Letter of Recommendation from a PHD student?

[Professor Actual Factual]

So I obviously need 3 letters of recommendation to apply to medschool. So far I have 2, one from a doctor I volunteered with and another from a University professor (PHD).

However for my 3rd letter I am debating if I should ask on of my computer science professor who is a Student teacher/professor who is still working on his PHD.

So my question is, is he a suitable person to ask for a letter of recommendation from, or should I ask another Professor with a PHD for a letter? Im asking this as people are telling me you need 1 letter from a non-academic area, and 2 letters from University professors.

Also somewhat related, just how important are letters of recommendations when it comes to the whole application process.

 

Thanks 

 

[Meridian]

It is better that you have references from people that know you well and can answer specifically about you along the Canmed definitions.  It does not matter whether they have a PhD or not.  For Ontario -  it is an online submission they will make on your behalf. It is not a letter of recommendation that you will request and submit yourself.

Read the OMSAS summary here:

    https://www.ouac.on.ca/guide/omsas-referees/

Good references can only help you.  A bad one could black-flag you.   How they are really evaluated is somewhere in between for each school.    

[samc5]

I would just make sure that all your references are appropriate (supervisor vs a colleague/friend), and try to balance them so they can speak to all of the qualities they are looking for. Academic references are great, but if all 3 letters are talking about how you were a great student or have great research/academics you will lose out a lot on personal/community/leadership traits which is why they usually recommend a non-academic reference. 

[Pippa756]

Yeh it so important that the references confirm all the qualities you have outlined in your application. Good, strong individual letters are going to help you much more than a bad or generic letter.