Probably a stupid question, but I need an opinion, please

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OK so I have a really close family friend who's a DO...he's not technically my uncle by blood but our families have known each other for generations and we consider ourselves "family".....can I indicate that I have a DO in the family and refer to him as my uncle in essays or is that unethical or something?

Technically, that would be fraud. I wouldn't do this in a million years. Just tell the truth. Mention him in your essay or something if you want to communicate that he is part of your reason for interest in DO school.

So to answer your question: hell no. Don't risk pissing them off by misrepresenting something insignificant like this.

I don't think most schools care about uncles anyway, usually they only ask about immediate family, and I don't think uncles count. Could be wrong though. But maybe just mention him as a close family friend.

Although slightly off-topic, I have an uncle who is an MD and had to put otherMD on the AACOMAS application and uncleMD on the AMCAS application. If my uncle had been a DO, I could have put him as an uncle DO rather than other, so they do care. However, if this person is not blood related, I would not put him down. I doubt anyone really cares if you have a family member physician anyway.

I would not refer to him as a Uncle. If you do, you cannot use him for your DO letter!

ok, thanks, I'll keep it at family friend then
I was gong to find someone else to shadow and refer to him as my uncle in the essay originally but I had a feeling this may be a bit shady

Your family friend will probably write you a better LOR than a DO you shadow.

Originally Posted by MedChic

OK so I have a really close family friend who's a DO...he's not technically my uncle by blood but our families have known each other for generations and we consider ourselves "family".....can I indicate that I have a DO in the family and refer to him as my uncle in essays or is that unethical or something?

Get a DNA test ... maybe he IS your blood. Heheheh ... Just shadow a DO, that reference will be much more important.

I disagree. I think the DO who knows you can write a better letter than a DO you shadow for a ten hours. Can you shadow your friend-uncle?

Here's the thing: If I shadow my friend-uncle and then mention him in an essay, then admissions is not gonna look at the letter as if it was an impartial rec. I really wanna elaborate on how I first learned about osteo medicine in my essay and that would reveal that I've known him for a really long time, so this is why I also wanna shadow a random DO. I'm sure he'd give me a glowing rec., but credibility may be lost..

I still disagree, but it is your preference! I disagree because LOR's aren't supposed to be impartial. Good LOR's talk about your qualities, something I think a family friend would do better than a random DO. Good luck with the process.

of course not, the medical schools will not try to get a background check to see if he is your uncle or not.

Originally Posted by MedChic

OK so I have a really close family friend who's a DO...he's not technically my uncle by blood but our families have known each other for generations and we consider ourselves "family".....can I indicate that I have a DO in the family and refer to him as my uncle in essays or is that unethical or something?