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Letters of recommendation advice


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So I’m applying to around 15 schools this next cycle (April 30th), and I’m stressing out a little bit about getting my letters of evaluation. I have had three people agree to do them already and I feel very confident about them (2 recent science professors and a firefighter chief I worked with on calls as an EMT). I also might ask my supervisor at my job I’ve been at for 1.5 years as an EMT. My problem is I don’t have any connections with any PAs, doctors, NPs, etc., and It seems like a lot of schools want a LOR from one of these professions, but as an EMT, I don’t really work directly with these professions a lot. The only time I do work with them is when I give them a quick patient report, but I rarely ever see them again because there are so many hospitals where I work (LA). Plus, my company mostly just does dialysis transports. I also haven’t been able to shadow anyone aside from an ER doctor for one shift 2 years ago. 
 

Has anyone been in a similar situation and have a suggestion on what to do? Thank you in advance! 

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Now is a hard time to ask anyone to do anything “extra”.

I shadowed a pa for a couple of months and asked for her letter of recommendation for my application. It was enough to get me into an interview. My other two recs were from a non-healthcare boss and my EMT instructor who happened to be county director for EMS education.

Are you transporting to EDs? I would just start asking if any PAs are working, and then approach them directly. Another option is to ask that ED doc you shadowed for any leads on PAs that are willing to let a student shadow them.


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2 hours ago, Drnewton said:

So I’m applying to around 15 schools this next cycle (April 30th), and I’m stressing out a little bit about getting my letters of evaluation. I have had three people agree to do them already and I feel very confident about them (2 recent science professors and a firefighter chief I worked with on calls as an EMT). I also might ask my supervisor at my job I’ve been at for 1.5 years as an EMT. My problem is I don’t have any connections with any PAs, doctors, NPs, etc., and It seems like a lot of schools want a LOR from one of these professions, but as an EMT, I don’t really work directly with these professions a lot. The only time I do work with them is when I give them a quick patient report, but I rarely ever see them again because there are so many hospitals where I work (LA). Plus, my company mostly just does dialysis transports. I also haven’t been able to shadow anyone aside from an ER doctor for one shift 2 years ago. 
 

Has anyone been in a similar situation and have a suggestion on what to do? Thank you in advance! 

So you're saying that you've not shadowed a PA even though that is the career you are applying for? Without shadowing, I'm not sure how can you be sure of the career you might spend your life doing.

You need to shadow for oh so many reasons. Better get on it.

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13 hours ago, UGoLong said:

So you're saying that you've not shadowed a PA even though that is the career you are applying for? Without shadowing, I'm not sure how can you be sure of the career you might spend your life doing.

You need to shadow for oh so many reasons. Better get on it.

Okay no need to condescend. You have no idea how hard I’ve tried to shadow someone. I had a couple opportunities that fell through due to covid-19. Before that, I asked every PA I met to shadow, and cold called every clinic I could find. I have no connections because I’m in a new city. 
 

I’ve done enough research and heard from enough people that have shadowed PAs to know that this is something I 100% want to do. 
 

Thank you very much for your AMAZING advice! 

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Okay no need to condescend. You have no idea how hard I’ve tried to shadow someone. I had a couple opportunities that fell through due to covid-19. Before that, I asked every PA I met to shadow, and cold called every clinic I could find. I have no connections because I’m in a new city. 
 
I’ve done enough research and heard from enough people that have shadowed PAs to know that this is something I 100% want to do. 
 
Thank you very much for your AMAZING advice! 

Haters gonna hate. Pay no mind.

Keep at it. A friend of a friend in the area knew an ED doc, and that doc asked several people for me, and then one agreed to meet with me. And that person led to a few more. I cold called for weeks; no one ever called me back.

Try linkedin for old classmates, friends of siblings, make a primary care appt and ask your provider...be creative!

But again, now isn’t the best time for healthcare...stay healthy!


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10 hours ago, GradlessInSeattle said:


Haters gonna hate. Pay no mind.

Keep at it. A friend of a friend in the area knew an ED doc, and that doc asked several people for me, and then one agreed to meet with me. And that person led to a few more. I cold called for weeks; no one ever called me back.

Try linkedin for old classmates, friends of siblings, make a primary care appt and ask your provider...be creative!

But again, now isn’t the best time for healthcare...stay healthy!


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Thank you very much for saying that. I’m trying very hard to not let his/her comment bother me lol. 
 

Anyway, that’s some great advice so thank you! It’s good to hear that I’m not the only one who has struggled to find people to shadow. I actually reached out to the doctor I shadowed and he said he is going to ask around for me, so hopefully that works out. Just obviously very hard to make any progress with a pandemic.
 

Thank you again!  

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Okay no need to condescend. You have no idea how hard I’ve tried to shadow someone. I had a couple opportunities that fell through due to covid-19. Before that, I asked every PA I met to shadow, and cold called every clinic I could find. I have no connections because I’m in a new city. 
 
I’ve done enough research and heard from enough people that have shadowed PAs to know that this is something I 100% want to do. 
 
Thank you very much for your AMAZING advice! 

Not trying to put you down and I know that this is a bad time to try to shadow; even students have had their rotations stopped.

But when the dust finally clears, you really would benefit from finding a way to do it. Back when I was working full time, a guy I met on this forum drove sight unseen 700 miles to spend a week with me.

The reason I think it’s important is that, until you’re there, you don’t have a true appreciation for the good and the bad. As my late Mom would say, “Many a person climbed a ladder only to find that it was leaning against the wrong wall.”


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2 minutes ago, UGoLong said:


Not trying to put you down and I know that this is a bad time to try to shadow; even students have had their rotations stopped.

But when the dust finally clears, you really would benefit from finding a way to do it. Back when I was working full time, a guy I met on this forum drove sight unseen 700 miles to spend a week with me.

The reason I think it’s important is that, until you’re there, you don’t have a true appreciation for the good and the bad. As my late Mom would say, “Many a person climbed a ladder only to find that it was leaning against the wrong wall.”


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I definitely get how important is to shadow, and I will still continue to try and shadow someone when the virus dies down. I’ve attempted to reach out and shadow off and on for the last two years now, though, so I’m trying to figure out what I will do if I end up not being able to shadow anyone.
 

I have worked extremely hard taking prerequisites and raising my GPA , getting my PT care hours up (5,000),  and volunteering for the past 2-3 years, so realizing that not having luck in shadowing might be detrimental to my application is very disheartening, and I’m just doing anything I can to still get in somewhere.

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