Applying Soon? Last Chance to Sign up for our Group Advising! Cohort closes 1/31! Save $100 now! Start Now!
Our question for today is about whether letters of recommendation from an optometrist count as a letter from a physician. What do you do if you have experience shadowing or working with “doctors” outside of the MD/DO degree? This applies not only to optometrists but also to chiropractors, PAs or nurses, etc.
The questions in this podcast are taken directly from the Nontrad Premed Forum. If you don’t have an account yet, register for free and start asking questions.
Meanwhile, listen to our other podcasts on the MedEd Media Network so you can hopefully get all the resources you need to help you along this path to becoming a physician. Also, we’ve got a treat for you! Check out The MCAT CARS Podcast with Jack Westin.
[Tweet “”Do letters of recommendation from an optometrist count as a letter from a physician? Do medical schools value letters of recommendation from an OD (Doctor of Optometry) as much as they do an MD? After all, they’re still doctors.” https://medicalschoolhq.net/opm-149-do-lors-from-non-md-doctors-still-count-as-physician-lors/”]
Now, this student has three years worth of 6,000 hours of experience working as an optometric technician. That’s a lot of time spent with somebody who may be able to write an amazing letter of recommendation.
Optometrists are not “doctors” in the sense of MD or DO. Hence, I try to use the term physician as much as possible. But even that has become less specific to an MD or DO because chiropractors, in a lot of states, are allowed to call themselves physicians. So patients are just getting confused as to who’s who.
But in terms of letters of recommendation, you want one that is from a physician – an MD or a DO. If you’re applying to osteopathic schools, they typically want a letter from a DO. While MD schools don’t really care who the letter is from as long as it’s a physician (MD/DO).
You’re applying to medical school to become one of the physicians. An OD hasn’t been to medical school, or through residency, or through fellowship. He/she hasn’t been through the struggles that a physician has gone through.
They still have rigorous schooling and training, but it’s not the path of a physician. They can talk about your work ethic and how great you are, and your customer service skills, etc., but they can’t talk about you being a physician.
[Tweet “”A letter from a non-MD or DO, even if they are practicing clinically, it’s not a letter from a physician.” https://medicalschoolhq.net/opm-149-do-lors-from-non-md-doctors-still-count-as-physician-lors/”]
That’s just the game. Get a letter of recommendation from a physician. If you’ve been out of school for a while and you’re lacking letters of recommendation from professors, call the schools you’re applying to and see if they will let you get a letter of recommendation from your “supervisor” (the optometrist) and now you can get a letter of recommendation in a different capacity. Instead of being the “doctor,” they’re writing a letter of recommendation based on you, as a worker, and them as the supervisor or whatever the relationship is.
Hence, there’s still a way to use the letter, but it’s not a letter from a physician. Again, it does not count as a letter from a physician.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit
I just received my admission to XXXXX! This is unreal and almost feels like I am dreaming. I want to thank you for all of your help with my application. I cannot overstate how influential your guidance and insight have been with this result and I am eternally grateful for your support!
IM SO HAPPY!!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL YOUR HELP, IM INDEBTED TO YOU! Truly, thank you so much for all your help. Thank you doesnt do enough.
I want to take a few moments and thank you for all of your very instructive, kind and consistent feedback and support through my applications and it is your wishes, feedback, and most importantly your blessings that have landed me the acceptance!
I got into XXXXX this morning!!!! It still has not hit me that I will be a doctor now!! Thank you for all your help, your words and motivation have brought me to this point.
I wanted to once again express my heartfelt gratitude for your help in providing feedback during my secondary applications. Your guidance has been instrumental in my journey.
Just wanted to share my wonderful news! I received my first medical school acceptance! Thank you for all that you do for us Application Academy!!!
I am excited to tell you that I just got my third interview invite from XXXXX today! I can’t believe it. I didn’t even know if I was good enough to get one, let alone three – by mid-September. Thank you so much for all of your help and support up to this point; I would not be in this position without it!!
I wanted to thank you for helping me prepare for my XXXXX interview. Even in a 30-minute advising session, I learned so much from you. Thank you for believing in me, and here’s to another potential success story from one of your advisees!
I just received an acceptance with XXXXX! This is so exciting and such a huge relief and so nice to have one of our top choice schools! I also received an interview with XXXXX which brings the total up to 20 interviews! Thank so much, none of this would have been possible without you!
Join our newsletter to stay up to date
* By subscribing you agree to with our Privacy Policy and provide consent to receive updates from our company.
Resources
Advising Services
Podcasts & Youtube
Books
About