As others have noted, it's not shadowing. You are supposed to take ownership of your patient as much as possible, know all the details, take their history, follow their labs, test results and vitals, pre round each morning before the resident gets there, present patients to the attendings on rounds each day, come up with plans of care, write notes. The goal is to become a functioning and enthusiastic part of the team, and make the attendings have no reservations in recommending you for residency. On surgical/procedural rotations, you will also be the extra set of hands. You probably will scrub in lots of cases where you will be gowned up and holding a retractor in an uncomfortable position for many hours. If you are lucky, you might get to throw a suture or two at the end of the case. So basically it's nothing like being a passive observer (ie shadowing). You will have your patients you follow from admission to discharge/death. To them you probably will be one of their doctors, the one that actually has time to come see them multiple times a day. Bear in mind that on the wards you may be there the same long hours as the residents -- you aren't just a tourist who can come and go like you might when you shadowed. Finally, as others have mentioned, you have shelf exams and various topics you may be expected to present that you are supposed to throw together in your "spare time". Most find it more fulfilling than the classroom portion of your education. Many find it challenging due to the long hours and high expectations -- for a lot of people it's sort of like a first job, one without weekends off and where all nighters are common.
