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Is a LOR from a physician better than a nurse?


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Most schools I am applying to require two LOR from someone in health care including a physician. I have the option of getting both letters from MD's or getting one from a nurse. Assuming both letters will be of equal quality, do PA schools look more favorably on LOR from an MD than an RN? Thanks.

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The LOR's from healthcare folks should all be at the provider level, so if you're gonna use a nurse, make sure he or she is an NP. Most schools want to see letters from an MD as well as from a mid-level, & ideally that mid-level should be a PA. Once you secure those two, having additional letters from an NP or college professor that can speak to your ability to handle the academics can help round out an app if you want variety. Just make sure to get one from an MD & from a PA, or your app will not look near as good.

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Personally, while I had a few PAs that I knew through shadowing that would have been happy to write me an LOR, I chose my medical director, an MD, as one, and my direct supervisor, a nurse manager, as another. I think you should have LORs from individuals that really know you and your capabilities, and can reflect on that; if you have worked with a PA or spent sufficient hours shadowing a PA to the extent that they can provide an account of how you work in patient care and your abilities to succeed as a PA, then that is great. Otherwise, I would go with who can best provide info on you in a clinical working situation, be it an NP, nurse, PA, or MD. At least ONE should be from an MD or PA though...

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One from a supervisor (could be an RN) also looks good to many schools, the same as from an NP or professor, but, again, let these options be in addition to one from an MD & from a PA. I agree that letters are better from people who know you well, so the idea there is to make sure you associate with an MD & PA enough for them to get to know you, so you have letters from the more favorable sources.

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