Letters

[lokobo]

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Who are some good people to get letters from?

I know you're allowed to send 3 letters to a program.

How many of these should be from actual radiologists?

I'm thinking of getting one from the head of the department at my school, and another from my attending during my family practice rotation. Who are some other people you guys are getting letters from?

 

[doepug]

1-2 letters from radiologists would be fine for most program directors.

A strong letter from a clinician (in, say, family practice) outweighs a weak letter from a radiologist. When I applied (not too long ago), I had 2 letters from radiologists, 1 from a pathologist (did a subinternship), and another from internal medicine (for the prelim interviews).

Good luck!

 

[lokobo]

Does a letter from a Radiologist who is in private practice mean anything?

I worked with a radiologist in my home town during my vacation month, and I think he'd write me a strong letter.

 

[Wrigleyville]

The residency director at Northwestern stated in no uncertain terms that he values letters from clinicians more than letters from radiologists. He said a 2nd letter from a radiologist added nothing to your application unless you had SIGNIFICANT interaction with them. As a radiologist you have to be able to communicate effectively, something that would be better reflected in letters from people you worked with while dealing with patients.

 

[lokobo]

i think i'll just get one letter from a radiologist then...

what would be better?

an awesome letter from someone in private practice? or a good, decent letter from a dept. chair (not program director).

who else are you guys getting letters from?

or does it not matter, as long as they're strong and say you can communicate well?

 

[Hopefulmeds]

Unless your private practice letter writer has some affilliations with programs which you want to match at, I would say the chair. The letter, even though it might be a little bit worse than the private practice one, will have much more weight from a chair, who is most likely well known in academia. Just make sure the letter from the chair is still decent. A bad or neutral letter from a chair adds nothing.