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[aorta22]

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[gyngyn]

Shadowing letters should only be used in uncommon, but specific situations: If you are applying to DO schools, they love a DO letter (even from shadowing); there are about 5 MD schools that request "clinical" letters for which shadowing is apparently acceptable. For the remaining (vast majority) of MD schools shadowing letters are not helpful.
Please do not send us a shadowing letter. Include shadowing in a single box in your Work/Activities section.

 

[aorta22]

Thank you so much @gyngyn !

 

[deleted610572]

Shadowing letters should only be used in uncommon, but specific situations: If you are applying to DO schools, they love a DO letter (even from shadowing); there are about 5 MD schools that request "clinical" letters for which shadowing is apparently acceptable. For the remaining (vast majority) of MD schools shadowing letters are not helpful.
Please do not send us a shadowing letter. Include shadowing in a single box in your Work/Activities section.

Is it unhelpful or detrimental? Obviously it is if you hit a minimum number of letters. But what about if you send a committee letter plus a physician? Just curious on how to instruct people in the future.

 

[Goro]

Is it unhelpful or detrimental? Obviously it is if you hit a minimum number of letters. But what about if you send a committee letter plus a physician? Just curious on how to instruct people in the future.

Everything that I have seen from our wise Adcom members is that for MD, they do not help because doctors are incapable of writing letters of evaluations. As such, they are almost always testimonials that add nothing to the app.

 

[gyngyn]

Is it unhelpful or detrimental? Obviously it is if you hit a minimum number of letters. But what about if you send a committee letter plus a physician? Just curious on how to instruct people in the future.

There are at least two ways in which it could be detrimental. You mentioned the first (exceeding the maximum number of letters requested). If you already have a committee letter, you have met the preferred requirements at all but one MD school. Why risk adding a letter that might damn you with faint praise?