A couple basic (dumb) shadowing questions...

[csx]

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1) how many days do schools like you to shadow a doctor minimum?
2) what specifically should you take away from your experience?
3) do you need proof that you shadowed the doctor?

I know these are all stupid questions. I've shadowed anywhere from 2 days to 2 weeks and I have always gotten proof that i've shadowed but I was wondering if this was necessary. I ask #2 cuz I would like to be more specific in what I should take away from my experiences.

 

[PharmlyDoc]

There isn't any required amount of time to shadow a doctor. I shadowed for a whole summer around 2 days a week. And I would get to see some of the same patients evrery week or so and see them progress. I shadowed an orthopedic hand surgeon, at an orthopedic office. I played close attention to how personable the doctor was to the patients, and I also was sometimes left alone in the rooms with the patients so I could talk to them. I thought shadowing was fun. But medical schools want doers not watchers.

 

[cheechootrain]

I shadowed one doctor for 4 months, once a week. Others, I shadowed for a day because I got a bad vibe from the doctor or maybe he was too busy to even talk. There were good and there were bad ones. Just look around and any experience is fine. Even if it's 20 hours or so

 

[csx]

There isn't any required amount of time to shadow a doctor. I shadowed for a whole summer around 2 days a week. And I would get to see some of the same patients evrery week or so and see them progress. I shadowed an orthopedic hand surgeon, at an orthopedic office. I played close attention to how personable the doctor was to the patients, and I also was sometimes left alone in the rooms with the patients so I could talk to them. I thought shadowing was fun. But medical schools want doers not watchers.

do i need documentation that i shadowed?

 

[Ismet]

do i need documentation that i shadowed?

no. you don't need documentation of anything.

 

[trs88]

It is a smart idea to have the correct spelling of names, dates and times that you shadowed - for when you fill out the applications to med schools.

 

[earf]

Shadow for as long as it takes you to figure out one way or the other whether or not you want to be a doctor. Then do something else with your time to make a more meaningful contribution to society (volunteer, research). The point of shadowing is to affirm your desire to practice medicine and once you have that and are sure about it (however long that takes), still shadowing would be like taking a same course again next semester after you already got an A+ in it.

 

[circulus vitios]

1) how many days do schools like you to shadow a doctor minimum?
2) what specifically should you take away from your experience?
3) do you need proof that you shadowed the doctor?

I know these are all stupid questions. I've shadowed anywhere from 2 days to 2 weeks and I have always gotten proof that i've shadowed but I was wondering if this was necessary. I ask #2 cuz I would like to be more specific in what I should take away from my experiences.

I shadowed once a week, about 6 hours a day, for about 2 months. Probably close to 50 hours overall.

Whether or not you can picture yourself doing medicine. Don't jump from doctor to doctor throughout the day. Try to stick with one for the entire day so you can see everything he or she does, including the hours spent on updating patient medical records, fighting with the electronic medical records system, sending e-mails, making phone calls, etc. Really pay attention to what he's doing and think: can you see yourself doing this?

I don't have any proof other than the names of the physicians I shadowed and the phone number of the department in which I shadowed.

 

[sunshine02]

Will they ask you during interviews how long you've shadowed a doctor? For example, if you said that you shadowed many doctors only for one day will that look bad compared to someone who has shadowed the same doc for weeks?

 

[Ismet]

Will they ask you during interviews how long you've shadowed a doctor? For example, if you said that you shadowed many doctors only for one day will that look bad compared to someone who has shadowed the same doc for weeks?

You should write the # of hours you shadowed the doctor in the description of the activity on AMCAS. None of my interviews got to that level of detail, and I don't get to that level of detail when I interview applicants. What matters more is what you experienced and learned from the shadowing, not if you spent 5 vs 25 hours.