Potential problem with a recommendation letter

[medstudent005]

Hi everyone

I have currently applied to medical school this cycle and the thing is that a physician that I showed who wrote one of my letters was charged with insurance fraud before I sent my application but I still used his recommendation letter. I did not think much of it until in 2 of my interviews the interviewers casually mentioned it. I am beginning to worry that this may militate against me in this application cycle. Can this affect my application in a negative way or am I over thinking it?

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[KungFuPanda123]

Hi everyone

I have currently applied to medical school this cycle and the thing is that a physician that I showed who wrote one of my letters was charged with insurance fraud before I sent my application but I still used his recommendation letter. I did not think much of it until in 2 of my interviews the interviewers casually mentioned it. I am beginning to worry that this may militate against me in this application cycle. Can this affect my application in a negative way or am I over thinking it?

Well, it's definitely not going to help you. If you just shadowed him a bit, then it's probably not going to be much of a negative either (the adcom isn't going to think that he significantly influenced you at all). I'd think of it as an overall net neutral; the adcoms will probably mentally throw out the letter and just consider your other letters. That being said, make sure to have a good response for when the interviewer asks you about it, because acting flippant about it or giving the "wrong answer" would be detrimental to you.