Becoming a Plastic Surgeon

Pre-Med & Medical School Careers in Medicine
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<p>Again, this is from my personal experience of being on admissions boards at Wash. Univ. and at Hopkins. A LOR from a physician who knows you very well is good. I’m not saying it isn’t common for people to be top-notch applicants without physician LOR’s, but it makes sense. I don’t want to beat a dead horse, but for everyone out there who is a doctor or in medical school, lets take a step back for a minute and think about how we struggled with getting good simplified advice before med school. I’m going to try to simplify this the best I can for everyone out there wishing to become a doctor. I always appreciate feedback, even if one doesn’t agree with me. </p>

<p>I agree with the prior post saying that LOR from professors who know you well and who you did something with (like writing a research paper) are the best. No doubt, LOR’s from people like that will make up majority of your letter arsenal. However, do not under-estimate the importance of building a strong relationship with a doctor who will write a LOR for you. I’m not talking about some doctor you spend a couple of afternoon’s with to get a LOR (that would be along the same lines as getting a LOR from some professor who’s class you made an A in, but in fact didn’t really ever get to know as a person). Many top applicants will work with a physician from the university (academic physician) and will write papers with them, help with clinical trials, etc. This is the type of experience I’m talking about when I say shadowing a physician. </p>

<p>I think that if you apply to medical school and you have outstanding LOR’s from your professors, and a lot of “volunteer” experience, good grades, high test scores, but nothing to show that you’ve actually spent rigorous amounts of time beside a physician, you may be looked over.</p>

<p>Many people perform well in the undergraduate environment and in the labs of professors but struggle in the clinical environment of physicians. Doctors know this. Not all doctors “require” it, but many do. Lastly, it’s part of a well-rounded application. If the experience is productive and you did a lot, it won’t be an “embarrassment” because you’ll have papers/etc to show for it. Of course, if all you did is stand in the OR or in the clinic, then it might be an embarrassment.</p>

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<p>Fair enough, the example of the physician interaction you’ve described is much more along the lines of working with a research PI. That sort of letter absolutely would carry wa</p>

<p>The problem I have with this is that there are a great many places where it’s impossible to work with an academic physician - many very large state schools (Nebraska, Kansas/Kansas State, Arkansas, Georgia, Alabama/Auburn, Colorado/Colorado State, Oregon/Oregon State, Washington State, Arizona State, Florida State since it lacks a teaching hospital, and plenty of the biggest schools in Texas come to mind) have separate campuses in different cities for their flagship U and Medical School. The problem is even more widespread for people at a wide number of private schools.</p>

<p>Considering the difficulty most medical students have getting face time with academic faculty at their own institutions to get LOR’s for residency and the task for most undergraduates is nearly impossible. This board is about simplifying advice, but in doing that, we have to consider what’s the most widely applicable. Simply put, most undergrads aren’t going to be in a position to obtain that level of interaction with an academic physician.</p>

<p>Really, we’re arguing over a minor detail. Clinical experience is a necessity, I think we’re all in agreement here, and not having any (whether volunteering or shadowing) is problematic. It’s whether or not you need an LOR out of that experience and the possible implications a physician LOR might represent that we’re discussing.</p>

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<p>DukeWayne- You say that med school admission committees love engineering majors, but which specific engineer major? Biomedical engineering perhaps?</p>