Are these Shadowing hours ok? Or should I have...

[informme]

These are the hours I have with each doctor:

Radiologist: 10 hours
DO: 8 hours
Surgeon: 12 hours
Neurologist 1: 7 hours
Neurologist 2: 6 hours
Clinician: 10 hours


gives me a total of 53 hours.
But I was wondering, should I have shadowed one particular doctor longer??
Also, should I have more variety of doctors?

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[Compass]

If you want to, do any of them. But honestly, some of that is same old same old. I've seen laparoscopies once. I've seen them all, basically. We're just going to a different destination and so on. Suturing is suturing whether or not you're suturing someone's knee or someone's head <.<

 

[informme]

?? perhaps wrong topic?


These are doctors I've already shadowed
What i was asking was, are the hours I listed per doctor ok?
I know that many people here shadow one specific doctor sometimes for 40 hours!!
That just seems ridiculous to me, I haven't shadowed one doctor for over 12 hours.

Also, i haven't shadowed a general physician at a Hospital yet (only clinics).

 

[Ignition]

Shadowing is subject to diminishing returns. Around the 50 hour mark I would imagine is sufficient to get a general idea of what physicians do.

You can make the most out of your experience by asking the physician questions. Not overtly technical questions to try and show off, but more along the lines of "how does the career impact your ability to have a family life?" "Where did you go to med school and why?" "What's the biggest challenge you've faced in your career and how did you resolve it?" etc. etc.

 

[Compass]

?? perhaps wrong topic?


These are doctors I've already shadowed
What i was asking was, are the hours I listed per doctor ok?
I know that many people here shadow one specific doctor sometimes for 40 hours!!
That just seems ridiculous to me, I haven't shadowed one doctor for over 12 hours.

Also, i haven't shadowed a general physician at a Hospital yet (only clinics).

I assumed you could go back to your buddies and ask to shadow them again

 

[ILikeDrugs]

It all depends on you really. I'm expecting to get a realistic view of what a certain doctor does by shadowing for one 8 hour shift. If I feel that there is more to learn, then I will schedule another shadowing shift.

 

[mrmilad]

Stop being a shadow and become a REAL boy. Volunteering is much more desired than shadowing. Obviously med schools realize people with familial ties to doctors are able to have 10000000 hours of shadowing, and they factor this in.

 

[Stratego]

I think the shadowing you've already completed is fine. If you have the time or inclination, ask the clinician (an Internal Medicine or Family doctor?) if you can shadow him/her on hospital rounds or arrange something for you with a colleague.

 

[ReptarBar]

yea shadowing is pretty ****ing boring after the 3 hour mark for each physician lol. i just shadowed an opthamologist today and hey what do you know he does 12 of the same surgery on his OR days! im prolly gonna do 10-15 hours for each physician i randomly meet, and more for physicians i get closer with in the future.

shadowing in general is very interesting and i learn a lot, but the doctors i have met thus far tend to concentrate only in a certain areas and thus do the same thing over and over...im sure its satisfying for them to be able to do one procedure quickly and effectively, but for a student its not so good =/

 

[Web MD]

As previously mentioned, volunteering is probably better provided you aren't just filing away charts and papers. If you're really looking for insight of what it's like to be a doc, try working for one over breaks or the summer. I learned a ton about the insurance game, patient compliance, and actual medical care. I don't know how docs could stand being shadowed for 50 hours by the same person, some must be very, very lonely

 

[Caesar]

Stop being a shadow and become a REAL boy. Volunteering is much more desired than shadowing. Obviously med schools realize people with familial ties to doctors are able to have 10000000 hours of shadowing, and they factor this in.

This isn't really true. There are things you hear and see shadowing you don't volunteering. Best case scenario is to have both, and have a physician you are comfortable asking questions to. I've shadowed the same one for over a year a weekend a month. I ask her about clinical stuff, family life, how she felt about debt, advice on applications, compensation, etc. I can say that because of her I understand far more about what I am committing to than I do from any volunteer experiences, not to belittle them as they give you patient contact.

Also, find a GOOD doctor to shadow. Some are awesome and genuinely want you around because it makes their day a bit different. The one I shadow now teaches in a residency program for a school I applied to. She loves to teach which is great for students.

 

[mrmilad]

This isn't really true. There are things you hear and see shadowing you don't volunteering. Best case scenario is to have both, and have a physician you are comfortable asking questions to. I've shadowed the same one for over a year a weekend a month. I ask her about clinical stuff, family life, how she felt about debt, advice on applications, compensation, etc. I can say that because of her I understand far more about what I am committing to than I do from any volunteer experiences, not to belittle them as they give you patient contact.

Also, find a GOOD doctor to shadow. Some are awesome and genuinely want you around because it makes their day a bit different. The one I shadow now teaches in a residency program for a school I applied to. She loves to teach which is great for students.

All of what you mentioned you can do while volunteering at a hospital. I personally have alot of shadowing experience, but I can't say it was any more effective than my hospital shifts at giving me the insight into a physicians life.

 

[Caesar]

This isn't really true. There are things you hear and see shadowing you don't volunteering. Best case scenario is to have both, and have a physician you are comfortable asking questions to. I've shadowed the same one for over a year a weekend a month. I ask her about clinical stuff, family life, how she felt about debt, advice on applications, compensation, etc. I can say that because of her I understand far more about what I am committing to than I do from any volunteer experiences, not to belittle them as they give you patient contact.

Also, find a GOOD doctor to shadow. Some are awesome and genuinely want you around because it makes their day a bit different. The one I shadow now teaches in a residency program for a school I applied to. She loves to teach which is great for students.

Also, this is just my personal opinion, but try to shadow in an ER.

Several reasons for this.
1. It is relatively diverse, you never know what is going to come through which can be nice if you don't want to watch the same things over and over.
2. Networking. There are a crap ton of docs that consult in the ER and if you express interest in their area they might invite you to hang out with them for a day also.
3. It is laid back. ER's are busy but in my experience the patient population is much more comfortable with students in the ER. The physicians tend to be more laid back than in other areas.
4. The physicians tend to be adept at multi-tasking. When you are there you are a task to them.

 

[Caesar]

All of what you mentioned you can do while volunteering at a hospital. I personally have alot of shadowing experience, but I can't say it was any more effective than my hospital shifts at giving me the insight into a physicians life.

When you are volunteering the focus should be on what you can do for the patients.

When you are shadowing the focus is on what you can glean from the physician about medicine.

Sure you can learn things from volunteering, but that shouldn't be why you do it, nor is it really of any help. It also depends on what you do as a volunteer. I worked on a rehab unit. We didn't see physicians except for rounds. I reported to the NP and mostly helped patients with things like PT where there is no physician involvement. Hard to get to know them when they aren't around. For me though it was worth it because 95% of my time there was in a pt room, other positions had more physician interaction and less patient.

This is, of course, just my opinion but as I said, you should be doing both.

 

[alexfoleyc]

These are the hours I have with each doctor:

Radiologist: 10 hours
DO: 8 hours
Surgeon: 12 hours
Neurologist 1: 7 hours
Neurologist 2: 6 hours
Clinician: 10 hours


gives me a total of 53 hours.
But I was wondering, should I have shadowed one particular doctor longer??
Also, should I have more variety of doctors?

I think that is completely fine.