Weighing letters of recommendation (Ortho MD vs LoR quality)

By Guest on Sunday, 25 September 2011

Posted in Match Center

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Hello all (and especially Dr. Levine - your input would be greatly appreciated),

Much thanks in advance. I've scoured these forums as much as possible for information regarding LoR and I still feel like I don't quite have the answer I'm looking for yet.

I have 5 LoR. They are as follows:
-Ortho chair/program director from home [will use this of course]
-Ortho attending from very prominent program (away rotation) [will use this one too]
-Ortho hand/micro chief from home [most likely a "good" LoR, but unsure if just how enthusiastic it will be due to short time spent together]
-Plastics chief from home, surgery clerkship director, assistant dean of student affairs [will be hugely supportive]
-Cardiology director of electrophysiology from home, fairly well-known in his field [will be hugely supportive]

Originally I planned to use my 4 strongest letters: ortho chair, ortho away, plastics, and cardio. However, I'm unsure how most programs would weigh a good ortho vs a great cardio LoR. If ortho is heavily preferred, I would use my three ortho letters + plastics, and drop cardio.

I am aware that some schools require a non-ortho or occasionally non-surgical LoR. However, assuming that there are no such requirements for a given program, what would you recommend? Thanks again!

To add to that question; what schools do require a non-ortho or even a non-surgical letter? I was told some places did, but in looking at the program requirements of the 50+ schools I applied to, I didn't see any that did.

Guest

14 years ago

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#57587

Just remember, he may be well known in his field, but he will not be known in the orthopedic field. In this process, it can be about who knows who. I would go with all ortho letters whenever possible.

Guest

14 years ago

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#57588

Just remember, he may be well known in his field, but he will not be known in the orthopedic field. In this process, it can be about who knows who. I would go with all ortho letters whenever possible.

Thank you very much for your input... I see your point.

Any other opinions are very much welcomed!

To add to that question; what schools do require a non-ortho or even a non-surgical letter? I was told some places did, but in looking at the program requirements of the 50+ schools I applied to, I didn't see any that did.

See the links below... of course verify that the info is current.
http://goo.gl/fVs0Z
http://goo.gl/9Ps21

Guest

14 years ago

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#57589

If you come from a school that simply doesn't have orthopaedic exposure then you will have to rely on your strongest advocates which will obviously not be colleagues from orthopaedic surgery. That being said, for everyone else it is probably better to have as many ortho letters as possible. Remember that most programs do not ask for more than 3 letters so in the example provided there's no reason at all to go down your list to Plastics or Cardiology.

While you want your biggest advocates to write on your behalf I'm not sure if a cardiologist who noone really knows is going to best help your cause as much as your Chief of Hand Surgery.

Good luck --

wnl

Guest

14 years ago

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#57590

If you come from a school that simply doesn't have orthopaedic exposure then you will have to rely on your strongest advocates which will obviously not be colleagues from orthopaedic surgery. That being said, for everyone else it is probably better to have as many ortho letters as possible. Remember that most programs do not ask for more than 3 letters so in the example provided there's no reason at all to go down your list to Plastics or Cardiology.

While you want your biggest advocates to write on your behalf I'm not sure if a cardiologist who noone really knows is going to best help your cause as much as your Chief of Hand Surgery.

Good luck --

wnl

Thanks again for your input! Sounds like the decision should be clear. Much appreciated.

Guest

14 years ago

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#57591