Is this a bad reason not to have shadowed?

[kkosp2451]

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In my early UG years, and recently about a year ago, I have shadowed 2-3 MD's. There hasn't been any particular reason for me to choose an MD to shadow, other than the fact that these people were the ones who actually got back to my emails from the 20-30 doctors I have contacted. The extent of my shadowing was between 3-6 months.

My main reasoning for not having shadowed a DO in the past year is that I currently work as an ER tech, while also going to school and volunteering. I'm lucky to be able to interact with tons of patients and work with many different doctors and nurses. I'm usually in the room with the resident/attending, and get to watch their assessment, get to see what meds/lab tests they order, etc. I also get to ask them questions about certain patients "why are you requesting ___ exam for this patient? What is the normal amount of ___ that someone is supposed to have? Why is this patient's ____ so high/low?". It makes my job that much more interesting, and makes me feel more involved in the patient care they are receiving. It also allows me to see what people consider a good doctor or a bad doctor. In addition, I feel overall more comfortable working with the resident/attending and asking them questions as colleagues, rather than some girl they have never seen, awkwardly standing in the back.

Despite this having interacted with many DO's, I have never 'shadowed' a DO officially. I am worried that this may come up as an issue, and that my excuse won't be good enough. I feel that I am able to gain the same, if not more, from what I would get from shadowing (but then again, this may be a very naiive thought on my part). The reason why I haven't shadowed a DO is simply because the 10-15 I have contacted have never gotten back to me. Obviously I could try harder, but I'm just wondering if it's worth it. Any advice would be really greatly appreciated!

(Also, the programs I am planning on applying to do not have a DO shadowing hour requirement)

 

[Awesome Sauceome]

I think especially if you can get a LoR from one of the DOs that you work with, I imagine it should definitely not be a problem. I think the main point is to just have some evidence that you know what a DO is/does.

 

[Ogmora]

I only shadowed one DO for a total of less than 20 hours. But the DO LoR that I sent to all the schools was from a physician that I saw a few times for an athletic injury. It wasn't very extensive (it was probably less than this post in length, the doc basically said I was a good person and knew a lot about osteopathic medicine) but it completed the requirement for most of the schools I applied to and all the ones I interviewed at. (The other physician LoR I sent in was from an MD who I worked with for over a year, so needless to say, it was much more personal than the one from the DO I went to.)

In my interviews I didn't have much to say about my experience with DO's besides one shadowing experience and a few office visits. I think they would have much rather heard me say that I work with DO's on a regular basis. That being said, so long as you can get a LoR from one of the ones you work with, you should be more than fine.