A strong LOR from a PA: Good or Bad Idea?

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

456432

Full Member
Joined
Apr 5, 2020
Messages
218
Reaction score
379
I work at a clinic where I work alongside physicians and physician assistants. The physicians I work with consistently distance themselves from me whenever I try to help them, and they always seem annoyed by my presence in general. I think they're just grumpy people in general. On the other hand, the PA I work with has been such an amazing presence. He let's me talk to him one on one about his experiences with patients, what my goals are as a physician, and thoughts on how I can improve patient care in the future. He also let's me present the patients to him as a med student/resident, and gives me constructive feedback regarding how I can improve my patient interviewing and presentation skills. I get such a supportive and encouraging vibe from him, which is the complete opposite of how the physicians are.

However, would it be bad to get a LOR from him solely due to his title as a PA? With the advent of scope creep and other aspects, would a LOR from a PA cast doubts to the AdComs? My letters from the physicians there will be generic at best, but could also potentially be bad (they are simply just unpleasant people).

Also, I do have a LOR from an MD/PhD, but she has never seen me outside the wet lab setting and therefore cannot attest to my clinical skills.

Members don't see this ad.
 
A strong LOR from someone who knows you well is always a good thing. Bonus points if one of the physicians can be persuaded to cosign the letter.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 2 users
Very, very few schools even require a clinical letter. You already have one of those for schools that request it. I’d skip it. Just a thought, because you spend so much time with the PA, maybe the docs think you want to be a PA and think your questions etc are being dealt with.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 2 users
Members don't see this ad :)
Very, very few schools even require a clinical letter. You already have one of those for schools that request it. I’d skip it. Just a thought, because you spend so much time with the PA, maybe the docs think you want to be a PA and think your questions etc are being dealt with.
Thanks for the reply. I guess I'm also wanting this letter because this would be the only relatively "recent" LOR (my other letters are from 1-2 years ago). Schools want at least one LOR from an individual who can attest to my recent activities, correct?

Regarding your second point, the PA only joined recently, and before that I was spending so much time trying to learn from the docs, but they consistently still avoided/ignored me. I only started spending time with the PA because the docs seemed to consistently not want to teach/interact with me.
 
Thanks for the reply. I guess I'm also wanting this letter because this would be the only relatively "recent" LOR (my other letters are from 1-2 years ago). Schools want at least one LOR from an individual who can attest to my recent activities, correct?

Regarding your second point, the PA only joined recently, and before that I was spending so much time trying to learn from the docs, but they consistently still avoided/ignored me. I only started spending time with the PA because the docs seemed to consistently not want to teach/interact with me.
Actually no. Most schools want two letters from science professors and one from a non science professor. And then there are those here and there that want a specific letter for whatever reason.
You really want to use this letter, so use it. It’s your choice what to use in your application. Just make sure you read carefully and include the required letters.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
Top