So do I still have a chance?

I’ve asked both DO’s and MD’s what the difference is and I haven’t gotten an answer yet that satifies me enough to have a definitive choice of one school over the other. I think my question was just geared more toward where my focus should be once it comes time to apply to schools, I was wondering if there is a difference then. ;o)

I feel that I am in the same position as you, I don’t know where to put most of my efforts. I know the difference between D.O’s and M.D’s which is the philosophy and the way they treat the body. My dilemma comes in that I feel that the D.O philosophy agrees with more with my personality but then I have also read that there will be times when you will have to defend your educational background because you’re a D.O, I also find it a little tough since I don’t know any D.O’s and I believe you have to shadow one.

  • Chunky Monkey Said:
I had a quick question, my parents have a few friends that know me well that are M.D's, they are in AIDS research, Psychiatry, Oncology and primary care. I was wondering how much would a good recommendation from these people help my application? would it be as important as a faculty member, or would too many hurt my application?



Medical schools are typically pretty specific about what kind of letters they want. Usually, they want a certain amount of faculty letters, with most of them being from science faculty. Some schools will allow you to send additional letters. Too many may well be overkill, though. You really need to concentrate on making up for your previous academic background and on getting some excellent faculty letters. It's hard to tell how much the other letters will help you - they probably won't hurt (but again, you don't want to go overboard), but different schools may give different weight to them.