Should I take this letter offer?

[DO1987]

I work at a VA and had spoken extensively with a patient one afternoon about me applying to medical school and that I wanted to go to the DO school in our state and not the allopathic school. Come to find out, he was a PhD on the faculty that admitted students at the allopathic state school and even interviewed and decided on residents. Somehow he really like me and said "he has seen many students in his day, and could really tell I was pursuing medicine to make a difference." He offered to write me a letter. My question is I feel this might be a confidentiality thing and I dont want to do that if I took his offer. I am already complete but was thinking his letter couldn't hurt.

Opinions?

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[Dr Oops]

Theres no confidentiality conflict since the patient himself is writing the letter. Just like he has the rite to privacy he also has the right to talk about it as much as he likes.

If your already complete I probably wouldnt bother. This guy hardly knows you.

 

[TriagePreMed]

This:

If your already complete I probably wouldnt bother. This guy hardly knows you.

 

[gatorfann14]

I work at a VA and had spoken extensively with a patient one afternoon about me applying to medical school and that I wanted to go to the DO school in our state and not the allopathic school. Come to find out, he was a PhD on the faculty that admitted students at the allopathic state school and even interviewed and decided on residents. Somehow he really like me and said "he has seen many students in his day, and could really tell I was pursuing medicine to make a difference." He offered to write me a letter. My question is I feel this might be a confidentiality thing and I dont want to do that if I took his offer. I am already complete but was thinking his letter couldn't hurt.

Opinions?

If I were you I would send it. It's a person with influence whom you have spoken with extensively and candidly that can speak of your character. Look at it as nothing more than being passionate enough to talk to strangers about your choice creating a lucky situation for you.

Best of luck

 

[Lukat]

If I were you I would send it. It's a person with influence whom you have spoken with extensively and candidly that can speak of your character. Look at it as nothing more than being passionate enough to talk to strangers about your choice creating a lucky situation for you.

Best of luck

I agree with gatorfann14, I think 1. an extra letter can't hurt you 2. if anything it will help the admission committee sees that you are passionate about becoming a physician

 

[fiznat]

I would take advantage of it, especially if you are applying to the school he was affiliated with. True he may hardly know you, but I don't think the college professors who wrote some of my LORs really know me either. That said, I would only use the letter if I got a chance to see it myself first.

 

[whoop]

I hope you didn't meet this patient in the psychiatric ward, lol.

 

[PED05]

I work at a VA and had spoken extensively with a patient one afternoon about me applying to medical school and that I wanted to go to the DO school in our state and not the allopathic school. Come to find out, he was a PhD on the faculty that admitted students at the allopathic state school and even interviewed and decided on residents. Somehow he really like me and said "he has seen many students in his day, and could really tell I was pursuing medicine to make a difference." He offered to write me a letter. My question is I feel this might be a confidentiality thing and I dont want to do that if I took his offer. I am already complete but was thinking his letter couldn't hurt.

Opinions?

Use the letter for both the osteopathic and allopathic schools. This would carry a ton of weight at the allopathic school. No it would not be a conflict of interest.

 

[DO1987]

Ha, no he was a pleasure to talk to actually.

I'm only applying to our DO school and he was extremely supportive. I told him I wanted to be family physician and he said "you dont want to go to XX school (the allo he was a professor at) they are only interested in churning out specialists and thats not what we need around here. youre doing the right thing." I didn't know he had been invovled with adcoms until the end of our convo and he offered the letter for me to the DO school. I'm considering taking him up on it.

I agree I would like to read the letter first, but I'd feel very selfish saying "can I read it before you send it?" ha.