Can I ask someone to write a LOR via email

[inaccensa]

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I work in a lab, whose director is an MD. I want to ask him to write a LOR for DO school. I have been trying to get a DO to shadow, but that is not going too well. I barely see him and even when I do, he is surrounded by people. We work in the same office. Is it impolite to ask via email? or should i call up his secretary and ask to see him. I know the latter is the right way, but I get jittery around him. I want to ask him to keep it confidential and not tell anyone about my plans as of yet, how do I tell him that without offending him.
If i do get a DO letter, should I send both the DO and MD or just DO? Thanks

 

[Mbeas]

I asked by e-mail and it worked out just fine. Some people may argue that it's not professional, but it still works and my letter was really good. However, most people get letters after working with the physician in a clinical setting. It also sounds like you barely know the guy. I'd keep working to get that DO letter because the MD letter will be really impersonal. Make some phone calls, e-mail, whatever...get some shadowing done.

And yes, if you get the DO letter, then send both (unless you know the MD letter isn't going to be good).

 

[flyinkstar89]

Although I have shadowing experience, I thought it would be better to submit the LOR from the MD that I do research with since we have been working together for over 2 years and she knows me extremely well.

However, some of the DO schools (ATSU's and DMU come to mind) would not accept that letter as the physician letter because I did not shadow her. They said that the physician letter must reflect your clinical experience, so I ended up submitting another LOR from a doctor I shadowed.

Could you bypass the secretary and e-mail the MD directly asking for an appointment to talk to him?

 

[DeLaughterDO]

My advice would be to meet face to face. He is a potential future colleague and you will need to get used to talking confidently to those who may be farther up the food chain than you. The main reason this should be done face to face is to ensure a) he knows who you are when you make the request and b) that if he does not immediately respond favorably you can know to let it drop. You didn't make it seem as though you and he have a close working relationship, maybe I am misinterpreting your post, but unless you are comfortable with his knowledge of your intellect and background, a LOR may not actually help you. A milquetoast letter can hurt you almost as much as a bad letter. You need to make sure, and I would couch the question this way anytime you ask for a letter of reference or recommendation, that he is willing to write you a good, or strong, letter of recommendation.

I would send in all letters you are able to get, MD, DO, whatever, so long as you are confident they are positive letters. The more letters you have the better your application looks.

Best of luck!

 

[inaccensa]

I work for him, but I do not know him too personally. As a matter of fact, I don't know any MD's I work with personally. If I meet them in the elevator, I say hello and that is pretty much it. He is aware that i exist and I think or rather hope, he thinks of me favorably. My supervisor is a PhD and he wrote a LOR letter for me, which is now a part of the pre-health committee letter. I'm contemplating whether I should or should not ask him. I did not shadow him.

 

[DrWily]

If you are really in a pinch (read: need it right now as you are applying this cycle), then I'd go for it. If you are applying next cycle, then I wouldn't. Getting a letter from someone who doesn't know you will be very generic and probably won't hold much weight.

That being said, if you could arrange a meeting with this guy, maybe over lunch or something and discuss with him your reasons for medical school, and what makes you tick as a human being, it would be A LOT better. You don't need to shadow the guy to get an awesome LOR but having SOME kind of interaction with him so that he can get a better picture of who you are will help drastically.

This is why people generally get a LOR from a doctor they shadowed. You spent 10-20+ hours with the same person, and you are bound to have conversations which exemplify you as an individual and helps the person write a stellar LOR.

 

[inaccensa]

If you are really in a pinch (read: need it right now as you are applying this cycle), then I'd go for it. If you are applying next cycle, then I wouldn't. Getting a letter from someone who doesn't know you will be very generic and probably won't hold much weight.

That being said, if you could arrange a meeting with this guy, maybe over lunch or something and discuss with him your reasons for medical school, and what makes you tick as a human being, it would be A LOT better. You don't need to shadow the guy to get an awesome LOR but having SOME kind of interaction with him so that he can get a better picture of who you are will help drastically.

This is why people generally get a LOR from a doctor they shadowed. You spent 10-20+ hours with the same person, and you are bound to have conversations which exemplify you as an individual and helps the person write a stellar LOR.

Ok Dr. Willy 🙂 I understand your point. I certainly want him to write a good letter. I'm still deliberating between meeting him in person and emailing him. I'm sure my boss had written a stellar letter, but that is now part of pre-health committee letter.

 

[GlimmerGlass]

You could try calling his secretary to set up an appointment to meet with him or if that is not possible you can email him and say you have not been able to catch him in person but would like to schedule some time to talk to him. Mention your goals of going to med school and tell him the nature of the meeting you would like to set up. It sounds like although you "work for him" that you do not have much interaction and so I would recommend that instead of asking for a LOR right away to ask if possible to shadow him (on your non-working hours of course 😉) with the goal of obtaining an LOR. Or if this is not possible or if you simply don't want your co-workers to see you shadow him then ask him if he knows of colleagues or friends who are doctors you can shadow. Finding doctors to shadow can sometimes be difficult so it helps to already know some physicians who can provide you with contacts.

 

[FrkyBgStok]

What I did was e-mail him saying I would like to set up a time to talk about writing a LOR and giving him a little information. This allowed me to feel him out. If he was totally cool with it he would have said, "no need to come in." If he didn't want to write the letter he would have blown me off. If he was interested but wanted more information (which he did), he would tell me a good time to meet. That way he also got to prepare for it on his end.