Obtained Do shadowing but it's a unique situation!

[Jack-Kennedy35]

Hello Everyone,

I hope you are doing well. So I am a DO applicant this cycle and already had my primary verified and even received secondaries from a few schools. There was one aspect of my application that I need your experienced opinion on...

1.) I initially inquired with a DO physician earlier this year around March for shadowing and he was a bit precarious because of COVID and how comfortable patients would be in me being in the same room. Anyways, he was very courteous and asked me to come in so we can chat about osteopathic medicine and he can basically tell me everything based on his experience (He's a faculty member at two medical schools that I'm interested in applying to).

2.) I went in and we had a nice chat for around an hour and half and he basically told me that he would be glad to write me a letter of recommendation. He also requested my personal statement and activities so that he could edit them and provide feedback.

3.) I am getting tripped up because I have his letter but many schools I'm applying to are asking how many hours did you shadow an osteopathic physician... Should I basically say 1 or should I just omit this all together from my secondary, and have them just directly read the letter?

@Goro

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[Goro]

Just say 0 and use the LOR. If you have any MD shadowing, use that as your shadowing experience.

 

[srbm1786]

Hello Everyone,

I hope you are doing well. So I am a DO applicant this cycle and already had my primary verified and even received secondaries from a few schools. There was one aspect of my application that I need your experienced opinion on...

1.) I initially inquired with a DO physician earlier this year around March for shadowing and he was a bit precarious because of COVID and how comfortable patients would be in me being in the same room. Anyways, he was very courteous and asked me to come in so we can chat about osteopathic medicine and he can basically tell me everything based on his experience (He's a faculty member at two medical schools that I'm interested in applying to).

2.) I went in and we had a nice chat for around an hour and half and he basically told me that he would be glad to write me a letter of recommendation. He also requested my personal statement and activities so that he could edit them and provide feedback.

3.) I am getting tripped up because I have his letter but many schools I'm applying to are asking how many hours did you shadow an osteopathic physician... Should I basically say 1 or should I just omit this all together from my secondary, and have them just directly read the letter?

@Goro

I did something similar (the DO and I had met in person before through my job, but I didn’t shadow him, and when I needed a letter we just chatted on the phone and I emailed him my PS, CV, etc to reference). I put that I had zero DO shadowing hours.

 

[Jack-Kennedy35]

Just say 0 and use the LOR. If you have any MD shadowing, use that as your shadowing experience.

Okay got it Goro, I'll definitely do that. Also, I had a question, a common secondary prompt is: How did shadowing a physician solidify your interested in becoming an osteopathic physician?

In my case even though I have a LOR from a DO, I didn't officially shadow him. I have a lot of stories from him on how OMM has helped his patients and his treatment regimen but I haven't seen him.

So, I likely have to go through with this on what I saw from an allopathic physician but what would you recommend I focus on to make it appeal to DO schools?

 

[Goro]

Just day, while I didn't directly shadiw Dr X, my conversation with him .....