Whoops. Didn't include the Chair's letter in ERAS... How to fix?

[awesomesauce_factory]

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[AdmiralChz]

If you are getting interviews without it, you probably have nothing to worry about. I never saw much value in them since few applicants have actually had significant interaction with an IM chair. Then again, I'm not in IM so I can't comment.

I'd say you are fine. Definitely do not bring a hard copy - letters of rec are preferably confidential and free of influence from the applicant (when we get unwaived letters through ERAS at our program it raises eyebrows).

 

[awesomesauce_factory]

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[mybubbles627]

Do you have a chair letter? Have you already sent 4 letters to each school? If you have a chair letter and didn't already send the max just add it to all your programs. If you already sent 4 letters to all the programs you can't add it.

Clearly you are getting invites without it but it is possible some schools may screen you out for not following directions of having a medicine chair letter when applying for internal medicine.

 

[awesomesauce_factory]

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[NotAProgDirector]

I wouldn't worry about it.

The "Chairs letter" is a misnomer. If done well, it has nothing to do with the chair. It is a mini-dean's letter that talks only about your IM experiences in detail. So it usually has your grades in your clerkship, plus any electives / SubI / 4th year medicine rotations, along with some sense of how well you've done compared with everyone else going into medicine. So whether you worked with the chair or not is meaningless, it's usually written by the clerkship director, or by a small group that writes all the letters and standardizes them. The useless/bad chair's letters are the ones actually written by the chair that say "I've never worked with this person, but they seem kinda nice".

 

[awesomesauce_factory]

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[NotAProgDirector]

I would forget about it. Any program that really cares will ask you about it, and then you can address it then. If someone does ask, then have the letter writer / school email it to the program. The letter should not touch your hands in any way.

 

[gutonc]

Agree with aPD that the Chair's Letter in IM is basically a mini-MSPE with IM-specific info in it. I had a 1h sit-down with my chair before he wrote it so that he could get to know me. This was true for everyone at my school going into IM. But it wasn't an amazing LOR, and I'm sure I would have matched just fine without it.

Bottom line: if you still have available LOR spots, go ahead and assign it. Otherwise, forget about it unless asked and then request your school send it directly to the programs that requested it.

For those outside of IM, I can't comment directly, but I suspect the advice for IM is not that far off for other specialties.

 

[awesomesauce_factory]

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[AdmiralChz]

Everyone has told you to NOT bring a hard copy. If someone did that at our program it would be incredibly sketchy. Everything is electronic these days. So let it go

 

[awesomesauce_factory]

AdmiralChz, that's exactly what I just said - that I didn't realize how sketchy it would look, so I won't do it