NOVA requires a DO letter? Is this common?

[meanderson]

Nova was one of the schools in the southeast I was going to apply to. Then I find out that a LOR from a DO is required. I don't have a LOR from a DO. I know NOVA is a DO school, but still.... And even if the rules could be bent a little and am MD letter could be substituted, I don't have one. I guess that's another school I can cross off......

What % of successful allopathic applicants have LOR's from a physician. I'm starting to think it is 95%+. I'm starting to think that it won't really make a difference whether I score 17, 27, or 37 on the mcat now. regardless of my stats, I'm not sure I will be a competitive applicant for most schools without such a letter.

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[CJLaw]

Dude, you need to post that in the pre-osteo forum, these guys are going to light you up. Delete this thread before anyone else sees it!

 

[meanderson]

Ummm....read the whole message. Although one specific DO school is mentioned, the main idea of the post refers to allopathic medical schools(or really medical school in general). It could be posted to the allopathic or osteopathic forum. Michael

 

[CJLaw]

sorry man, I was just warning you. I didn't want to see you get flamed for a perfectly good question. Just lookin out.

 

[e-spin]

Unfortunately, I agree with CJ2...I have seen perfectly benign questions erupt into long drawn out allo v. osteo debates that get UGLY.

I would divide the question into 2...post the top half in pre-osteo and bottom half re-post it with a DIFFERENT heading. Just mentioning a DO school in you thread title might start people off!!

To answer you question tho...I applied the first time (allo) with no MD letters...no interviews
This time I added a strong MD letter in addtion to a lot of good LORs from researchers and grad school profs. 5 interviews. BUT the caveat is that I am waitlisted at all 5 I interviewed at so take my situation at face value.
I think that if you have volunteered in the medical field you should be able to get a good LOR from SOMEONE at that hospital/clinic, whatever. If you have those types of experiences but no corresponding LOR I think it might look suspicious.
My 2 cents....

 

[meanderson]

espin, you mind giving your stats?

 

[e-spin]

Sure...I have posted them before but here goes:
UG GPA: 3.2 BCMP, 3.4 AO
Grad GPA: 4.0
MCAT: 7V (It was a bad bad day ) 9P, 11B P
So, my situation is a little different because I am getting my MS right now...
Hope that helps you. Good luck

 

[ez073323]

meanderson,

from your post, I assume that you do not have a letter of rec from a physician, which, as you alluded to, can be very very very detrimental to your application file.

Although the admissions process is very mysterious and difficult to predict/understand, I feel that there is one perspective one can take that will basically answer all of your "do I need to" questions...

Just pretend you are on an admissions committee, and imagine what they are looking for in an applicant... What do ad coms want?? An applicant that is well informed about what he/she is getting into, right? An applicant that has shown a distict desire to practice medicine, right? (and of course has shown the ability to do well in classes/boards,etc.) So how does one convey the fact that that one is well informed/has a distinct desire to practice medicine? Providing care to people!!!, better yet providing care to people in a healthcare environment!!, better yet providing care to people in a healthcare enviroment under the supervison of a physician!

I am not saying that it is essential to work in the healthcare field to know you want to be a doctor, but with a competitive as the application cycle is, you really have to do everything you can to put yourself in a good light in the eyes of the admission committees.

I interviewed at Touro yesterday, and their dean of admissons eloquently summarized the situation that we are getting into.. He said that the a significant portion of the population will be easy to provide care to.. they will be cordial and you will enjoy your job when dealing with them... but there is also a smaller portion of the population that are basically a$$es and you will not enjoy providing care to them, but they deserve no less care than you would provide those who are a joy to deal with. In my opinion, If you have done activities that display that you have this characteristic of providing care to everyone all the time, you have come a long way in developing yourself as a person, applicant, and doctor.

here are some other pertinant threads...

http://www.studentdoctor.net/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=58255

http://www.studentdoctor.net/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=58828

http://www.studentdoctor.net/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=57139

Brian Enriquez
[email protected]

 

[Claymore]

meanderson:

While many places do not explicity require a letter of recommendation from a physician, I think that they are strongly encouraged. As you have stated, the vast majority of people have MD/DO LORs, and therefore people who don't have them tend to stand out. The absence of a LOR may imply a lack of exposure to medicine, whether this is truly the case or not. Is there a reason why you can't get one? Most physicians I have encountered are happy to write them providing you put in some time with them (shadowing, working, volunteering, etc). I think you should really put forth the effort to secure one or more LORs, or else red flags may go up in the admissions offices. Good luck.

 

[nero]

You don't have to have an MD letter, for MD schools, but I think most DO schoosl require it.........i didn't have an MD letter, in fact, I had 4 PhDs and 1 OD/PhD................i've had 10 interviews, decline another 2, and have 3 accepatnces so far..........get letters that are going to say how good of a person, student, blah blah blah, you are............a personal letter from a PhD is more valuable than a generic from an MD...............

nero

 

[abw]

Originally posted by meanderson
Nova was one of the schools in the southeast I was going to apply to. Then I find out that a LOR from a DO is required.

I wouldn't sweat it too much for Nova. They actually send you a form for your DO LOR. It's really simple (only gives enough space for about a sentence for each question) and doesn't require you having a long relationship, so you can just call up a local d.o. and ask him to talk to you about it and fill out the form for you. My physician is a D.O., but I never talked to her except for my yearly physical. She gave me the recommendation to mail, and all the answers were one - two words (like what are her strengths? compassionate) The only thing nova will care about is if you know what d.o. is, if you're serious about it as an option, and why you applied to both do & md (the application has you list all md and do schools you apply to this year and in the past, so they def. kow that)

 

[irish79]

I second what "NERO" says. That is, for my MD applications, I only sent PhD LORS. For all my DO applications on the other hand, I made sure to send a DO LOR in addition to my PhD LOR's. I have received interviews and acceptances to both programs. My suggestion would be, if the school ASKS for a LOR from a DO or MD, then I would send it. If they don't, then I would imagine that you would be free to send whatever you want (well, within reason).

Good Luck!