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The 2026-2027 DO School Specific Threads are now available in the School Specific Discussions forum. The 2025-2026 discussions are now available in the prior year discussions forum.
some schools require a DO letter while it is optional at others. If you live within 100 miles of a DO school you should be able to find a DO to shadow.
Tell your DO you need a letter on first contact and discuss how long you will need to shadow to get a solid recommendation letter. Some students get an LOR with just 1-3 visits. Set an early deadline for getting the LOR from your DO.
Volunteer as long as you feel necessary to answer your questions on becoming a physician and also an osteopathic physician.
GrapeApe said:
I've heard that to apply to D.O. schools you must shadows a D.O. for a certain period; as well as get a letter of rec.
Interesting; this tool lets you search by specialty, where specialty can mean Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine.
I asked my physician if he knew any DOs and it turns out he's been seeing a DO for many years himself and is enthusiastic about osteopathy. "I would do osteopathy," he told me.
The two docs he recommended also turned up on that search tool. But I wouldn't just use the search tool in a vacuum; my gut feeling is that it's better to get a referral, unless there just aren't many choices in your town.