Is one week of full-time shadowing enough for a LOR?

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prestonomalley

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I have been shadowing a surgeon for the past week and tomorrow is my last day. Has this been enough time for me to ask for a letter of recommendation?

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If you've been shadowing for 40 hours, you think he is nice and can write you a strong letter....why not? It's not that important how long you shadow other than hours...it's understood as a "check the box" thing.
 
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I think you would be the best judge of that. That said 1 week is not a very long period of time for someone to be able to get to know you super well.
 
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The idea of writing an LOR for someone who just followed you around for any length of time has always been silly to me.
 
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It's plenty! Go for it.
 
Doubtful. What can the doctor possibly attest for you?

"Aerus is an outstanding person. In the week that I've known him, I was very very impressed. Every time I had to deal with patients, he would, without fail, stand in the corner quietly watching without making a single noise. After I was done, he would always ask me questions about what I was doing. Because of this, I know he will be an excellent doctor. "
 
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I never understood the point of shadowing letters. What will they possibly say? Unless you've known the doctor for months - years.
 
Unless you are applying DO or to a school that specifically asks for a shadowing LOR, it's essentially useless. They aren't going to be able to say anything about how great of a doctor you're going to be, because all you did was follow them around.
 
I got a letter from a doctor I shadowed for about the same number of hours as you. He offered, in fact. I did a lot more than follow him around, too. I asked good questions, we talked about career goals and my past, and even let me assist him in small ways.
 
I didn't only follow her around. I also scribed for her and asked questions along the way when it was appropriate.
I ended up asking her after receiving a few hints today that she was going to miss having me around now that I was trained and made her rounds more efficient. She agreed to write me one and was happy to do it. I'm going to stay in contact with her because I still have a while before I apply so I think this will give ample time to get to know her better and maybe even shadow her again.

Thank you all for your input, and I hope this helps anyone else with similar questions.
 
I got a letter from a doctor I shadowed for about the same number of hours as you. He offered, in fact. I did a lot more than follow him around, too. I asked good questions, we talked about career goals and my past, and even let me assist him in small ways.

Sounds like a similar experience :) thank you!
 
From what I've read on here, I would avoid a LOR from a physician you shadowed unless it's from a DO and you are looking to apply to DO school. Someone on here had a good rule of thumb for asking about physician LORs though: If you think they'll remember your name a few weeks or even months later, then it's probably ok to ask for a LOR.
 
Okay, let me more blunt. If your application came across my desk and I saw a LOR from someone that you knew for 1 week and they didn't call you the next coming of William Osler and your application matched it, I'd toss the LOR aside and pretty much ignore it. There is a problem if that is the best letter you can come up with.
 
That isn't the best letter I can come up with, I just wanted it there as an option. Thanks for your opinion.
 
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Only get shadowing letters from physicians you've shadowed for awhile. 2 of my 6 LOR's are from physicians I shadowed for a total of 81 hours split about evenly between both of them. They got to know me really well and one of them even offered to give me solid interview advice outside of his work hours.
 
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