Hardest time getting letter of recomendation...

[Podicus]

It seems podiatrists in my area are near impossible to get a hold of!

I have shadowed many podiatrists and each of them told me they would write me letters of rec but It has been months and I have yet to receive one.
To make manners worse, I'm accepted to DMU but they still require my letter before class begins or my acceptance will be revoked. Do any of you have any advice as to what I should do?

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[MAD SCI3NTIST]

Follow up with the pods who agreed to write. They're very busy, they probably just need a little push. If you don't pursue the letters, it may seem like you're indifferent and you just asked for the sake of asking.

 

[ashtonmccants]

Also be sure to let the podiatrist that you shadowed know the urgency of the situation. Ask them if they would be open minded to you writing your own letters and having them sign. Sometimes the path of least resistance will get you immediate results. I did this for a few of my professors and I was able to get a turn around within 24-48 hours. There are some good templates out there if you've never written one for yourself before. Good luck.

 

[cthaye309]

Once you explain your situation, I'm sure they would get it done for you. The key is being persistent about it so they don't forget. And I agree with the above statement about writing it yourself as long as that is ok with the podiatrist. In fact, the podiatrist I shadowed told me to write it and then he would add a little himself before sending it.

 

[Podicus]

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[bilateralmedialsesmoid]

Well, I'm now months out from the situation I talked to you all about before and still no letter of recommendation. I cannot explain how frustrating this is! With regards to the Dr. who originally promised me a letter, I continued to shadow him and gave him gentle reminders of the already past due letter every few weeks. Eventually he began to avoid my requests to shadow him, and would not return phone calls at all. I tried offering to write the letter on his behalf provided he felt it met his standards, as well as utilized all the other advice given to me here.

I then requested to shadow another physician whom I have been shadowing both in and out of surgery for a few months now. After about a month of shadowing, I requested a letter of recommendation from him and gave him two months in advanced before needing the letter. The deadline is now tomorrow and I have reminded him twice but still have not received anything.

It's strange because both of these physicians are very kind, and seem to truly enjoy my company with both speaking very highly about me. I just cant seem to get a letter.

I am extremely concerned because DMU requires a letter of recommendation from a podiatrist and without it they have told me my acceptance to the school will be withdrawn without exception ( which is very annoying given the fact that I have around 150 hours of shadowing podiatrists with multiple letters from other non podiatry physicians but without the podiatry letter it's all useless). I have already applied for my loans and filled out the necessary paperwork for the school, have an apartment set up for early July and I am set on wanting to attend my dream school.

I'm at a loss for what to do at this point, sorry for the rant..

In my case it was the physician assistant who wrote the letter for the DPM and he just signed it. If worse comes to worse give the contact information to the recruiter for DMU and ask the school to verify your shadowing abilities over the phone or email directly to the DPM. I am sorry for your frustration I completely understand where you are coming from. Its unfortunate that this occurred to you but speak directly with DMU and see what they can do to help you. Trust me they just want to make sure that you actually shadowed a DPM and the only proof is through a letter of recommendation.

 

[torontopharm]

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[ashtonmccants]

I had a quick questions about the LOR's and didn't wanna start a whole new thread..
I got my LOR's from the pods i shadowed, but none of them explicitly wrote the # of hours i shadowed. Are LORs supposed to state the duration of shadowing/# of hours etc.?

I want to say the the number of hours is more of an integrity thing. All they really care about is actually getting the letter of recommendation. If a podiatric physician felt comfortable enough to write you a letter in regards to admissions, the school will know that you spent some time with this physician. Whether you spent 20 hours or 200 hours, the admissions committee will know that you did what was necessary to receive a letter and get a feel for the profession itself. That's the primary goal. Hours don't usually translate more brownie points with admissions, unless you've shadowed an unreal number of hours (2000 would stand out). As long as you got the letters, you should be fine. Hope this helps. Good luck to you.

 

[Zyxwvuts]

It seems podiatrists in my area are near impossible to get a hold of!

I have shadowed many podiatrists and each of them told me they would write me letters of rec but It has been months and I have yet to receive one.
To make manners worse, I'm accepted to DMU but they still require my letter before class begins or my acceptance will be revoked. Do any of you have any advice as to what I should do?

Write your own LOR. Then they can just sign their name. Most of mine never even read the letters.