As a Canadian applicant, how many schools should I apply to with zero shadowing

[Open_Main]

Hello,
I am a Canadian applicant and I didn't realize how much emphasis the US placed on shadowing which is why I never did it previously and everything has been shut down for the past months due to COVID which is making it impossible to shadow (even though its already hard to do so in Canada anyways).
I was planning to apply to like 4-5 schools because I have 3.8cGPA, 516 mcat, 3.7 science gpa, 300 hours of work in a clinical research lab and lots of other EC's. Do you think I should apply to less than 4-5 schools or to more schools? Would there be any schools that wouldn't mind the lack of shadowing or am I kinda screwed

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[Tenk]

Probably zero and apply next year with a more complete application.

 

[Catalystik]

I am a Canadian applicant and I didn't realize how much emphasis the US placed on shadowing which is why I never did it previously and everything has been shut down for the past months due to COVID which is making it impossible to shadow (even though its already hard to do so in Canada anyways).

Would there be any schools that wouldn't mind the lack of shadowing or am I kinda screwed

There are schools that don't require shadowing. Whether they are among the schools on your Canadian-friendly list is something you can only discover with a phone call, if it's not explicitly stated on the school's website. Regardless of a schools' policy, individual adcomms may still feel your application is lacking if you haven't participated in this activity.

Whether a school requires it or not, shadowing is something you need to do for yourself before you apply.

 

[marcosma]

I went in for a doctor’s appointment (granted this is in the rural US) and they offered me to come in next week and shadow when they found out I’m going to med school this Fall. It might be hard, but maybe you can find physicians that would be willing for you to come in for a morning or two.

But, as an above poster said, what clinical experience do you have? I only had a few small shadowing things but had working experience as a scribe in an ED. Shadowing is not necessarily the strongest clinical piece of your app and can be “made up for” through lots of other avenues

 

[Open_Main]

Drop the kinda and I would agree with the expression
Do you have ANY clinical exposure, volunteering, employment?

Yeah, I have employment, volunteering experience for sure. The only clinical experience I have are in a research lab where I interacted with patients (actually talked about it in my personal statement).

 

[Open_Main]

I went in for a doctor’s appointment (granted this is in the rural US) and they offered me to come in next week and shadow when they found out I’m going to med school this Fall. It might be hard, but maybe you can find physicians that would be willing for you to come in for a morning or two.

But, as an above poster said, what clinical experience do you have? I only had a few small shadowing things but had working experience as a scribe in an ED. Shadowing is not necessarily the strongest clinical piece of your app and can be “made up for” through lots of other avenues

I don't have that much clinical exposure aside from 300 hours in a clinical research lab where I took patient histories, interacted with them etc

 

[marcosma]

I don't have that much clinical exposure aside from 300 hours in a clinical research lab where I took patient histories, interacted with them etc

I know we just messaged about this, but I think that’s decently solid. Emphasize that in your application, make it a most meaningful, and reflect DEEPLY on that experience. once you submit your primary, reflection deeply on what that experience meant to you. Find anecdotea and make a list of everything that you learned for that experience. Write, write, write!