Using the same referee for multiple disciplines

[Nikhila]

Hello!

 

Is it bad form to ask/use the same referee for more than one discipline? I simply don't have enough people to write me letters without there being some overlap.

 

I love CaRMS.

 

-N

[explorer]

do referees address all the programs cumulatively or have to write LOR separately for each program to which the candidate is applying?

 

how many LOR are required?

 

similarly is a personal letter to carms sent with each of the programs being applied?

[007]

I had one referee offer to write me letters for whatever specialties I wanted to apply to. In CaRMS there is the option to have a letter written for a particular program at a particular school, a discipline, or a broad/non-specific letter. You get to pick and then send the appropriate forms to the referee. The number of LOR depends on the program - the CaRMS website has this info for each program.

Your personal letters are specific to the program you are applying.

[Lactic Folly]

No, I wouldn't say it's bad form. Many people apply to more than one discipline, so I'm sure this happens frequently. Just make sure your instructions are as clear as possible, help them out with labels, envelopes, letter reference number, etc. However, it would be ideal if such referees weren't from the disciplines that you are applying to (especially one that could be construed as a backup).

[ploughboy]

do referees address all the programs cumulatively or have to write LOR separately for each program to which the candidate is applying?

 

how many LOR are required?

 

similarly is a personal letter to carms sent with each of the programs being applied?

 

In reverse order...

 

1) Almost every program asks for a personal letter. However, most programs are looking for similar qualities in their residents, so you can do a lot of cutting and pasting. Just make sure you don't do something silly, like cut 'n paste McGill's letter into your Dalhousie application and forget to change the school name...

 

2) Most programs ask for 3 LOR, though some will take up to 5. Your referees generally write one reference letter for you and send it into CaRMS. Through the CaRMS website you can assign specific letters of reference to specific programs.

 

3) You can ask your referees to write a generic "any specialty" letter, or a specialty-specific letter. Usually you'll only need one or another, although one of my referees wrote two for me -- one generic and one specifically for emergency medicine (he's a ccfp-em, so it kinda made sense to have him do that). I then labeled the letters "Dr. M - Emergency" and "Dr. M - Generic" in CaRMS, and assigned them to programs as needed.

 

Although everybody whines and complains about the process, the CaRMS website is actually quite user-friendly.