Letter of recommendation from a yoga instructor?

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Imogen

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I have a letter of recommendation from a yoga teacher at my school. I took 2 courses with her through the dance program at my university and she knows me fairly well and seemed to like me a lot - particularly for being open-minded and respectful of alternative therapy practitioners within medicine. When we weren't doing yoga in class, we were discussing it's benefits I generally tried to use science to discuss this and I think she appreciated that.

Anyway, my question is, is this letter appropriate to actually send to medical schools? I feel kind of weird about it because... well, let's face it, it was a yoga class. It's not like it was super difficult. I do think the letter probably says nice things about my character, but I'm not sure if she might have gone on about my willingness to support alternative therapies or anything like that. That makes me a bit wary because though I am in favor of less drug therapy (if possible), I still would be the type of physician to use hard science to determine if an alternative therapy is indicated. I don't want some research school to read this letter and think I'm going to try to treat my cancer patients with herbs and meditation or something.
 
Imogen said:
I have a letter of recommendation from a yoga teacher at my school. I took 2 courses with her through the dance program at my university and she knows me fairly well and seemed to like me a lot - particularly for being open-minded and respectful of alternative therapy practitioners within medicine. When we weren't doing yoga in class, we were discussing it's benefits I generally tried to use science to discuss this and I think she appreciated that.

Anyway, my question is, is this letter appropriate to actually send to medical schools? I feel kind of weird about it because... well, let's face it, it was a yoga class. It's not like it was super difficult. I do think the letter probably says nice things about my character, but I'm not sure if she might have gone on about my willingness to support alternative therapies or anything like that. That makes me a bit wary because though I am in favor of less drug therapy (if possible), I still would be the type of physician to use hard science to determine if an alternative therapy is indicated. I don't want some research school to read this letter and think I'm going to try to treat my cancer patients with herbs and meditation or something.
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I wouldn't use it as one of the 'required' letters. If a schools says that you can send additional letters, and you feel like this letter will speak to your character or something, I suppose it couldn't hurt.

*Well, it may hurt, depending on who reads it. haha
 
Yeah let me clarify, this would definitely only be used as a supplemental letter.
 
Imogen said:
I have a letter of recommendation from a yoga teacher at my school. I took 2 courses with her through the dance program at my university and she knows me fairly well and seemed to like me a lot - particularly for being open-minded and respectful of alternative therapy practitioners within medicine. When we weren't doing yoga in class, we were discussing it's benefits I generally tried to use science to discuss this and I think she appreciated that.

Anyway, my question is, is this letter appropriate to actually send to medical schools? I feel kind of weird about it because... well, let's face it, it was a yoga class. It's not like it was super difficult. I do think the letter probably says nice things about my character, but I'm not sure if she might have gone on about my willingness to support alternative therapies or anything like that. That makes me a bit wary because though I am in favor of less drug therapy (if possible), I still would be the type of physician to use hard science to determine if an alternative therapy is indicated. I don't want some research school to read this letter and think I'm going to try to treat my cancer patients with herbs and meditation or something.
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I would avoid it. The chance of it hurting you if someone who doesn't believe in alternative medicine reviews your application is probably greater than the chance of someone who does believe in alternative medicine reading it and supporting you because of it. No data to back it up, but that is my guess, that it isn't worth the risk.
 
Samiamm said:
How does it seem like that?? OP just asked a question?? Where do you get that out of the OP???
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It was a joke!

But seriously, would you take a yoga instructors word of why he should be a doctor? "His upward facing dog demonstrates his knowledge of anatomy" or "his flexibility astounds me"

I feel like adcoms would just laugh at the letter.
 
IMO, any character reference helps. I mean, med schools do have "alternative" medicine as a curriculum, so they are "open" minded.
 
BABSstudent said:
Especially if this is your instructor: http://www.goupstate.com/article/20...e-Release-of-john-suspect-names-stirs-debate-

But seriously, do you think her letter would carry any weight on admissions? Seems like you are just trying to reach the letter requirement numbers.
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Let me just defend myself a bit here by saying that I am definitely not trying to reach some letter requirement number. I have recommendations from professors, research supervisors, etc. This would have been purely an extra character reference letter and one that I think shows my commitment to the promotion of physical and mental health as well as my ability to evaluate the usefulness of non-pharmaceutical treatments. I say this because we spent a great deal of time evaluating the health benefits of yoga, and while half the stuff my teacher said was unsupported anecdotal evidence, I actually took the time to evaluate her claims from an academic standpoint. And so during discussions, I would challenge her or support her based on clinical studies and scientific evidence. I think she really enjoyed having someone challenge her in a respectful and intellectual manner, as many of my peers did not do the same.

Schools list that you may provide letters of recommendation from extracurricular activities and I'm sure many applicants have done that, providing letters from coaches, club supervisors, and other activities that have absolutely nothing to do with medicine. Obviously one's track coach can say nothing about how well you'll do on a clinical rotation, but they can attest to your motivation, empathy, team-work abilities, and other factors. I think that this sort of evaluation can be valuable.

That said, I definitely don't want to cause controversy during my application review and from the responses I've gotten so far, I think the yoga letter is one I should just drop.
 
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Hi Imogen (love that name btw)

As someone here already said, any character reference is a good thing as long as it is positive. Were you a diligent student? Were you open minded to other methods which are not necessarily the norm? Were you willing to go out of your comfort zone and try new things? Research after all does to some extent involve pushing the limits of what is known and accepted. Do you think these are the characteristics she will emphasize in her letter? If so I don't think you have much to fear. I doubt she will be talking about your downward facing dog technique...unless she is kooky in which case , you don't want a reference letter from her to begin with...
 
type12 said:
IMO, any character reference helps. I mean, med schools do have "alternative" medicine as a curriculum, so they are "open" minded.
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I agree with this, I don't see how a positive character reference letter could hurt. Also, when my uncle was diagnosed with cancer his oncologist (at a top notch cancer center I might add) recommended he do yoga to reduce stress and anxiety that came with his diagnosis. he said he felt a lot better mentally from doing it, so I don't think yoga is taboo in the medical community
 
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