Claiming my interest in primary care in ps with no pcp shadowing?
 

Would it look bad if I claim my interest in primary care (which is true) in my essay but I haven't shadowed a pcp yet? I've shadowed more specialized docs at hospitals... currently talking to a number of family practice offices, hopefully somebody will let me, but I don't want to wait until that happens to submit my app.

(This is rural Indiana by the way - I've been trying to shadow since last year, and when I called the local hospital, they said "we don't let anybody come shadow unless they are IN MEDICAL SCHOOL now." They are very busy and always understaffed. Office-based docs are in shortage as well and they've been telling me they are too overwhelmed to accommodate a student now, "wait till around September and we'll have something for you."

I started working as a tech at the hospital, which opened some doors for me and let me shadow a couple specialized docs recently.)

It wouldn't look bad, but it might look insincere without a demonstrated interest in primary care, either through shadowing or volunteer work with a community hospital. You should definitely get some experience in a primary care setting (not necessarily physician shadowing) to demonstrate your interest before expounding on it in your personal statement.

A large portion of people express an interest in primary care that will never come to fruition. If you can express why you want to do it in your PS or in an interview with sincerity you are ahead of the game, I'd say, whether you've done the shadowing or not.

What about your own PCP?

We didn't have a designated pcp growing up, we were going to walk-in clinics and ER. Only recently I designated one because now I can afford to do it. This is what she said: "you don't need to shadow anybody until you get into med school. you'll do plenty once you become a med student." I tried to convince her but to no avail. Gave up on her and been calling other offices

Tell us (the adcoms) what it is about primary care that you find appealing. Why does that type of relationship with patients fit well with what you want out of a career in medicine? What do you expect to be most difficult for you in that role?

Even without shadowing you must have some knowledge of the work of the pcp so you can base your essay on whatever that knowledge is and however you came to that knowledge.

Do you have an interest in rural health? Do you consider yourself socioeconomically disadvantaged? The lack of opportunities for physician shadowing may play a part in supporting disadvantaged status if you believe you qualify. Your lack of primary care as a child and your rural location makes you a prime candidate for a program in rural medicine. If you explain these things in your personal statement as part of your motivation to pursue family medicine I suspect clinical experience in the field might not be necessary. However, I have to ask: how you were able to secure other shadowing experiences? If you were able to shadow other specialties this storyline may not be credible.

answering the question: I've been working as a patient care tech at the local hospital and recently had a chance to get to know a doc that let me shadow him and introduced me to another doc.

I am interested in primary care in rural areas, partly because of my own experience living in this area. Besides working as a pt care tech, I've been volunteering for hospice for a long time and that is part of the reason as well (I assume geriatrics fall under primary care). It may sound cheesy but I know I love working with patients and building a continuing relationship with them... despite how frustrating it can be sometimes, trying to convince stubborn people.

Perfect. Write your PS. No worries.

+1 :thumbup:

This has to be false, given that most (or at least many) of us will end up in primary care. In my experience, the opposite is true; many of my fellow pre-meds want to be cardiothoracic surgeons and pediatric oncologists, yet most will end up in FM/IM/obygn/peds.

LizzyM, what I enjoy most about primary care is the continuity of treatment, the long-term relationships, and the responsibility/privilege of being the first one to get to treat the condition. Is this the kind of thing that would go in a PS to justify my interest in primary care? I have shadowed FM/IM/peds doctors and volunteer as a CNA in a clinic. -Thanks.

That's all good. Do you also accept the fact that the really sick will get passed off to a specialist and you may or may not see them again?