What if you don't know an osteopath??

[EReze]

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I know this question has come up before, but I just got a secondary from PCOM, and they "suggest" a recommendation from a D.O. But all I know are MD's. Should I send that or none at all? Also, if I have other really good recommendations, should I send one of those too, even though they only require 2? I don't want to overkill, but if it could help....

 

[Forensic Chick]

Hi EReze,

I was in your situation this time last year. I began working in an emergency department as an EMT and met a few wonderful DO's there. They were receptive and willing to let me shadow them and write me a letter. In the ER setting I really wasn't able to see OMM skills or the such, however I had tried for 2 months to shadow a DO in private practice to no avail. With the whole HIIPA thing and patient confideniality no one was willing to let me shadow them, even though I was already working in a healthcare setting.

Best of luck!

 

[DOin2007]

I had shadowed DO's before applying, but it was a year prior to my applying to school, and I didn't think they knew enough about me to write a good evaluation anyway. I applied to PCOM without a DO evaluation and got accepted, so you should be fine without a DO letter. As far as sending in extra evaluations beyond the two required, I don't know if they would see that as overkill or not. Maybe ask your advisor. He/she should be the one sending them in anyway. Good Luck with your application!

 

[turkdlit]

I too was worried about finding a DO to shadow last year. I got a list of all DO's practicing in Pennsylvania, found an ER chief resident at one of the larger hospitals in Pittsburgh, called his office and told him I was interested in being a DO and wanted to shadow one. He was the nicest guy ever, I was shadowing him that night even though he had no idea who I was.

After a few sessions, he wrote me a stellar reccomendation and I started volunteering at the same hospital thereafter...

Point is, you may be able to find a DO very easily, and can get a rec soon afterwards. Without a letter, you'll be a disadvatage against most other applicants right off the bat. Try finding names and just contact those who specialize in a field that interests you and see how things go from there. Good luck!

 

[DrMom]

*fights urge to suggest search function* 😉


Call the school and see if you can shadow some on the physicians they have on faculty. Sometimes they are more open to this because they are used to having students/residents around.

You could also check with the state osteopathic association.




On the extra letter issue: when I applied I asked if I could have an extra physician and an extra professor letter. They had no problem with it. It certainly can't hurt to ask...that way you can explain your reasoning & find out if they are okay with it or if you're just going to annoy them with an extra letter.

 

[Dr JPH]

Just my little tidbit.

Most DO's could care less that they went to a DO school. They don't see any difference in practice, nor do their MD counterparts. I see this attitude with a good chunk of my class. Is it a bad attitude? Hell no. Just means that your outlook towards the osteopathic philosophy and the treatments is a bit different.

With that said...I find it crazy for schools to "require" a letter from a DO. Most DOs would say nothing different than an MD would to you, or in a letter.


I said MOST.

If you're lucky like me, you will find the exceptions.

OK...I'm in a good mood now so time to sign off.

Later

 

[Amy B]

I have had the same problem as you. I emailed the schools and asked if they would accept the MD letter in stead and they all said no. It is 3 of my schools.

I have tried for 4 weeks to find a DO to shadow. I have been turned down over and over. I went to the AOA web site and got the list of all the DOs in my area and still have had no luck.

I wonder what people do in a rural area with no DOs in a 100 mile radius???

This is crazy. So much for being committed to the DO profeesion.

 

[HKDO08]

I have tried for 4 weeks to find a DO to shadow. I have been turned down over and over. I went to the AOA web site and got the list of all the DOs in my area and still have had no luck.

Have you contacted your state's organization for assistance? Go to the AOA website, and click on affliated organizations. Then click on State & Regional Osteopathic Medical Associations. I found a D.O. that has time for me to shadow by contacting the regional affiliate nearest me. This might be easier than just blindly asking D.O.'s. Also, I found that not all D.O.'s in my area are listed on the AOA website, so there may be ones you haven't tried. Good Luck!

 

[Amy B]

I have tried going through AOA site but the phone numbers aren't listed and 411 had no numbers for any of them.

However, I did get a brainstorm last night and found another site. Go to your local hospital's web site and go to the list of physicians.

My local hospital lists them by department and gives all info needed including where they went to school, residency and fellowships. Plus it gave their phone numbers and addresses. I was able to find 4 DOs and will be calling them on Monday. I hope one will let me shadow.

 

[Robz]

I am so sorry to hear that you got rejected from shadows. I wanted to shadow and learn more about the DO profession as well. What I did though was take the Knoxville phonebook and started dialing. I also used the aacom website cause they have a physician look up somewhere on there but no phone numbers. Which is where I used the yellow pages on yahoo to find the numbers to call. I usually explained to their nurses that I was applying to medical school and was intrested in talking to them about their profession. When the physican called back, I was very nice and was truly intrested in what they had to say. I asked if they would be willing to meet to talk or if they would mind me shadowing for a day. Everyone (were talking about 7 docs now) were more than happy for me to shadow them. I could only not shadow one of them cause he was a surgeon and the hospital was hesitant (understandably) to have a student shadow them there but I did talk to him for a good amount of time about his job. Good luck I am sure it will work out.

P.S. I actually had two of the physicans offer to write me recommendations before I asked them cause they remembered the joy of applying to medical school as well. That and I was worth being recommended. (hopefully 😉 )