which letters do i need?

Most programs (at least in the Northeast) only require 3 ortho letters with one from your home chairman. Only a few programs ask for an ortho chief resident letter (e.g. Harvard) or an internal medicine letter (e.g. Tufts).

I got 4 ortho letters, one ortho chief resident letter and a medicine letter. In ERAS, you can designate which letters you send to which programs. For most programs, I just sent my 4 ortho letters unless a non-ortho or chief resident letter was required. Hope this helps.

hey all brand new to this site so i'm sure this has been asked a MILLION times before. I tried to do a search but this is the closest thing that has come up so far.

Currently a 3rd year finishing my first rotation (medicine) and I know for a fact the director loves me. I am dead set on ortho.

Seems from what I'm reading that a medicine letter isn't required for most programs; however, is it desired? and would it be worth it to have one just in case?
I would imagine programs want to see that the candidate is good at not only ortho but also medicine.

Thank you ahead of time.

How did you figure out which programs want something different. On ERAS all the programs I applied to said "up to four" without any other qualifiers. Do I need to go to each program's website to figure out what they want or can I just submit the 4 letters I have? I don't want to be screened out for not following directions.

I would also just like to stress that this is the chief of the medicine dept at a pretty prestigious institution, not just a hospitalist attending

Where do you see that Harvard requires a letter from an ortho chief resident? On their residency application website (), it states "You will need three letters of reference and a letter from the dean of your medical school." Is there additional information elsewhere, or where did you see the chief resident letter requirement?

The chief resident letter used to be a requirement for Harvard, but I believe they have done away with it for this year.

I didn't realize it was a past requirement, but it does appear that this year they are only asking for 3 letters in addition to your Dean's MSPE letter.

Is there a consolidated list of special requirements certain programs have? Searching through 100 poorly designed websites isn't working for me.

Nope - take the four hours or so it takes to browse the sites for all the programs... Its something you should do.

100? Holy crap... why?

hah, I'm just reading through all the programs.


Do you guys think that most programs will switch to night float if that 5-hours-of-uninterupted-sleep rule comes into effect?

Where did you hear about that rule, I haven't heard anything about that?

I'd have to agree that you should take the time to read through the application part of the website for the programs you are applying to. It is time consuming and less than stimulating, but it is really worth it if you are truly set on getting into ortho. Investing a few hours here is really not that big of a deal, and it sure beats not matching.

Most programs do the standard three to four letters thing, but make sure you go to their website or call their office if the website is unclear. In general those are expected to be three letters from orthopaedic surgeons with whom you have worked. If there is an attending outside orthopaedics who knows you very well and can give you a great letter of recomendation you should weigh that in. However, I'd make sure from each program's website or by calling them that they don't specifically state "from orthopaedic surgeons" before you throw that letter in there. Also, you don't have to send the same letters to every program. You can get 10 letters of rec if you want from phsychiatry to OB/GYN and designate which letters go to each program. Just make sure you at least have the letters they specifically state they want. I'd say to error on the side of ortho attendings since that shows you've spent enough time with ortho to know you really do want to go into it. Ortho attendings have a much better idea of wether you'll make a good orthopod than internal medicine attendings, and they can express that better to fellow orthopods in a letter.

As far as the 5 hours of uninterupted sleep stuff, it's just a proposal at this point. I don't know much about it, but from what I've heard it is at the early stages at best and will likely not become a policy at all. Current changes in the healthcare system may prevent departments from giving up anymore cheap labor from residents as they start watching their reimbursements diminish. It's hard enough for many programs just to meet the 80 work week.

Agree with the previous poster that I would only send Ortho letters, even if your medicine attending is well-known and gives you a glowing letter. Unfortunately, I think the letters often only end up being as good as the name at the bottom. Of course this is not true of everyone, but is true of some, but if the name on the letter is someone they know, it will do you some good, and they are more likely to know the name if it's in Ortho.

rwbrhp29