Applying DO with no shadowing or LOR form a DO

[03FB]

Hello guys,

Based on my stats: sGPA: 3.4 and cGPA: 3.52, and being Asian. I have decided that applying DO is my best option. I have been looking for a DO to shadow for months but have had no luck due to the town i live in. I can get LOR's from MD's that i have shadowed and volunteered with but no DO letter. I have both shadowing, clinical experience (volunteering), and volunteering outside of medical school with underserved children. Will this keep me from admissions at DO schools? I plan to apply this cycle in may, and am taking the MCAT in april. which is why I don't have a score i can share.
I forgot to mention that i am in the process of applying for a pre health committee LOR from school
Any advice would be appreciated.
Thank You!

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[Magus5454]

Some schools require a DO letter, some do not

 

[Goro]

Hello guys,

Based on my stats: sGPA: 3.4 and cGPA: 3.52, and being Asian. I have decided that applying DO is my best option. I have been looking for a DO to shadow for months but have had no luck due to the town i live in. I can get LOR's from MD's that i have shadowed and volunteered with but no DO letter. I have both shadowing, clinical experience (volunteering), and volunteering outside of medical school with underserved children. Will this keep me from admissions at DO schools? I plan to apply this cycle in may, and am taking the MCAT in april. which is why I don't have a score i can share.
I forgot to mention that i am in the process of applying for a pre health committee LOR from school
Any advice would be appreciated.
Thank You!

Let's put it this way:
Having DO LOR/shadowing will help you
Lacking the above won't hurt, except for those schools that require it.

Is there are DO school within driving distance? If so, visit and chat up the DO Faculty.

 

[03FB]

Let's put it this way:
Having DO LOR/shadowing will help you
Lacking the above won't hurt, except for those schools that require it.

Is there are DO school within driving distance? If so, visit and chat up the DO Faculty.

are there are alot of schools that require a DO letter? i live about 3 hours away from western U and 5 hours away from touro and plan to visit both after graduation and before submitting my apps.

 

[DrStephenStrange]

If you need a DO near you to shadow check doctorsthatdo.org you should find plenty with their contact information based on your zip code. That's how I got to shadow one at the last minute last September before sending out my applications which was great because she sent me a great letter . Anyway, just keep calling their office numbers, you should find at least one. It really helps when applying DO, and some schools even strictly require you to have one and won't accept you unless you do.

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[Goro]

are there are alot of schools that require a DO letter? i live about 3 hours away from western U and 5 hours away from touro and plan to visit both after graduation and before submitting my apps.

They're in the minority...my school is OK with an MD LOR. I think KCOM and LECOM require DO LORs, but best to check each school's admission website.

 

[TurtleyReady4Med]

I was in a similar situation and have 3 interviews and 2 acceptances. It is possible, with an MD LOR.

 

[Magus5454]

They're in the minority...my school is OK with an MD LOR. I think KCOM and LECOM require DO LORs, but best to check each school's admission website.

ARCOM for sure as well

 

[Durty-Trixxx]

Can you give us an idea where you live and how many letters you sent out?

Unless you live in the most remote areas of Alaska or Montana, I find it hard to believe that any premed student can't find at least one D.O. within a 75 mile radius who are willing to let you shadow. If you only sent out 2 or 3 letters then you need to up your game and send out like 30-40 letters.

Like others have said, your best bet is to contact D.O. clinical faculty members at your nearest DO school since they are accustomed to having students/residents in their office all the time. They will have zero problems with you shadowing them for however long you wish.

 

[DrStephenStrange]

Can you give us an idea where you live and how many letters you sent out?

Unless you live in the most remote areas of Alaska or Montana, I find it hard to believe that any premed student can't find at least one D.O. within a 75 mile radius who are willing to let you shadow. If you only sent out 2 or 3 letters then you need to up your game and send out like 30-40 letters.

Like others have said, your best bet is to contact D.O. clinical faculty members at your nearest DO school since they are accustomed to having students/residents in their office all the time. They will have zero problems with you shadowing them for however long you wish.

30-40 letters? Wow that's unheard of. Btw OP is applying next cycle; he/she hasn't sent letters out or even applied yet.

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[0beron]

I didn't have a DO letter or shadowing, applied to 3 DO programs, accepted to 2. It will of course limit where you can apply (I didn't even apply to my state's osteopathic school), but where it's not required it doesn't seem to be a killer.

 

[Dullhead]

30-40 letters? Wow that's unheard of.

I think dude's talking about sending letters requesting to shadow, not LoRs submitted to app services. I wonder about the poster's state of residence...

 

[Durty-Trixxx]

30-40 letters? Wow that's unheard of. Btw OP is applying next cycle; he/she hasn't sent letters out or even applied yet

30-40 letters is a lot? It's basically a form letter using a basic Mail Merge function in MS Word --- very easy to churn out in mass quantities

 

[03FB]

Can you give us an idea where you live and how many letters you sent out?

Unless you live in the most remote areas of Alaska or Montana, I find it hard to believe that any premed student can't find at least one D.O. within a 75 mile radius who are willing to let you shadow. If you only sent out 2 or 3 letters then you need to up your game and send out like 30-40 letters.

Like others have said, your best bet is to contact D.O. clinical faculty members at your nearest DO school since they are accustomed to having students/residents in their office all the time. They will have zero problems with you shadowing them for however long you wish.

I live in California, i did spend some time driving to various clinics that I saw online that said DO's work at and gave my information. Some turned me down right then and there, b/c they said they don't take volunteers, and some took my information down and i've followed up with them but they don't seem to want anyone. It was hard to talk to the physician in person, I just talked to the people in the front office. There were about 5 clinics that i went to.

 

[03FB]

I didn't have a DO letter or shadowing, applied to 3 DO programs, accepted to 2. It will of course limit where you can apply (I didn't even apply to my state's osteopathic school), but where it's not required it doesn't seem to be a killer.

That's great to hear, how did you handle answering the question why DO instead of MD?

 

[03FB]

I was in a similar situation and have 3 interviews and 2 acceptances. It is possible, with an MD LOR.

I am worried about secondaries and interview questions that ask why I chose DO instead of MD, and not having experience with DO's i feel nervous.

 

[ReapPremed]

I didn't have a DO letter or shadowing, applied to 3 DO programs, accepted to 2. It will of course limit where you can apply (I didn't even apply to my state's osteopathic school), but where it's not required it doesn't seem to be a killer.

At every interview I've been to so far (4 attended 2 accepted) I have been asked why osteopathic medicine

How did you answer this?

 

[TurtleyReady4Med]

I am worried about secondaries and interview questions that ask why I chose DO instead of MD, and not having experience with DO's i feel nervous.

They like to hear you talk about DOs looking at a holistic view of the human rather than the strict biological etiology of disease. Since I’m an MPH, I talked about social determinants of health (how family, organizations, community factors relate to health) and working with underserved communities (which DOs focus on ) at free clinics and how that related back to why I was interested in going into medicine.

 

[Durty-Trixxx]

I live in California, i did spend some time driving to various clinics that I saw online that said DO's work at and gave my information. Some turned me down right then and there, b/c they said they don't take volunteers, and some took my information down and i've followed up with them but they don't seem to want anyone. It was hard to talk to the physician in person, I just talked to the people in the front office. There were about 5 clinics that i went to.

Hmm, sounds like you have some grumpy DO's in the town you live in if they all turned you down. Save some gas money and just use the power of the Interwebs to expand your search and cast a wider net. Surely you will find a willing D.O. eventually. Maybe spend a week at a relative's house in the summer close to a D.O. who is willing to let you shadow? You dont need tons of hours of shadowing --- just a week so the D.O. can get to know you and write a nice letter.

 

[0beron]

That's great to hear, how did you handle answering the question why DO instead of MD?

At every interview I've been to so far (4 attended 2 accepted) I have been asked why osteopathic medicine

How did you answer this?

I haven't shadowed any DOs or worked terribly close with them, but I have interacted with DOs in the clinical setting so I spoke a bit about that (I'm a scribe and the MDs I work with consult a particular DO sub-specialist with some frequency). I am actually also similar to @TurtleyReady4Med in that I have a public health background so I was also able to speak to the holistic philosophy that is emphasized in both public health and osteopathic medicine.

I think more than anything schools want to know that you know there are some differences between osteopathic and allopathic medicine, and that you view osteopathic medicine positively.

 

[AlbinoHawk DO]

are there are alot of schools that require a DO letter? i live about 3 hours away from western U and 5 hours away from touro and plan to visit both after graduation and before submitting my apps.

When I applied, WesternU didn't require a letter or shadowing, but it required a secondary essay indicating your experiences shadowing a DO.

 

[studentdoctorv]

i am asian, had a lower gpa than you. i only had an MD letter. no DO shadowing experience. i think i have only actually known 1 DO. i had to go down the list of schools on the AACOMAS, found which ones didn't need a DO letter, and I applied to all of them. its a bit tough cause in some of their essays, they made you explain your experience with DO if you did not have DO shadowing. i kinda had to fudge some stuff, cause I had almost no DO exposure, but I got 3 interviews, 1 acceptance. i think you can make up for a lack of it.

 

[03FB]

i am asian, had a lower gpa than you. i only had an MD letter. no DO shadowing experience. i think i have only actually known 1 DO. i had to go down the list of schools on the AACOMAS, found which ones didn't need a DO letter, and I applied to all of them. its a bit tough cause in some of their essays, they made you explain your experience with DO if you did not have DO shadowing. i kinda had to fudge some stuff, cause I had almost no DO exposure, but I got 3 interviews, 1 acceptance. i think you can make up for a lack of it.

That makes me feel a bit better, I just also really want to stay in California, so I'm hoping that i get into one of the two schools here.

 

[tswol]

That makes me feel a bit better, I just also really want to stay in California, so I'm hoping that i get into one of the two schools here.

For what it's worth, there's a handful of schools that don't require a letter from any type of doctor. I applied and got accepted to one, so they do mean it when they say a letter is not required. However, I did have some shadowing.

 

[studentdoctorv]

That makes me feel a bit better, I just also really want to stay in California, so I'm hoping that i get into one of the two schools here.

cool. i am also from california. i applied to both those schools, Touro CA and Western, but didnt get in. neither require DO letters, but I think there was a question in the western secondary that asked about your DO shadowing experience, and i couldn't answer it well.

 

[Magus5454]

cool. i am also from california. i applied to both those schools, Touro CA and Western, but didnt get in. neither require DO letters, but I think there was a question in the western secondary that asked about your DO shadowing experience, and i couldn't answer it well.

Western does require a physician letter, and prefers DO for it.