d.o. shadowing necessary?

[stinkywinky]

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I decided this year to apply to d.o. and m.d. partly because of my stats and more so because of a cool osteopath that helped my mom with chronic back pain (this year). I have a long history in healthcare, but have not shadowed a d.o. I am not applying to schools that require a d.o. lor. I have a good lor from an m.d. I currently work with. Do you think it is necessary to pursue shadowing a d.o.? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

http://www.mdapplicants.com/viewprofile.php?myid=6117

 

[kafrinkabluejay]

I decided this year to apply to d.o. and m.d. partly because of my stats and more so because of a cool osteopath that helped my mom with chronic back pain (this year). I have a long history in healthcare, but have not shadowed a d.o. I am not applying to schools that require a d.o. lor. I have a good lor from an m.d. I currently work with. Do you think it is necessary to pursue shadowing a d.o.? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

http://www.mdapplicants.com/viewprofile.php?myid=6117

Shadowing a DO is definitely a good idea, although in my case I had only shadowed MD's and I did not have LORs from any DOs, only MDs and my professors. It's probably best to get experience in shadowing DOs, at my Western interview the interviewer suggested I read more about Osteopathic medicine, and I thought that that wasn't a good sign, but they still took me! If you have time, I suggest pursuing a DO to shadow, I've met a couple since I've gotten in and they are always willing to help out! Good luck with the application process!!

 

[stinkywinky]

Shadowing a DO is definitely a good idea, although in my case I had only shadowed MD's and I did not have LORs from any DOs, only MDs and my professors. It's probably best to get experience in shadowing DOs, at my Western interview the interviewer suggested I read more about Osteopathic medicine, and I thought that that wasn't a good sign, but they still took me! If you have time, I suggest pursuing a DO to shadow, I've met a couple since I've gotten in and they are always willing to help out! Good luck with the application process!!

thanks for the advice. I will keep trying to get in touch with one🙂

 

[dr.z]

I got accepted without shadowing one so if you can't its not the end of the world.

 

[KeyLime]

I shadowed a DO a couple weeks ago, and she didn't seem super happy to have me there. Long story short, I didn't get very much out of it, but if asked, I can say that I did it. I shadowed an MD a couple months ago and had a great experience. I've read about osteopathic medicine, and I grew up in a rural area where it was very common to have mostly DO's at the clinics. If you can swing it, I will only help your case if you have actually shadowed a DO, but sometimes it is hard to find a good one who is willing to let a student hang out with them.

 

[Hardbody]

I shadowed a DO a couple weeks ago, and she didn't seem super happy to have me there. Long story short, I didn't get very much out of it, but if asked, I can say that I did it. I shadowed an MD a couple months ago and had a great experience. I've read about osteopathic medicine, and I grew up in a rural area where it was very common to have mostly DO's at the clinics. If you can swing it, I will only help your case if you have actually shadowed a DO, but sometimes it is hard to find a good one who is willing to let a student hang out with them.

Now that I am not new to the shadowing game I can tell you, physican (be it M.D. or D.O.) enthusiasm toward shadowing can very GREATLY. The most bitter surgeon I shadowed was an M.D. (definitely did not want me there) and the happiest physician I shadowed was a D.O. and actualy liked having me around.

 

[wolfram241]

Now that I am not new to the shadowing game I can tell you, physican (be it M.D. or D.O.) enthusiasm toward shadowing can very GREATLY. The most bitter surgeon I shadowed was an M.D. (definitely did not want me there) and the happiest physician I shadowed was a D.O. and actualy liked having me around.

Then why did he let you?

 

[Hardbody]

Then why did he let you?

Actually, it was a she and it was because her partner decided that I should get a little different taste of what they did (she had a slightly different sub-specialty).

 

[DrPhysician]

I decided this year to apply to d.o. and m.d. partly because of my stats and more so because of a cool osteopath that helped my mom with chronic back pain (this year). I have a long history in healthcare, but have not shadowed a d.o. I am not applying to schools that require a d.o. lor. I have a good lor from an m.d. I currently work with. Do you think it is necessary to pursue shadowing a d.o.? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

http://www.mdapplicants.com/viewprofile.php?myid=6117

I'm in your same boat stinky. I just submitted AACOMAS today and i am trying to find a DO to shadow so i can have the DO experience firsthand and also get the DO letter. So you're positive that the schools in your mdApps don't require the DO letter?

 

[stinkywinky]

I'm in your same boat stinky. I just submitted AACOMAS today and i am trying to find a DO to shadow so i can have the DO experience firsthand and also get the DO letter. So you're positive that the schools in your mdApps don't require the DO letter?

Yes, I'm pretty certain that the 10 schools on my aacomas do not require a lor from a d.o. They say an m.d. letter is okay. (However they do "recommend" one from a d.o.) I checked each college website individually before sending in to aacomas. Good luck with finding a shadow experience. I still haven't heard back from my prospective d.o.!

 

[PlasticMan]

I got accepted without shadowing one so if you can't its not the end of the world.

Same here; just had an MD LOR.

 

[KeyLime]

I didn't mean to sound like DO's are bad to shadow and MD's are nice. I've just shadowed more MD's and only one DO. I want to go to DO school and become one myself, so my post wasn't meant to be as harsh as it came out.

 

[mshheaddoc]

Some DO schools require a DO letter, not all do though. So keep that in mind when choosing what schools you apply to. I would highly suggest if you apply to DO to have some DO shadowing as it could be seen as a weakness in your application (as a few stated above). Its not really necessary for most DO schools though.


Here's a thread that had some good info. http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=271896

 

[scpod]

I am not applying to schools that require a d.o. lor. I have a good lor from an m.d. I currently work with. Do you think it is necessary to pursue shadowing a d.o.? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

The number of schools that require you to "shadow" a DO is zero. However, some schools require a letter from a DO. Ummmmm...you don't actually have to do shadowing to get that. Not applying to DO schools that have a "letter" requirement can limit you, but it is still not necessary to "shadow" one to get that letter. I know some that will give you a letter pretty easily, but others are a lot more difficult. Why limit yourself to just those schools that don't have a requirement?