DO Doctor Shadow

Started by cgibbles
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cgibbles

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10+ Year Member
Hey Everyone!

My brother in law is a dermatologist (DO). I have shadowed him for the past 6 months. Would he be able to write a letter of recommendation for me for medical school? Or would there be a conflict of interest with that? Thanks!
 
Most people would say that a LOR from a family member doesn't carry a lot of weight and it would be looked at subjectively. Does your brother have a solo practice or does he have partners? If he has partners, see if they can write you a letter if they are familiar with you. You don't want a LOR to be viewed lightly because they are so important. I saw one of my letters and it was average at best. I think it may have hurt me in the end so I didn't send it to LECOM and was accepted.
 
cgibbles said:
Hey Everyone!

My brother in law is a dermatologist (DO). I have shadowed him for the past 6 months. Would he be able to write a letter of recommendation for me for medical school? Or would there be a conflict of interest with that? Thanks!
Click to expand...

I think most schools state that they would prefer that the letter not come from a family member. I agree with bleeker10 that the LOR is important, and I for one would not risk it being taken lightly because it came from a family member.

I am (well, was) actually in a similar situation as you. I have a sister in law who is a physician, I didn't even bother asking her for one. Instead I found (4 so far) DO's to shadow. I really felt that I connected with 3 of the 4 and asked each of those three for a letter.

Good luck!
 
Being a DO dermatologist means he probably has some pretty sick scores along with some great connections. An in-law means different last names.

For those two reasons, I can see why you would want a LOR from this person. You may not get caught, but if I were you, I would use your in-laws connections to get equally good shadowing experiences. That way you eliminate any possible problems.
 
Ahh I skipped past the part where it said "brother-in law". In that case, as long as he doesn't reference you being related to him then it probably wouldn't be a big deal to get a LOR from him. I was gonna use a LOR from my uncle (different last names) for the HPSP process since he was a JAG lawyer in the AF for 10 years but I didn't need it. I agree with seeing if your brother-in law has some good connections for shadowing.
 
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