ref letters

[highlander88]

I'm just trying to get a basic idea of how CaRMs works so I was wondering...

 

Are the 3 reference letters usually expected to be from 3 physicians of the specialty of interest? i.e., is it unusual for say a pediatrician to write a reference letter for someone applying for internal medicine? and are all reference letters physicians normally?

 

it seems so different from med school admissions,

[Orchid]

yeah... great Q, wondering the same thing.

 

also, are electives from i) program director, or ii) from elective, more valuable than reference from one of your core clerkship rotations?

 

thanks

[Calgarymed]

I think the best thing to do is to get as many references from core rotations, and electives as you can. In the end you can get them all to submit the reference letters to carms, and then you seperately assign references to all the programs you applied to. I think its good to get references from core rotations to show that you also try when you aren't on elective and just in case you change your mind in the end and need a non-specific reference. If you work with a preceptor for awhile on a core rotation and they know you well and can get a good letter that may be more valuable than a half ass elective letter. Also, this way you will have your bases covered. I had about 7 reference letters overall, and one of them I used only at one program. They will never know...and that gives you more time to decide how to assign letters to what programs.

[blinknoodle]

It depends on the program, some specifically say who they want to write letters (ie. all from the specific specialty, a mix, etc).

 

I think the content of the letter is the most important, rather than whether the letter is from a PD, etc.. but an away elective letter is nice because someone from another institution is routing for you (less bias?). It is nice to have a mix letters, in any case.

 

Personally, I had an assortment of letters that I mix-and-matched depending on the program (it depended on the school which I applied)... I applied to pathology, so I had letters from at least one pathologist (sometimes 2 or 3), from my IM CTU clerkship rotation (nice to prove you can work in a team) and perhaps my research supervisor (clinician) if the school was interested in research. I had an IM elective letter too but didn't end up using it because I thought my clerkship letter would be stronger.

 

Never turn down a letter. CaRMS will hold it for you but you don't have to decide whether you use it until you assign your letters.

[Talon01]

You can ask your references to write a general letter stating you're a good candidate or you can get them write a letter specific to a field (ie - good for xxxx field).

 

I feel the more well known the person is the more weight the letter will have. No evidence to support this just my feeling...