Do I need to let my letter writers know which program I am applying for? (M.D. or D.O, or both)

[cuwhenucme]

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I haven't decided the final list of the schools I am going to apply. However, I wonder if I should let my letter writers know if I apply for M.D or D.O. or both.

Long story short, initially I want to apply for M.D. program only. However, I am changing to apply for most D.O. schools and maybe a few M.D. schools (or maybe not at all). I used to send my letter writer a guideline about writing a ROL, published by AAMC. AACOM does not have any related publication so I cannot send anything to them. But I don't to want them look at AAMC and thinking I am going to apply for M.D. program only.

I don't want to make things confusing or complicated to my letter writers. In order to save their time, I really want to make things simpler and easier. But I am worried if I don't specify it, they may misunderstand I only apply for M.D. program and they may write something (say, A told me that he is interested in your M.D. program in your school...) in the ROL when I submit it to the D.O. schools. That would be a big turn-off, right?

Any suggestion? Thanks for your advice!!

 

[DetectiveAlonzo]

I haven't decided the final list of the schools I am going to apply. However, I wonder if I should let my letter writers know if I apply for M.D or D.O. or both.

Long story short, initially I want to apply for M.D. program only. However, I am changing to apply for most D.O. schools and maybe a few M.D. schools (or maybe not at all). I used to send my letter writer a guideline about writing a ROL, published by AAMC. AACOM does not have any related publication so I cannot send anything to them. But I don't to want them look at AAMC and thinking I am going to apply for M.D. program only.

I don't want to make things confusing or complicated to my letter writers. In order to save their time, I really want to make things simpler and easier. But I am worried if I don't specify it, they may misunderstand I only apply for M.D. program and they may write something (say, A told me that he is interested in your M.D. program in your school...) in the ROL when I submit it to the D.O. schools. That would be a big turn-off, right?

Any suggestion? Thanks for your advice!!

Why the sudden change all of a sudden? Do you understand what osteopathic medicine is? What makes it different than allopathic medicine?

What would be a bigger turnoff is schools believe you choosing them as a backup or not truly interested in what that school and their connection to osteopathic medicine entails.

 

[cuwhenucme]

By the way, I am still confused with those terms myself: AAMC, AACOM, AACOMAS, AMCAS....

Does AAMC includes M.D. and D.O. both or just M.D.?

 

[Stlblues17]

By the way, I am still confused with those terms myself: AAMC, AACOM, AACOMAS, AMCAS....

Does AAMC includes M.D. and D.O. both or just M.D.?

AAMC is MD (AMCAS is app service)
AACOM is DO (AACOMAS is app service)

And as for the LOR situation, I would just let your letter writer know you are applying to Medical School. This way you can use the letters for both MD and DO. I say this because from a letter writer's prospective, the quality/content of letter won't differ depending on wether or not you go MD or DO. Unless you give specific reasons to say your academic advisor about why you want to be a DO.

 

[cuwhenucme]

Why the sudden change all of a sudden? Do you understand what osteopathic medicine is? What makes it different than allopathic medicine?

What would be a bigger turnoff is schools believe you choosing them as a backup or not truly interested in what that school and their connection to osteopathic medicine entails.

Thank you for your reply.
To answer your question, I didn't know D.O. program before. I came from a foreign country where the title of the doctor are M.D. only. In my impression, medical school only have M.D. programs and all the doctors are M.D....
I heard D.O. later on and I really think it is great. I want to become a physician and it does not matter if I can get into D.O or M.D. Both program train future physicians and great physicians as well.
I choose to apply mostly for D.O. because they seem to be more friendly to non-traditional elder applicants.

I hope I answer your questions.

 

[DetectiveAlonzo]

Good luck to you on whatever route you choose.

 

[cuwhenucme]

AAMC is MD (AMCAS is app service)
AACOM is DO (AACOMAS is app service)

And as for the LOR situation, I would just let your letter writer know you are applying to Medical School. This way you can use the letters for both MD and DO. I say this because from a letter writer's prospective, the quality/content of letter won't differ depending on wether or not you go MD or DO. Unless you give specific reasons to say your academic advisor about why you want to be a DO.

Thanks for your help, Stlblues17! I guess I have this question because myself is confused. Maybe my letter writers are more clear than me 🙂

 

[Stlblues17]

Thanks for your help, Stlblues17! I guess I have this question because myself is confused. Maybe my letter writers are more clear than me 🙂

For sure. Wish you the best.

 

[67552931811]

I told my letter writers I was applying to medical school. I left it at that.

 

[67552931811]

For sure. Wish you the best.

See you in the first round, bro.

 

[Stlblues17]

See you in the first round, bro.

I look forward to it 😡 . Your username is unfortunate, seeing that I tend to like your posts 😉