showing interest in the DO profession

[rightfooted]

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I got rejected at two schools because " I did not show enough interest in the osteopathic (DO) profession and OMT". How do you show enough interest in it?

 

[RySerr21]

Racking up the shadowing hours with DOs is always the best way to show interest. Most of the time this will also land you a LOR from a DO, which the schools eat up like candy. Did you have shadowing and/or a letter? Whats even better is shadowing a DO that practices OMM.......since that is the key difference between teh DO and MD profession, it shows that you really konw what you are getting in to and hopefully you have an interest in learning OMM.

Depending on where you live, I dunno if you live by a DO campus or not, but I know Western has an osteopathic awareness conference a few times a year......I went to that once to learn what I could about the school and the profession.

I dont konw your stats, so I'm not implying that you have done this, but if they feel that an applicant has just applied to their programs as back ups/ a last resort due to a poor MCAT, then it will likely end in a rejection.

 

[umean2tellme]

Did you shadow a D.O. or mention any osteopathic philosphy in your secondaries or personal statement? I got interviews before I had a D.O. letter sent to the schools that accepted me, but in one i referenced that I want to do primary care and be able to offer patients more than just prescriptions, so maybe that was taken as sufficient interest in OMT and Osteopathy.

 

[JamesBond15]

Make sure you can answer "What do you know about osteopathic medicine"

 

[rightfooted]

Did you shadow a D.O. or mention any osteopathic philosphy in your secondaries or personal statement? I got interviews before I had a D.O. letter sent to the schools that accepted me, but in one i referenced that I want to do primary care and be able to offer patients more than just prescriptions, so maybe that was taken as sufficient interest in OMT and Osteopathy.

Yes I shadowed a DO and got the LOR. During the interview, they asked what I thought about OMT and I replied that it is interesting. I think that response is the issue. How do you answer, "What do you think about OMT?"

 

[RySerr21]

Yes I shadowed a DO and got the LOR. During the interview, they asked what I thought about OMT and I replied that it is interesting. I think that response is the issue. How do you answer, "What do you think about OMT?"

hopefully there was more to your answer than that. If there wasnt, then thats probably where you went wrong. You could have elaborated on WHY you thought it was interesting. The type of answer you say you gave, if that is in fact the extent of the discussion, is what someoen would say who had no clue what OMM was or was indifferent to learning it...both of those come off negatively to an admissions comittee who is trying to get people who are fired about osteaopthic medicine.

So, did you elaborate and why you found it interesting?

For me personally, I love OMT and am excited to learn it if I go DO. I tied it in with my background in kinesiology, my fascination with the musculoskelelta system, and the potential it has for a specialty like sports medicine (something I am very interested in). Alll of those things are an elaboration on why i think OMM is interesting.

 

[Sydney Pierce]

I am from Canada and the provincial college of physician and surgeons will not release contact information regarding practicing D.O.s in my area. Thus, I have not shadowed a D.O. in preparation for my applications. I have a good understanding (via much research) on OMM, and have been treated using manual manipulative techniques in physio.

Basically, my question is....should I mention why I have not shadowed a D.O. in some of the personal statements for secondary apps? Or simply describe why I am so interested in it and leave the weakness out of the essay?

Input is appreciated!

 

[Chocolate Bear]

I am from Canada and the provincial college of physician and surgeons will not release contact information regarding practicing D.O.s in my area. Thus, I have not shadowed a D.O. in preparation for my applications. I have a good understanding (via much research) on OMM, and have been treated using manual manipulative techniques in physio.

Basically, my question is....should I mention why I have not shadowed a D.O. in some of the personal statements for secondary apps? Or simply describe why I am so interested in it and leave the weakness out of the essay?

Input is appreciated!

Go with the positive spin. If they ask "why haven't you...?" then you can tell them. Otherwise, let your research and knowledge convince them of your commitment, rather than wasting valuable characters on excuses. 👍

 

[bbqggj]

hopefully there was more to your answer than that. If there wasnt, then thats probably where you went wrong. You could have elaborated on WHY you thought it was interesting. The type of answer you say you gave, if that is in fact the extent of the discussion, is what someoen would say who had no clue what OMM was or was indifferent to learning it...both of those come off negatively to an admissions comittee who is trying to get people who are fired about osteaopthic medicine.

So, did you elaborate and why you found it interesting?

For me personally, I love OMT and am excited to learn it if I go DO. I tied it in with my background in kinesiology, my fascination with the musculoskelelta system, and the potential it has for a specialty like sports medicine (something I am very interested in). Alll of those things are an elaboration on why i think OMM is interesting.

I had a MD letter and mentioned in my secondary about the similarity of the philosophy between traditional Chinese medicine and OMM. And I got the invite without any shadowing experience. I am wondering what I would say for my interview for the question "Why D.O." and "Why Touro?"
I am interested in how the accepted fellows answer these general questions?

 

[Jack Daniel]

I got rejected at two schools because " I did not show enough interest in the osteopathic (DO) profession and OMT". How do you show enough interest in it?

I hired three cheerleaders to show up at my interview chanting my name while each one took turns holding up a large placard that collectively had the letters O - M - T.

 

[schussboarder]

When asked the question "why DO", you can't just list off facts from an sdn or wikipedia site of what osteopathic medicine is all about and expect the admissions committees to think that you want to practice osteopathic medicine. The only way to truly understand osteopathic medicine is to observe it first hand. And no, I am not talking about just shadowing any DO physician, since a majority of them don't use OMM on a regular basis. I mean actually observing OMM in action. If you have no interest in it, then why pursue an osteopathic degree. Sure many will say, "well you are still a doctor", but why spend hundreds of hours learning something if you don't plan on using it.

 

[sexyman]

interesting....lol

 

[umean2tellme]

Yeah just saying it is "interesting" is a bad answer. Imagine if you asked your doctor how your test results looked and all he said was "they look interesting" and walked out of the room. You should have talked about how you feel about OMT and that you want to incorporate it into your future practice.

 

[johnniewalker11]

.

 

[ShyRem]

I hired three cheerleaders to show up at my interview chanting my name while each one took turns holding up a large placard that collectively had the letters O - M - T.

I could totally see you doing that, Jack! Hope rotations are treating you well.

 

[DrMidlife]

Think about something you're very, very into. Maybe WoW, maybe basketball, maybe shoes. Think about how passionately and enthusiastically you can talk about things you're very, very into. Think about how you know your facts, because you have years of experience and earned opinions on what has value, and what doesn't, and why. Maybe you're not funny or even interesting when you talk about it, but you know your **** and you're in a position to argue when somebody trash talks.

Somebody says "why is WoW so much more popular than the earlier Warcraft games" you could talk for an hour.

Somebody says "Jordan was just a celebrity, he wasn't that great a player compared to Barkley" you could talk for an hour.

Somebody says "flats are more attractive than heels and there's no call for any heel higher than 3 inches, plus Blahniks are just unattractive" you could talk for an hour.

Consider: when you walk into a med school interview, they want to see that kind of enthusiasm, interest and evidence of deep consideration, when they ask for your opinion on a medical ethics question, or your opinion on why this school, or your opinion on osteopathic manipulation.

Consider: your competition absolutely is answering med school interview questions with that passion and longstanding consideration, out of respect for the job.

 

[OUStudentDoc]

Did you shadow a D.O. or mention any osteopathic philosphy in your secondaries or personal statement? I got interviews before I had a D.O. letter sent to the schools that accepted me, but in one i referenced that I want to do primary care and be able to offer patients more than just prescriptions, so maybe that was taken as sufficient interest in OMT and Osteopathy.

I have been reading through many posts trying to figure out my own situation and I have came across this quoted situation several times and had a question. Regarding getting interviews before submitting your LOR from a D.O....what are the schools have you all found this to be the case (receiving an interview request prior to D.O. LOR submission)? I believe that 5 of the 6 osteo schools I applied to require a letter from a D.O. before they will review my application. Thanks everyone for your help and good luck to all of you! 😀🙂

 

[Chocolate Bear]

I have been reading through many posts trying to figure out my own situation and I have came across this quoted situation several times and had a question. Regarding getting interviews before submitting your LOR from a D.O....what are the schools have you all found this to be the case (receiving an interview request prior to D.O. LOR submission)? I believe that 5 of the 6 osteo schools I applied to require a letter from a D.O. before they will review my application. Thanks everyone for your help and good luck to all of you! 😀🙂

Both LECOM's will interview without a letter, but won't make a final decision, post interview, till they get the letter. Not sure about other that require it.

I know I got a bunch of interviews and didn't have a DO letter. But I had shadowing experience and good essays/motivation.

 

[umean2tellme]

I've gotten 4 D.O. invites without the DO letter. In fact, by the time I got my D.O. letter I had went to two of the interviews. Lecoms will look at ur app but at Bradenton no decision is made post interview until they have it. Dr. Moore at Erie said that you can get a conditional accept without a D.O. letter. Nova accepted me but I don't think they received my D.O. letter beforehand.