I’ve done research with an ortho spine doc for almost six years now; I started working for him before med school, liked the research and working with him so stayed with it. I’ve read on other threads that most neurosurgeons won’t pay attention to letters of recommendation from other specialities, but since it’s spine I thought it might be different. I was wondering if anyone has advice for or against in regards to using him for a letter of recommendation.

Well like you said, some people may not read that letter just because it is not from a neurosurgeon. However, someone that has known you for six years should be able to give you a much better letter than someone who has seen you for part of one month. It’s definitely a plus that he’s a spine guy as well. Also, some people may wonder why you wouldn’t give them a letter from someone who you have worked with for so long. I would make sure that my other 3 letters are very strong ie. from program directors/chairmen of neurosurgery programs that agree to write you a strong letter. My research mentor wasn’t well known at all and I still used his letter because he had seen my work for 2 years. Even though my guy was a neurosurgeon I was still wrestling with the same type of question. But at the end of the day when I weighed my ups and downs I thought it would be good to have a letter from someone that got to know me pretty well.