[giovanni83]

Dear friends,
I have a question...

I am planning to apply next year for the match and I am starting to prepare all the documents needed already...

Let's say for example that I have 3 LOR by general surgeons...can I use them to apply in both IM and general surgery?
I mean...practically how does it work?the m.d. who write the letters address them to the specialty specific or they make only general statements valid for every specialty?

 

[IMlover]

One of the things that is weighed heavily in match is how committed are you to the specialty you're applying.

That said, it doesn't mean that all the LoRs must be from related specialty. But you need at least one from the specific specialty.

Regarding whether a LoR should explicitly mention your field of interest: no.

They can write strong LoR w/o specifying what specialty. Now if you decided to make it mentioned, then double check before you assign your documents to program so that you send correct letters to correct specialty.

 

[giovanni83]

but how can I double check it?if the letter is waived I m not suppose to see the content of it...

 

[IMlover]

That's the thing if you waived then. One student on the other forum got his LoR specialty mixed up by the school and only knew later after a PC informed him. His LoR writer made 2 versions for 2 specialties and somehow it was got mixed up in uploading them.

What I meant by double checking is you get to finalize your LoR writer before eras generate a request letter for LoR. There, you can assign title to which specialty you want to assign them. If you have 1 writer for 2 versions of LoR, make sure you assign the right one.

If it is possible I'd pick a different LoR writer for different specialty. I f you can't do that than just ask the writer not to specify the specialty.