Did not get a letter from DO I shadowed, have a strong letter from MD. Should I find a DO to shadow? Can I right now...?

[TragicalDrFaust]

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I scribed for an MD for over a year and got a good letter from him. I shadowed a DO for a couple weeks. He expressed disinterest in writing a letter for me by stalling and delaying until I decided it was not appropriate to continue calling his office. This didn't give me any opportunity to ask why he's not comfortable writing a letter and I perhaps wouldn't want one from him anyway based on the racially-charged remarks he made regarding people who look like me. (I'm Asian and he had a lot to say about Chinese and Indian people.) I'm looking for a different DO to shadow but the timing isn't optimal for obvious reasons.

Unfortunately I've run into several secondary applications that ask if I've shadowed a DO. I already said I did in my primary application but the secondaries sometimes ask if I have a DO letter and if not, why. I imagine it looks pretty bad not to have one. I'm considering explaining by saying I had a longer working relationship with the MD but adcoms may still wonder why I didn't get a cursory DO letter.

So my question is, will having a strong MD letter make up for my lack of DO letter at the schools that don't require DO letters? Will adcoms accept my explanation and understand why I wanted a letter from the MD I worked for for a year but didn't get a letter from the DO I shadowed for a couple weeks?

edited for grammar

 

[Goro]

Just answer the truthfully. While lacking a DO LOR won't hurt, having one always helps

 

[deleted1053216]

I scribed for an MD for over a year and got a good letter from him. I shadowed a DO for a couple weeks. He expressed disinterest in writing a letter for me by stalling and delaying until I decided it was not appropriate to continue calling his office. This didn't give me any opportunity to ask why he's not comfortable writing a letter and I perhaps wouldn't want one from him anyway based on the racially-charged remarks he made regarding people who look like me. (I'm Asian and he had a lot to say about Chinese and Indian people.) I'm looking for a different DO to shadow but the timing isn't optimal for obvious reasons.

Unfortunately I've run into several secondary applications that ask if I've shadowed a DO. I already said I did in my primary application but the secondaries sometimes ask if I have a DO letter and if not, why. I imagine it looks pretty bad not to have one. I'm considering explaining by saying I had a longer working relationship with the MD but adcoms may still wonder why I didn't get a cursory DO letter.

So my question is, will having a strong MD letter make up for my lack of DO letter at the schools that don't require DO letters? Will adcoms accept my explanation and understand why I wanted a letter from the MD I worked for for a year but didn't get a letter from the DO I shadowed for a couple weeks?

edited for grammar

I agree having a letter helps, but, it isn't the end all be all. You have worked with a DO, use that experience to push yourself. For instance, talk about the techniques that you watched him do, or how rewarding it was to see a patient in pain get relief. Talk about how it opened your mind to approaching the person as a whole and finally speak to how you will have another tool in your proverbial tool belt of patient care.

 

[Damson]

Most DO schools will accept MD letters. Two or three require DO letters but you've still got plenty of options

 

[PapaGuava]

It will likely be difficult to shadow a DO right now, so I would just move forward with the physician letter you have now. Like Goro said, DO letters always help but it won't shut doors, except for a few schools that require a DO LOR.

 

[Tozanzibarbymotorcar]

I wouldn’t even mention you shadowed him. You will just open a can of worms. If you have good stats otherwise, make sure to apply to places that don’t require a do letter. For those that do, write to admissions and ask if it is required this year given the pandemic.

 

[TragicalDrFaust]

I wouldn’t even mention you shadowed him. You will just open a can of worms. If you have good stats otherwise, make sure to apply to places that don’t require a do letter. For those that do, write to admissions and ask if it is required this year given the pandemic.

My original post was a little wordy so you may have missed that my primary application, which I already submitted, says I shadowed a DO so it’s too late to go back.