cut. AMCAS requires disclosure of all IAs, "even if the action does not appear on, or has been deleted or expunged from, your official transcripts as a consequence of institutional policy or personal petition."

Harvard requires a letter from ALL PIs, not just the ones you had room to fit on your primary, In fact, apparently, "[a]pplicants may exceed the six (6)-letter maximum if the additional letters are from research supervisors."

Exactly what's the difference here?
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I don’t think I need to explain the difference between not reporting a violation that appears on official academic records (and AMCAS is very clear about) vs not talking about a research experience someone had for 7 months.

Since you checked the website, you can see that Harvard also says “While we strongly recommend meeting the criteria listed above, these are not strict requirements. Ultimately, the letters applicants choose to include are up to their own discretion. Applicants should choose the letters of evaluation they believe will best support their application.”
 
chilly_md said:
I don’t think I need to explain the difference between not reporting a violation that appears on official academic records (and AMCAS is very clear about) vs not talking about a research experience someone had for 7 months.

Since you checked the website, you can see that Harvard also says “While we strongly recommend meeting the criteria listed above, these are not strict requirements. Ultimately, the letters applicants choose to include are up to their own discretion. Applicants should choose the letters of evaluation they believe will best support their application.”
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Excellent point! I did not check the website, and was relying on the excerpt OP included above. I believe you found the "Get Out of Jail Free" card here.

Also, for the record, AMCAS requires reporting violations even if they do NOT appear on official academic records. That would be the analogy here if Harvard didn't make it a strong recommendation as opposed to a requirement, and if Harvard didn't clarify that they don't expect you shoot yourself in the foot! 🙂
 
KnightDoc said:
Excellent point! I did not check the website, and was relying on the excerpt OP included above. I believe you found the "Get Out of Jail Free" card here.

Also, for the record, AMCAS requires reporting violations even if they do NOT appear on official academic records. That would be the analogy here if Harvard didn't make it a strong recommendation as opposed to a requirement, and if Harvard didn't clarify that they don't expect you shoot yourself in the foot! 🙂
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Whether or not the IA or other official violation appears on the student’s record, it probably had to do with alcohol, drugs, cheating/plagiarism etc. The specifics of the incident can vary, but schools care as these all are more strongly associated with bad judgement and character considering they are direct policy violations. There is also likely other official documents relating to the incident even if it’s not on a transcript.

The same can’t be said for the Harvard letter suggestion. If someone were to get into the school and they somehow found out one PI did not submit a letter, it could be explained through a variety of ways why it got left out. Including not knowing the PI’s contact information or not hearing from them. Their statement about including the PI letters was phrased as “should”. Usually that’s put as “required” or “must” to avoid any kind of ambiguity if they really wanted it.
 
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Most professors are not malevolent people. If they are going to write a negative or lukewarm letter, they’ll just say no.

That being said, not worth the risk. Don’t craft your application based on what one or two schools requires (unless it’s a state school that accepts high percentage of IS applicants or a linkage program)
 
Biochemist3412 said:
I am meeting with him on zoom next week, am going to be straight up and ask if he'd be willing to write a wholly positive rec, and if not that I can't include his rec or my lab experience in his lab in my apps. He is a PhD on many PhD panels, he surely knows that a negative rec tanks the chances of competitive applicants.
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It is courageous to ask him, but you should include your experience in the application even if you don't get his letter of recommendation. You are not required to have his blessing.

Again, conflict happens, and we recognize there is a power dynamic. That is no excuse to continue working with a toxic supervisor. Millions of people have quit their jobs in the past few months, and I'm sure many have quit for this reason in their own industries. You are volunteering for this faculty member, and you have no reason to stay on if he has mistreated you as you have described.

jobs.sciencecareers.org

How to navigate conflict with your research adviser

We all know mentor-mentee relationships can be tricky. This crucial topic was brought into relief for Jay when he served on a panel that discussed mentorship in July.
jobs.sciencecareers.org jobs.sciencecareers.org
 
KnightDoc said:
It's not about making a cut. AMCAS requires disclosure of all IAs, "even if the action does not appear on, or has been deleted or expunged from, your official transcripts as a consequence of institutional policy or personal petition."

Harvard requires a letter from ALL PIs, not just the ones you had room to fit on your primary, It's got nothing to do with listed activities, and everything to do with wanting feedback from ALL PIs, which is why they waive the limit for only that type of letter.

I don't know what the answer is here, which is why I'd love to get @LizzyM's take on this, but I honestly don't see the difference.
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There is a big difference because institutions have offices regarding student conduct that document and remediate violations. Criminal background checks also exist, and there are studies that show that there may be a link between early problems before training and problems later on in one's professional career; now we can also argue the problems with systemic discrimination also persist but that's another argument outside this thread.

ADDED: No office of undergraduate research has a regulatory role in certifying whether someone did research in a lab as disclosed on an application or whether any misconduct occurred there by the student. We don't ask students about research misconduct issues, and if we do, it should go to the student conduct office.

I knew of a situation where a candidate's PI unexpectedly passed away. That's one reason why the Harvard expectation is unreasonable. It also perpetuates privilege and could possibly reward systemic discrimination and toxic lab management behaviors. Again, another argument outside this thread.
 
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I agree with everyone saying to list the pub/research but not submit a letter. I didn't get a letter from one of my labs and interviewed at Stanford so they don't require it. Also accepted to Hopkins so they definitely don't care. Honestly, I doubt Harvard would reject someone over that either.
 
KnightDoc said:
Yes, a bad LOR is a red flag, but no, it is not logical to say that the absence of something that is otherwise expected is the absence of a red flag. Hence, the query. 🙂 At a school like Harvard, if someone does a search and finds OP's pub, the absence of a LOR from the PI will indeed be a red flag.

True, this represents a lot of "ifs," but the concern is not misplaced and this could definitely be an issue at a school like Harvard. That said, OP is in a box and has no choice. Personally, I think he should list the research and the pub so that he gets credit for all the work he did, and so it doesn't look like he is hiding anything, and, of course, absolutely not get the letter. If it hurts at one or two schools, so be it. It's not going to destroy the cycle.
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We agree on the advice. I just have a hard time imagining anyone investing time to do that type of a look up search for each PI listed and checking whether a letter got submitted. As I said, I've had a dilemma where the PI passed away. No PubMed search that I know of will flag anyone with that news.

Granted if a faculty member on my committee asks me to do it as a gesture, I will do it, but I can't imagine anyone dedicated to do that for thousands of applicants.
 
Mr.Smile12 said:
We agree on the advice. I just have a hard time imagining anyone investing time to do that type of a look up search for each PI listed and checking whether a letter got submitted. As I said, I've had a dilemma where the PI passed away. No PubMed search that I know of will flag anyone with that news.

Granted if a faculty member on my committee asks me to do it as a gesture, I will do it, but I can't imagine anyone dedicated to do that for thousands of applicants.
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what sometimes happens is that someone writes that they were in Dr. G's lab and then someone says, "where's the letter from Dr. G?" Oooh, no letter. They might Google "Dr. G, D... University" and find Dr. G's obituary which answers that question. Or they might make mention of the missing letter in their application review and ask an interviewer to question the applicant about it.

It is rare to see more than 2 entries that mention PIs so when reviewing an applicant who is likely to get an interview based on all other metrics, it isn't a big leap to check to see if Dr. G and Dr. L submitted letters on behalf of the applicant and to raise the point in one's write up.
 
LizzyM said:
what sometimes happens is that someone writes that they were in Dr. G's lab and then someone says, "where's the letter from Dr. G?" Oooh, no letter. They might Google "Dr. G, D... University" and find Dr. G's obituary which answers that question. Or they might make mention of the missing letter in their application review and ask an interviewer to question the applicant about it.

It is rare to see more than 2 entries that mention PIs so when reviewing an applicant who is likely to get an interview based on all other metrics, it isn't a big leap to check to see if Dr. G and Dr. L submitted letters on behalf of the applicant and to raise the point in one's write up.
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I agree... in all likelihood the missing letter will pop up in a conversational interview with the applicant: "Why didn't Dr. G write you a letter?" To me this would be a more likely and appropriate way to discover, "oh, Dr. G passed away..." or "Dr. G was unavailable to write me a letter" (or similar).
 
I was asked in interviews why I did not have a letter from a PI with whom I had done a lot of research. He was terminally ill at the time I applied to medical school, and wasn’t up to writing a letter. Schools understood and I don’t think I was penalized (I was accepted everywhere I interviewed).
 
Mr.Smile12 said:
We agree on the advice. I just have a hard time imagining anyone investing time to do that type of a look up search for each PI listed and checking whether a letter got submitted. As I said, I've had a dilemma where the PI passed away. No PubMed search that I know of will flag anyone with that news.

Granted if a faculty member on my committee asks me to do it as a gesture, I will do it, but I can't imagine anyone dedicated to do that for thousands of applicants.
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Absolutely! And, I didn't read the website, so I missed the part about Harvard saying that it was okay to omit anything the applicant did not find helpful. Before that, I wasn't contemplating an exhaustive PI search. Rather, I thought maybe they would stumble upon the publication on a PubMed search and then wonder why OP didn't submit a LOR from that lab. But it's a non-issue given that Harvard is not requiring a LOR from each PI.
 
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Biochemist3412 said:
Hi everyone,

I am a junior applying to medical schools this upcoming cycle. My goal is to matriculate into a top research medical school. I've worked in one molecular biology lab for 5 months and have contributed to a first author publication, and I have also worked in a surgical lab for 2 years (virtual during when I worked in the other lab) and have contributed to 2 first author experimental publications, 1 first author meta-analysis, 1 first author medical review, and have co-authored on 11 papers total (all of my papers for both labs are currently in review or in-press, first surgical paper is published in April 2022 before app cycle starts).

The molecular lab PI and I have fought a lot - and he recently told me that although he admires my work ethic, that he believes I have a problematic behavior pattern and will be direct about this in his recommendation letter. Me and him just don't get a long, and I truly believe he has an inherently abrasive mentoring style. On the other hand, the surgical lab PI loves me - I have done great work and he thinks I am at the level of many graduate or post-doc students.

My question is this: Should I just omit the molecular lab publication and experience from my med school app and not include his rec? I think this would remove any muddying of the waters that his rec would cause. I am missing out on taking credit for a 5-month research project that led to a 1st author publication, but I am hoping that the 11 papers I'm publishing in the surgical lab more than compensate.

Or should I include the molecular research on the activity section and solicit his rec, and write an optional essay about how I was a novice in the molecular lab and learned a lot, and used it as a learning experience to make sure I correct those mistakes and work better in the surgical lab (which I spent the most time in after working in the molecular lab).

I don't want to introduce doubt in the adcoms minds by including the molecular research experience on my app and not including a PI letter, so I either want to include the molecular research+rec together or omit them altogether. What do you guys suggest?
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You can dump the molecular bio paper and list only the surgery papers.
 
Biochemist3412 said:
if an adcom asks I am going to say that he was difficult to work with
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I do not recommend giving this answer in the unlikely event that this 'missing' LOR is brought up. As a general rule, we rarely look better by talking negatively about others. Just my thoughts.
 
Biochemist3412 said:
Update: I confronted my PI. He said all letters to med school CANNOT be perfect, and if they are wholly positive then they are complete BS. Basically, he told me no undergraduate is perfect so it is completely natural for him to mention my weaknesses in my letter, as he has done for every undergraduate he has written letters for in the past. He mentioned that he wrote in the letter I was in the "top 10%" of all undergraduate students, and that I have exceptional potential for a research career, but that he also mentions that I took too many responsibilities (the three part time jobs outside the lab I needed to pay for bills) to completely focus at the research at hand and caused me to make mistakes (like leaving the lids of reagents for a couple hours, leaving restriction enzymes on ice for too long, coming into lab 2 hours after I said I would ue to other work obligations, etc).

Definitely not getting a rec from him, I will just mention the pub on my activities, and if an adcom asks I am going to say that he was difficult to work with and didn't support me going to a MD instead of PhD (which he explicitly mentioned today :/ ).

Thanks for all the help y'all.
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Dude, don’t use that PI’s letter and i suggest dumping that pub from AMCAS anyways because you already have a strong research record from your other research experience. Why even bring that topic up when there’s no need to list that molecular bio paper in the first place?

Your PI is a jerk but criticizing anyone in interviews is a very bad idea
 
Biochemist3412 said:
Update: I confronted my PI. He said all letters to med school CANNOT be perfect, and if they are wholly positive then they are complete BS. Basically, he told me no undergraduate is perfect so it is completely natural for him to mention my weaknesses in my letter, as he has done for every undergraduate he has written letters for in the past. He mentioned that he wrote in the letter I was in the "top 10%" of all undergraduate students, and that I have exceptional potential for a research career, but that he also mentions that I took too many responsibilities (the three part time jobs outside the lab I needed to pay for bills) to completely focus at the research at hand and caused me to make mistakes (like leaving the lids of reagents for a couple hours, leaving restriction enzymes on ice for too long, coming into lab 2 hours after I said I would ue to other work obligations, etc).

Definitely not getting a rec from him, I will just mention the pub on my activities, and if an adcom asks I am going to say that he was difficult to work with and didn't support me going to a MD instead of PhD (which he explicitly mentioned today :/ ).

Thanks for all the help y'all.
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I guess he can be the gatekeeper that picks who deserves to go to medical school or graduate school. We can see that attitude a galaxy away. Nevertheless, who knows what faculty members will take his letter seriously.
 
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