has been virtually impossible…
I’ve started cold-calling DOs in this area (there aren’t very many of them) and so far none of them will return my calls!
I really really REALLY want to apply to osteopathic schools, but I need a letter from a DO, and besides that, I want to hear a take on the field from a DO… I know we have a few DOs “on staff” here…I’m not proposing that… just kind of venting on how hard it is to find one that will talk to me…
more phone calls tomorrow…
eegads!
Andrea
Persistance will pay off. Remember that essentially everyone else who applies to a DO school has faced the same conundrum…and survived it. I did the cold-calling thing myself, but ended up getting a letter from a neighbor of some friends of ours in Dallas.
You will also find that for most of the DO schools, the DO letter is preferred, but not required…esp if you live in an area that does not have many of them. Some schools even maintain databases of alumni willing to serve in this roll. When I was applying, the San Francisco school offered this.
I also ran into brickwalls when I tried to shadow a DO. I had volunteered with a MD for 3 years at the free health clinic so I had a letter from a MD, but VCOM and a few of the other schools will not waive the DO requiremed letter. I contacted VCOM and told them it looked like I wasn’t going to be able to apply there, I had called all the DOs in the area and was told no to shadowing. VCOM told me to try the AOA to find someone through them.
I went to the AOA site which lead me to the Va site. I clicked on the officers link and found an officer 40 miles away from me and contacted him to ask if I could shadow him. He said no, that he was in private practice and paying patients were not to be sunjected to pre-med students who did know anything about medicine, BUT he offered to interview me so I arranged a time.
I faxed him my personal statement and some of the secondary essays I was working on. We met for 45 minutes. He asked me lots of things and then agreed to write my letter of rec. So things worked out for me. He did say it was crazy for med schools to want pre-meds to shadow doctors. He said they should rethink the whole shadow business.
Here are some links that you maybe able to follow to perhaps find an officer who can guide to someone you can shadow or to someone who would be willing to interview you and then write the letter.
http://www.voma-net.org/links.htm
http://www.osteopathic.org/index.cfm?PageID=findado_main
http://www.osteopathic.org/index.cfm?PageID=con_consumermain
You could also call a nearby school and ask if they have any alumni in your area. Or call any of the schools in your state and ask them if they know anyone in your area. During my interview, the head of OMM gave me the name of someone I could have shadowed in my area.
Good luck. Don’t give up.
I’ve cold-called a few DOs in my area (there aren’t but about 20 around here)… and so far the only response I have is from the DO that works in my back specialist practice… she actually returned my message (which I hope is a good sign!).
we’re playing phone tag now… but I really hope it works out with her… from what her staff says about her, she’s incredible… which is awesome with me!!!
I’ll update more later.
Thanks!
Andrea
I didn’t have a DO letter and got into DO school. There aren’t any DOs in my immediate area, and traveling was not an option. I do think calling schools is a good idea if they have a strict requirement.