I was going to do MD/PhD but I changed my mind. LORs are written, unfortunately, for MD/PhD. Am I screwed?

[ma2]

I was set on applying to them, but after actually thinking long and hard about it and writing my essays, I realized my heart was in medicine more than research. I would love to do research as a physician, but in all honesty an MD would suffice for the type of career I want. I regretfully had to come to the decision that I'm better off applying regular MD, and I should let someone who is more passionate and likely to dedicate more time to research apply instead of me.

The problem is, my LORs were written on the expectation that I would apply to MD/PhD programs. I know it was stupid of me, but when I asked them 4 months ago, I was sure this was the path for me. I wish I was more thoughtful earlier, but what's done is done. I had an MD LOR lined up, but the physician suffered a stroke, and his assistant emailed me to tell me that he would not (understandably) write my letter anymore. So, now I'm down to 3: my PI, who taught two of my classes; a science professor in my major; and a humanities professor who I am close with.

Am I screwed? Will adcoms read my LORs and reject me? I know it doesn't look good to change my mind so suddenly, and it probably doesn't bode well. Truthfully I've wanted medicine for longer than an MD/PhD. I was enticed into it by my PI and science profs, who made it seem like it would be a complete waste of my research years if I went regular MD. I do love research and I hope I can continue benchwork in my future, but a regular MD would be just as fulfilling.

I searched the forum and found one post, and the comments weren’t very helpful besides 1. I just wanted to get the MD-perspective.

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[Icebird]

Just tell them if they can send you additional letters since you’ll be applying to both. You select which ones go to each school from the portal.

 

[ma2]

Just tell them if they can send you additional letters since you’ll be applying to both. You select which ones go to each school from the portal.

I’m not sure how willing they’d be to write new letters, but I’ll try.

 

[Icebird]

I’m not sure how willing they’d be to write new letters, but I’ll try.

It can be the same exact letter just tell them to replace any specific mention or qualities of MD/PhD to MD

 

[Seihai]

I think I posted about this elsewhere too, but generally you don't want to have letters that say MD-PhD if you're applying only MD. I strongly encourage you to get your letter-writers to rewrite their letters.

It can be the same exact letter just tell them to replace any specific mention or qualities of MD/PhD to MD

This may not be perfect, but is the best alternative. Letters geared towards MD-PhD tend to be research and inquiry heavy, which are traits important to MD-PhD programs but less important to MD than the personal competencies that they tend to emphasize.