Can I get into med school without shadowing?

[yungspleen]

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You may very well get II's but you have to convince the interviewers and the Adcom. That may be your downfall.

Convince them of what? I genuinely want to go into medicine, I just think shadowing is pointless and I'm not applying to any schools that have a minimum number of hours. Not because I couldn't reach those hours, but I just don't agree with their philosophy. But I obviously won't say that in interviews.

 

[Goro]

Go re-read post 49. if you haven't already taken the MCAT, watch out for CARS. If you're a reapplicant, as another poster has implied, then your stats didn't too much for you, did they?

Convince them of what? I genuinely want to go into medicine, I just think shadowing is pointless and I'm not applying to any schools that have a minimum number of hours. Not because I couldn't reach those hours, but I just don't agree with their philosophy. But I obviously won't say that in interviews.

 

[Cotterpin]

If has been employed in the medical field, then it would be OK not to shadow. I consider scribing to be a form of shadowing. But you don't think it's worthwhile to see how a surgeon does his/her job versus a family doc vs a nephrologist????

Having been on SDN since ~2012, I never, ever underestimate the cluelessness of pre-meds.

Sure, I think it's worthwhile to shadow specialists. But then do you have shadow every specialty? Wouldn't it be worthwhile to shadow every specialty? Would a premed not be sure they wanted to go into medicine unless he or she had shadowed every single kind of doctor? How far does this thinking go?

 

[yungspleen]

Go re-read post 49. if you haven't already taken the MCAT, watch out for CARS. If you're a reapplicant, as another poster has implied, then your stats didn't too much for you, did they?

The reapplicant was another poster. This is my first time applying. Maybe you should work on your reading comprehension. And no, I did well on that section. I hate to sound arrogant but I shouldn't have any trouble getting an acceptance. And I don't know how my criticism of the shadowing requirement turned into a personal attack on my qualifications as an applicant. But if you think spending hours watching a doctor from the corner of a room should be a requirement for medical school, please PM me the school you work at so I know not to apply. Thank you

 

[Lawpy]

Like I said before, shadowing is for your benefit only. You get to learn and observe what physicians do on a daily basis. But it's for your benefit only and it makes no sense for admissions to require it.

 

[Goro]

Of course not! I think a mix of Primary Care and a single specialty is fine.

The problem is, with your text highlighted in bold, is that pre-meds are sure they want to go into Medicine without knowing anything else.

Look at all the posts from people who say "I want to be a trauma surgeon".

Have they shadowed a trauma surgeon? A general surgeon?? Have they even set foot in a hospital????

Your post brought back something I haven't thought of since I was an undergrad. I had a pre-med friend who was a model builder by hobby, and he was interested in microsurgery because of the precise hand motions required. But had he actually shadowed a doctor? I think he spent some time in a Rads dep't! But I'm sure he never, ever once even talked to a surgeon of any sort.

Sure, I think it's worthwhile to shadow specialists. But then do you have shadow every specialty? Wouldn't it be worthwhile to shadow every specialty? Would a premed not be sure they wanted to go into medicine unless he or she had shadowed every single kind of doctor? How far does this thinking go?

 

[Cotterpin]

Of course not! I think a mix of Primary Care and a single specialty is fine.

The problem is, with your text highlighted in bold, is that pre-meds are sure they want to go into Medicine without knowing anything else.

Look at all the posts from people who say "I want to be a trauma surgeon".

Have they shadowed a trauma surgeon? A general surgeon?? Have they even set foot in a hospital????

Your post brought back something I haven't thought of since I was an undergrad. I had a pre-med friend who was a model builder by hobby, and he was interested in microsurgery because of the precise hand motions required. But had he actually shadowed a doctor? I think he spent some time in a Rads dep't! But I'm sure he never, ever once even talked to a surgeon of any sort.

Yeah, I don't think premeds should know nothing about medicine. I just think that importance of shadowing is exaggerated when there's other more interesting, more useful (to other people) ways they could get the same kinds of insights.

 

[getdown]

yes