Do I still need to shadow a DO?

[Toejam]

I'm a podiatrist and have worked directly with DO's in my residency and elsewhere, but haven't worked with any since I started private practice.

Is this going to be sufficient? Are they going to ask for names??

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[ItNeverEnds]

Hi Toejam,

If you can get a strong letter of recommendation from any of the DOs with whom you worked, I think you should be fine. At the same time, however, it may make sense to shadow a DO so that you get a better idea of the type of work they do. The closer you work with them, the better your letter.

Hope this helps.

INE

 

[DOtobe]

I agree with ItNeverEnds. Since you already know a lot of DOs, I'm sure you could get one of them to write a letter of recommendation for you. If you aren't very familiar with osteopathy, though, you may want to shadow a DO a few times just to get an idea of what exactly DOs do. You don't want to be dumbfounded if they ask you in your interview a question like, "So what did you learn about osteopathy in your experience working with Dr. So-and-so?"

 

[lakshmi5]

I'm sure this has been addressed before, but here goes...how does one get to shadow a DO? I don't know any DO's. How to get started?

 

[JmE]

Toejam,

I think the advice you are getting is excellent, however, my experience was a little different.

I did not shadow DOs, I worked for three of them (in the same practice). A completely different DO from another city wrote my letter of evaluation.

One of the DOs I worked for graduated from my first choice school (the one I am going to) and he was willing to write the evaluation, however, an opportunity presented rather quickly to open a practice in his hometown and I did not want to burden him further. I didn't even bother the other two DOs (three grumpy perfectionists... we did not get along all that well :wink: ).

The DO that ended up writing my letter had graduated from a school in another state (which I liked as much as my "local" school).

My point is that I don't think shadowing is all that necessary (at least in our cases), it is good to get a letter or letters from DOs you have worked with, However, it may not derail everything if the letter comes from yet another "outside" DO (or at least in my case it didn't seem to matter).

This is not advice, just giving you a glimpse at my experience. I think the advice others are giving is right on the money.

-JmE-