All of my shadowing over 3 months

[SquigglyQ]

Hello all,
I took a very long break from my extra-curriculars for health reasons. I called a couple schools and there is a general consensus that I need shadowing and non-clinical experience.

I wanted to know how much I can do in the last few months without it being a red flag? The alternative being absolutely nothing, which I'm sure is worse.

I want to get the minimum of 40-50 hours of shadowing, is it okay to do that over the last 3 months before applying? The ideal would be 100 hours, but even my desperate self knows that either won't happen or will seem incredibly sketchy if I am able to pull it off.

Do you have to list dates? Any advice on overcoming this dilemma is very much appreciated.

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[ciestar]

I honestly feel as though cramming all your shadowing in a sort amount of time really isn't a red flag. Doing this with other ECs (read: volunteering) absolutely would be. 50 hours of shadowing is sufficient.

 

[sleepyhead22]

I did like 50 hours of shadowing between Feb-June before submitting my application and didn't get any questions about it. Honestly, I think that doing it late is better than not doing it at all. And you don't really need 100 hours of shadowing, I think 50 is a good amount (try to get some variety in terms of specialty if you can).

 

[SquigglyQ]

Thank you both! This is wonderful. I will go ahead and keep asking around.

Any advice on how much non- clinical volunteering and extra clinical I can do now?

If I get more than expected in the next few months, would it be okay to go back and separate my time spent filing/stocking vs. bedside care as both clinical and non-clinical to show a tad more longevity in non-clinical hours?

Sorry if I sound neurotic. It's just the few adcom I've talked to have given me a lot of hope and I don't want to disappoint. They even seemed more lenient with what is considered shadowing compared to some people on SDN.