Shadowed, but no letter from MD

[Amirr]

---

Members do not see this ad.

I am very worried that my application will not be taken seriously since I do not have a letter from a physician I shadowed. I shadowed two, an MD and a DO (both in primary care) but it was for for less than 10 hours each.

I do have a letter from the shadowing coordinator at the clinic, a letter from the anesthesiologist tech I volunteered with at the hospital for a year+, and a letter from my year+ of research.

I guess my question is: will this put me at a severe disadvantage compared to other applicants? My school does a committee letter if that makes any difference (a letter written by the pre-med adviser summarizing all the other letters and their thoughts on you)

 

[IncognitoGuy]

Nope, nope and nope. I didn't have a letter from any of the doctors I shadowed, and a healthy number of applicants you see won't have one either. Don't worry about it.

 

[Served]

Besides, I don't think you'd want a letter from physicians you shadow. I don't think they can write a very good letter about you especially because students who shadow do nothing other than just observe.

 

[487806]

I am very worried that my application will not be taken seriously since I do not have a letter from a physician I shadowed. I shadowed two, an MD and a DO (both in primary care) but it was for for less than 10 hours each.

I do have a letter from the shadowing coordinator at the clinic, a letter from the anesthesiologist tech I volunteered with at the hospital for a year+, and a letter from my year+ of research.

I guess my question is: will this put me at a severe disadvantage compared to other applicants? My school does a committee letter if that makes any difference (a letter written by the pre-med adviser summarizing all the other letters and their thoughts on you)

Shadowing letters are weak (extremely weak in your case).

 

[Chip N Sawbones]

I think one school I applied to wanted a letter from someone in a healthcare profession, but that was it. I don't remember which school it was. If you apply to DO schools, a lot of them do want a letter from a DO. I got a very short, very vague letter from a DO I shadowed for about four hours. I got interviews at almost all the DO schools I applied to, so it must have been good enough. I'm guessing that the requirement to have a LOR from a DO is only there so adcoms know you have at least a little exposure to osteopathic medicine.

 

[mvenus929]

To reiterate what everyone is saying: unless you're applying DO, letters from physicians are pretty much worthless. Stop worrying.

 

[Euxox]

Also, just generally speaking, asking for an LoR from someone that you have only known for ten hours is probably not the best idea.

 

[Doctor Strange]

Doesn't matter.