Shadowing an MD is okay for DO schools?

[Diocletian]

I've shadowed an MD for the last year for about 80 hours now. More specifically, he's a local pediatrician. I've gotten to know him quite well and have learned a lot about primary care medicine during this time.

Would this shadowing experience suffice for most DO schools, or would they require me to shadow a DO? I ask because a lot of DOs go into primary care or other types of frontline medicine after they get a degree, and that's what I want to do as well. I also love the philosophy behind DO (preventive medicine) and that's a big part of what pediatricians do.

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[Ost3oclast]

Shadowing is shadowing. However, some DO schools do require a DO letter in order to apply to their school. The easiest way to do this is through shadowing a DO so you might want to look into that as well. Try to shadow a primary care doc and get a letter. You should be good to go after that!

 

[kami333]

There are a couple of schools that require a DO letter and won't accept a MD letter, make sure you aren't interested in any of those schools.
LINK (always double check the school's website).

I'd still recommend shadowing a DO, one of the questions that almost always comes up in addition to "why medicine" is "why DO" and having firsthard experiences that you can talk about is always good.

 

[ValentineLissar]

I used my letter from an MD for the DO schools I applied to, but I also shadowed a DO to get experience with the osteopathic philosophy. The letter of rec from an MD does not replace DO physician shadowing because the schools will ask you on the secondary application or at the interview, "Why do you want to be a DO?" or "What experience have you had with the osteopathic medicine?"

 

[BabyDoc86]

Only MD shadowing, only MD rec letter, accepted to all 3 DO schools I interviewed at (should be 4/4 next weekend).

 

[Goro]

Of course! We fully recognize that there are areas of the country where there aren't many DO (like the deep South, northern CA, much of the Plains states). Keep in mind that some schools do require you to get a LOR from a DO...we don't.

This is just me, but I do look a bit more negatively at someone who lives in a DO-rich area (like, say, NYC, or the midwest) and don't go out of their way to find a DO. that strongly signals laziness to me. Eespcially someone who lives near a DO school and doesn't bother to visit them. I've rejected people who live 15 miles away but never visited us. You do have to give some effort, after all.

I've shadowed an MD for the last year for about 80 hours now. More specifically, he's a local pediatrician. I've gotten to know him quite well and have learned a lot about primary care medicine during this time.

Would this shadowing experience suffice for most DO schools, or would they require me to shadow a DO? I ask because a lot of DOs go into primary care or other types of frontline medicine after they get a degree, and that's what I want to do as well. I also love the philosophy behind DO (preventive medicine) and that's a big part of what pediatricians do.