having problems shadowing

[mommy2three]

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hey all,
i feel like a dog chasing it's tail as i desperately try to get in to shadow a do so that i can have one wite me a lor. i should mention that my personal physician is a do and i have called and left two messages about coming in to speak with him regarding the profession and ask him to write me a lor but have yet to hear back from him. plus i have no clinical experience on my app so i figured i shoudl probably get some as i know this is looked upon favorably by adcom's (my volunteer experience was as an on-call advocate for a sexual assault/domestic violence shelter/hotline to respond to hospitals for cases involving either). anyway i digress, i am having a dickens of a time finding a do who is willing to work with me due to the bureacratic red tape known as hippa....AGGGHHH!!! they are reluctant to work with me because i am not a med student but i can not become a med student unless i get experience.....can i find a corner to go bang my head against now??? i have contacted the school where i will be taking grad classes and am waiting to hear back from the pre-health advisor there (who i talked to earlier this summer) to figure out if maybe we can do an internship with a physician.
anyone else dealt with this, and if so how did you skirt around it????

 

[xTinaBna]

hey all,
i feel like a dog chasing it's tail as i desperately try to get in to shadow a do so that i can have one wite me a lor. i should mention that my personal physician is a do and i have called and left two messages about coming in to speak with him regarding the profession and ask him to write me a lor but have yet to hear back from him. plus i have no clinical experience on my app so i figured i shoudl probably get some as i know this is looked upon favorably by adcom's (my volunteer experience was as an on-call advocate for a sexual assault/domestic violence shelter/hotline to respond to hospitals for cases involving either). anyway i digress, i am having a dickens of a time finding a do who is willing to work with me due to the bureacratic red tape known as hippa....AGGGHHH!!! they are reluctant to work with me because i am not a med student but i can not become a med student unless i get experience.....can i find a corner to go bang my head against now??? i have contacted the school where i will be taking grad classes and am waiting to hear back from the pre-health advisor there (who i talked to earlier this summer) to figure out if maybe we can do an internship with a physician.
anyone else dealt with this, and if so how did you skirt around it????

don't stress too much about the d.o. letter..unless its for one of those schools that requires it. i noticed you are from the chicago area..have you tried Alexian Brothers Medical Center (elk grove)? there are alot of d.o.'s there. i feel maybe a hospitalist d.o. would be easier than private practice since it will have a larger patient base. if you cannot shadow because of hippa, ask maybe for an interview? sometimes those can be just as informative. also, try calling CCOM..i'm sure they may have a list of affiliated physicians, it may help to interview a d.o. faculty member even! good luck! 🙂

 

[Fermata]

Sometimes it just takes a lot of cold calling.

It took me to about the tenth DO on my list before I found someone responsive.

It turned out for the best - I had a great time and he's a fairly big name guy in the osteopathic community.

Just keep trying. Don't hesitate to go outside of the Chicago area if you need to. I drove 8+ hours roundtrip.

 

[whatdapho]

Fermata definitely has the right approach. Go to AOA.org and go the Find a D.O. option. Just search D.O.'s in areas you're willing to travel to in order to shadow. It's going to take a lot of calling and leaving messages. That's basically how I found a D.O. to shadow. I don't expect a LOR from him just the experience of OMM. Most schools don't require but recommend getting a LOR from a D.O. I think as long as you apply to schools which don't require a D.O. LOR you should be fine. However, a lot of schools require a physician LOR. If you don't have that, start checking MD's as well. Good luck and hopefully you find a D.O. soon.