too late to shadow?

[wishnhope]

If I am planning on applying to schools this June, July or basically as soon as everything on my application is ready, would it look bad that my shadowing experince will be this May? I'll probably be shadowing multiple doctors-hopefully an LOR from one of them. Should I wait to get more shadowing in before submitting AACOMAS?
My stats(3.3, 26S) arent the best and I know my extracurriculars(some clubs and volunteer work) are nothing special. I want to apply ASAP to give myself the best chance, but is this late shadowing thing going to be a problem?
Thanks.

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[DrMom]

You usually can mention the shadowing on your secondaries, so just plan to get it going by then.

 

[DocRadak]

When I finally was able to shadow some D.O.s to get LORs it was in October, and I sent in my AACOMAS stuff in early November. It doesnt matter when you do it, as long as you get it done. Most schools know how hard it is to find a D.O. in your area that is convenient to shadow, so whenever you do it works for them.

 

[FowlersGap]

i shadowed in july/august and applied around sept
i even took the august mcat and everything was alright for me

i think people understand how difficult it is to find a DO who is willing to take students to shadow them especially with the HIPPA (spelling?) privacy laws out there now

 

[Amy B]

I never shadowed a DO. I interviewed with one for 45 minutes and he wrote my recommendation for me from that time we had. I did fax to him my personal statement and some of my essay questions I had filled out from some of my applications so he could know all about me before we met.

You should be ok with your timing.

 

[raptor5]

When I completed my application last year I mentioned that I was starting a summer internship at a hospital with a particular D.O. When I sent in the secondary at the beginning of August I was able to write more about it there. I had the LOR's from the D.O.'s sent directly to the school. Everything worked out fine.

No it is not too late to shadow.

Good Luck

 

[DMBmatty08]

I wouldn't worry too much because most schools know that there are shortages of DO's in certain areas of the country. For example, I live in Wisconsin and there aren't really that many DO's in practice around here. I got lucky and there happened to be a DO resident at a local hospital. He let me shadow for 2 years. I got into several schools. So the fact that you won't start shadowing until May is of little consequence. I would suggest to you that you don't just shadow once and be done so you can put it on your applications. If you continue to shadow up until you interview at schools that will impress them because you have seen osteopathy first hand for a long period of time. That was one thing that was brought up at all of my interviews that they really liked.