Which recommendation letter to use?

[ChessMaster3000]

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Needed some quick advice on which letter is better to use for residency applications. For both letters, I only worked with the faculty for one week (not ideal, but the best I had to work with).

Letter 1: Chief of a subspecialty division within the Department of Internal Medicine. He is big in his field nationally (also the field in which I would like to apply for fellowship), and is perhaps one of the most accomplished academicians I have every met. I worked with him on a consult elective (no inpatient service, we just see consults all day), and had a good week. On the flip side--it's a consult service so there is NO observation of direct patient care.

Letter 2: One week from my sub-I. I already have a sub-I letter from a different attending (worked with her for 2 weeks), so I don't feel I absolutely need this sub-I letter. However, at the same time this could potentially be a better letter because I am sure it will discuss much more regarding my patient care skills, et cetera. This attending, while still relatively accomplished (maybe about 12 years out of residency), does not have nearly as robust a pedigree as the other attending.

I am at a loss because I know everyone on SDN says to use the letter of the person that knows you better. I worked with both attendings the same amount of time. I could argue that the Letter #2 writer knows me a little better because it was from a sub-I not just a regular elective. At the same time, none of my other letters are from "really impressive" attendings and I think that Letter #1 could be pretty good as well (that attending is pretty much the nicest person I have met in medicine).

Any advice much appreciated! thanks

 

[operaman]

Both. Just get both.

Then, after both letters are in, ask your dean's office which of two tends to write better letters (wink wink).

Or just send both if you have space -- I think we can send up to four per program.

 

[ChessMaster3000]

Both. Just get both.

Then, after both letters are in, ask your dean's office which of two tends to write better letters (wink wink).

Or just send both if you have space -- I think we can send up to four per program.

Oh I'm definitely getting both. I can only use one though. I was just wondering if there was something based on what I described that made it seem like one was a better choice than the other. Thanks for your help though.