90 hours of physician shadowing in highschool. Waste?

[redbrickwall]

I shadowed a cardiothoracic surgeon (family friend) for 50 hours over 2 weeks in 11th grade. Later, in 12th grade, I shadowed a General Surgeon for another 40 hours, also over 2 weeks. Both were kind enough to provide me with a signed letter of proof. Would these hours be worth mentioning on a medical school application, or do they not count quantitively since they were high school experiences? If it matters, both experiences were outside of the U.S, during the summer.

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[Dox4lyfe]

High school experiences can be included as long as they're continued throughout undergrad.

I'd do at least another 20-50 hours with an IM, FM, ER doc or pediatrician in the U.S. You can then tack on the high school hours.

 

[ConspecificPlasma]

Would try and get new shadowing experience in the country you plan to attend medical school in.

 

[Dox4lyfe]

High school - bad
Different country - bad

If those are the only experiences OP has on his application, then I agree. Otherwise, I don't.

 

[redbrickwall]

I'm only a freshman in a private American university right now so I have plenty of time to build up my "resume". I do plan on attending medical school in the U.S. but since I will be an international applicant, it might be more difficult in terms of admission (not cost). If I manage another 50 hours with either an IM, FM, ER doc or pediatrician in the U.S. as suggested by @Dox4lyfe will I then be in a good place shadowing wise?

 

[Pagan FutureDoc]

The shadowing being outside the US is a big negative. The reasons adcoms like to see shadowing is to show you understand what a doctors day is actually like. And an international doctor will operate under rules of a different country. There's no reason to expect anything you see during international shadowing will have anything to do with doctors in the US.

 

[allantois]

Meh, don't listen to nay sayers and spin this experience into a positive, such as having a unique perspective on international health.

You do need to do US shadowing tho

 

[DameJulie]

Not sure how it would count for foreign shadowing, but here's my $0.02 for shadowing within U.S.:

I would include those HS shadowing hours, as long as you have some more shadowing hours during UG and gap years. This is an example of "activity started in high school and continued during college."

 

[ColinHay]

I'm only a freshman in a private American university right now so I have plenty of time to build up my "resume". I do plan on attending medical school in the U.S. but since I will be an international applicant, it might be more difficult in terms of admission (not cost). If I manage another 50 hours with either an IM, FM, ER doc or pediatrician in the U.S. as suggested by @Dox4lyfe will I then be in a good place shadowing wise?

Congratulations @redbrickwall on your success so far. Any experience you have may be worth mentioning if you actually got something out of it. When I was interviewing for med school and residency, I was consistently asked about my international experiences and I had many stories to tell. It made for a nice interview. I could have talked about the 1 week in high-school I shadowed a surgeon, but all I did there was "try to avoid the blue stuff". I learned more about sleep deprivation than anything else. I did not do any more shadowing after that.
If the experiences you had with the cardiothoracic and general surgeons taught you anything then its worth mentioning. It can also be a tool for you to discuss where you come from and how that is an advantage.
As you build up your "resume" treat it like a real resume. Getting a job in the medical fields is an excellent way to learn about what doctors do and also just about anyone else in the hospital. I worked through college as a ER tech, ICU tech, phlebotomist, transporter, orderly and a couple of other low paying gigs. During that time I became friends with many doctors that were happy to teach me while I was getting paid and when the time came offered what I assume were flattering letters of recommendation.

 

[Catalystik]

I'm only a freshman in a private American university right now so I have plenty of time to build up my "resume". I do plan on attending medical school in the U.S. but since I will be an international applicant, it might be more difficult in terms of admission (not cost). If I manage another 50 hours with either an IM, FM, ER doc or pediatrician in the U.S. as suggested by @Dox4lyfe will I then be in a good place shadowing wise?

Yes.