letter from M.D. or D.O. ??

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Fooman

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I was informed today by the D.O. that I thought I was going to shadow that his administrators wouldn't let me due to issues of patient confidentiality and liability.

I can get a letter from a MD whom I currently work with. Do you think that will hurt my chances of getting in?

btw, there are not many D.Os in my area and from what I understand most DO schools require a recommendation letter from a D.O. or at least prefer one.

did any of you get in with a letter from a M.D.??

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Hey Fooman,
I guess we're both in the same boat still. I haven't had much luck getting a D.O. rec in B'ham, either. I am just going to go with my M.D. letter. He did a good job and knows me pretty well. I'm not sure waiting on a D.O. letter while my app. collects dust is worth it. Especially since I have a good M.D. letter. Anyway, good luck.
 
Guys,

I'd recommend proceeding with your apps with the MD recs and then adding a D.O. rec later when you are able to secure one (this way your apps won't be slowed up).

Also, that sounds like a pretty lame excuse from the administrators about patient confidentiality...such things are done routinely by MD counterparts in all of the clinical sites that I know of in B-ham. Perhaps you could ask him if he'd just allow you to have lunch with him to find out more about the profession, at least. I'd keep looking in B-ham for a willing D.O., however, were I you...

your mileage may vary...
 
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Yet another update: Not giving up, I continued to search for another DO. I finally found one out in Bessemer who operated his own clinic and was more than happy to help.

I told him the excuse that the administrator told me and he replied, "yeah, well...it's a stupid monarchy....I own my own clinic so I get to do whatever I want."

I hope this means I get to have hands-on experience too!
 
Foo,
I hope that you get this soon, but I just saw your post. Call Dr. Mark Bailey, he is absolutely wonderful, and a huge help. I had him write me recs last year. I called him out of the blue, and he was more than willing to help me out. I learned so much from him and he just reinfoced my belief that I made the right decision to become a DO. He works down in Alabaster so it is a bit of a drive but definitely worth it. Another good DO to call and try and shadow is Dr. Virgil McGrady out in Trussville. He is really good as well but unfortunately I didn't get to shadow him as much. I hope that this helps, take care and best of luck!

Zach
 
Thanks Steev2000. Actually, I already have his name on my list as a DO to call, but then I got accepted by Dr. Portante out in Bessemer so I didn't bother to call Dr. Bailey. But I will still call Dr. Bailey and ask him if he'll be willing to help. By the way, how long should I shadow for?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but is Dr. Bailey on the AOA board for the state of Alabama?
 
Foo,
I am pretty sure that he is on the board(99%) which is another reason to get to know him. He invited me to the AOMA conference this past Aug. in Sandestin, expenses paid, but I wasn't able to go because of orientation. As far as shadowing goes, I don't know how long you should do it for. There isn't a set amount of time that schools are looking for, but I can assure you that the more experience you have the better. So my advice would be to do it as much as possible. It would be a good idea to try to really get to know whichever DO is going to write your recs. But at the same time go shadow others in different fields. Really just do what you can; there are so many factors that go into this whole pre-med process, and you can't do everything. That is probably more than you wanted to hear so I'll quit now. Good luck and take care,

Zach
 
hey foo,
what schools are u applying to? it depends on what school you are applying to whether you can slip with a rec from an MD. i did research for 3 yrs for an MD and he wrote me a rec that got me into DMU, UHS and a couple others. however, i was also trying to get into Nova and they REQUIRE a rec from a DO. Nova threw out my MD letter. i ended up frantically searching in the phone book for a DO to shadow, and after a lot of rejection, i finally found one to shadow a few hours and he filled out the rec form before i left. the rec he did was not bad, but was very generic and impersonal. it was also march. i didnt get into Nova. moral of the story: last minute shadowing experiences make bad recommendations. my advice to you is find a DO now and work on building a relationship with him or her. make sure they know all of your ambitions and why you want to be a DO. that way they can make a good rec for you. good luck
 
I had an MD letter in my application because he was my PCP and also the medical director for our fire department, so he really knew me. I did shadow a DO a couple of days and he wrote me an outstanding letter. If the MD has known you a while then definitely send it, but try to get a letter from a DO if you can. Good Luck.
 
You have plenty of time still. Get that DO letter. If you can't readily find a DO, call your state's osteopathic association...they can probably give you some names and numbers.
It's just one of those things you have to do if you're applying to DO schools. Without it you eliminate yourself from the runnings for about half of the schools. Also, if you have more than one letter, send them all. They might discourage this on an app., but I found that it did not work against me.

Good Luck,

-dieselkid
MS 05
 
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