Hospital/Mental Health Work and the importance of DO shadowing

[velodork]

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Sorry for the redundancy of this question, I know there have been many similar questions asked before mine. Unfortunately I wasnt really able to identify a thread discussing my exact situation.

So far I've called around to 10 private practices as well as the local SOM with no luck in finding a shadowing opportunity. My next step will be to look outside of my immediate area but would be potentially facing hours of daily commuting time to make this happen before the upcoming cycle.

I have ~7 years of clinical work experience, ~4 of which have been at a local hospital in the Psych area. I occasionally communicate with an emergency medicine DO and review his clinical documentation/h&p done in the ER (part of fulfilling my job duties). The differences in his h&p and those of his MD counterparts are obvious to me, and this is something I could definitely talk confidently about in an interview or on an application. Because of our work relationship I feel like asking him to shadow would be somewhat inappropriate.

Will my lack of formal shadowing be an app killer? My stats are pretty average but my application should look pretty good with lots of clinical work experience and non-clinical volunteering time.

Thanks in advance for your feedback.

 

[s5260205]

I got into several DO schools without shadowing at all, but I did have substantial clinical experience. The downside of not having DO shadowing is that you won't be eligible at schools that explicitly require DO LOR. It's up to you whether you would want to broaden your chances with DO shadowing or not.

 

[velodork]

I got into several DO schools without shadowing at all, but I did have substantial clinical experience. The downside of not having DO shadowing is that you won't be eligible at schools that explicitly require DO LOR. It's up to you whether you would want to broaden your chances with DO shadowing or not.

Wow, I didn't realize before now that this was even necessary. Thanks for the feedback.

 

[Hippogriff]

I actually had zero formal shadowing myself and had multiple acceptances (DO + MD). Agreed that having substantial clinical experience would be enough. Shadowing with a DO for the DO LOR is ideal. However, you could also get a letter from a DO that you've worked with and have a good relationship with like the ED DO you mentioned.

 

[justpedsthings]

Wow, I didn't realize before now that this was even necessary. Thanks for the feedback.

Even for some schools that require a DO LOR, I've seen them make exceptions for substantial experience in the field and being able to talk about osteopathic medicine in your app/interview should provide sufficient. I had only shadowed two MD docs and was worried this would hurt me but because I had a few years of clinical experience working with a DO and was able to talk about that, I think it helped me out a bit. Hope that helps!