lor from someone in family??

[mommy2three]

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while i continue to chase my proverbial tail trying to get some experience with shadowing a doc i have begun to consider other avenues of having a lor from a md/do for secondary applications.
anyway, my aunt (my dad's youngest sis) married a md (he is a practicing pathologist). he knows me fairly well and knows how much i want to become a physician and he has also seen firsthand my dedication to studying so would be able to write me a very good lor. but i did not know how this would be looked on by adcoms. is this allowable/acceptable for a lor or would this be frowned upon? anyone used one like this before???
tia for any insight

 

[vt hokie]

personally i don't think it is appropriate. some schools, like VCOM, specifically state that the lor cannot be from a relative (either by blood or through marriage). but adcoms won't know that he is related to you, so i guess it depends on your personal ethics.

 

[Yankee]

I was wondering the same thing. Alot of my experience with DO's have been with an Uncle but I was hesitiant to have him write a letter. I think it may be a better idea to get another letter in addition who can comment on your experiences.

 

[musiclink213]

Well, if he's an MD, some schools might still not accept that, they want a DO letter. It's really your call, they'll have no way of knowing if he's related to you or not. And if I infer correctly, he's related by marriage? So it's your call, just don't say that he's in your family if the secondary asks if you have any docs in the family.

 

[BklynWill]

same answer I gave in the Osteopathic forum:

Sounds like a conflict of interest.

In fact, you might gain even more points than a LOR by using your essay to highlight the fascinating work you have done with your uncle.

And if you have never worked first-hand with him before, then your answer is painfully obvious.

 

[Testy McAterson]

i'd ask him to help hook you up. while it might not be 'ethical' to have him write the letter, he's got to have doctor friends who would be willing to let you shadow or interview you or do whatever they feel they need to do before they write a letter for you. i wish i had living doctors in my 'family' to help me in that way...