Considered Shadowing or Clinical Exp?

[jaw93]

I have a question about how to categorize some work I am doing this summer. I am "shadowing" an Internist/Pediatrician family doctor 6hrs a week for the whole summer. What I thought would just be me silently standing in the exam observing has turned into much more. From the first day my Doc took me under his wing and said he will "treat me like I'm already in med-school." He has already had me check heart, lungs, and blood pressure of actual patients with a stethoscope, as well as checking ears and throats. He has gone over the basics of diagnostics with me and showed me how to hook up and read an EKG. On top of all that he has lets me go into an examination room with patients before he sees them and has me interview them on their medical history and their current issues. Then we quickly discuss what I found out/thought before he goes to see the patient. I did not think that I would be able to have one-on-one interactions with patients through a shadowing position. So basically what I am asking is that is this considered within the normal ranges of a shadowing experience, or has my patient interaction made this more of a clinical experience/internship. How would you report this on your app?

Thanks for your time and all replies are greatly appreciated!

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[Catalystik]

I have a question about how to categorize some work I am doing this summer. I am "shadowing" an Internist/Pediatrician family doctor 6hrs a week for the whole summer. What I thought would just be me silently standing in the exam observing has turned into much more. From the first day my Doc took me under his wing and said he will "treat me like I'm already in med-school." He has already had me check heart, lungs, and blood pressure of actual patients with a stethoscope, as well as checking ears and throats. He has gone over the basics of diagnostics with me and showed me how to hook up and read an EKG. On top of all that he has lets me go into an examination room with patients before he sees them and has me interview them on their medical history and their current issues. Then we quickly discuss what I found out/thought before he goes to see the patient. I did not think that I would be able to have one-on-one interactions with patients through a shadowing position. So basically what I am asking is that is this considered within the normal ranges of a shadowing experience, or has my patient interaction made this more of a clinical experience/internship. How would you report this on your app?

Thanks for your time and all replies are greatly appreciated!

It sounds like you are most fortunate in finding a doc willing to mentor and teach you, rather than just offering a passive observational experience. This is definitely not typical.

If you already have plenty of active patient interaction to list, you might still list it as "Shadowing", but name the activity Shadowing and Clinical Internship, or somesuch.

If you are sparse on the active patient experience, then maybe list it under "Other", but use a similar name, so that neither component will be missed. It is NOT a volunteer experience, so don't use that category.

Regardless, your description can report the percent time of actively engaging patients, % time shadowing, and % time that doesn't fall into either category.

 

[Lamel]

That is a sweet gig! You're basically a medical assistant. Make sure to highlight all of what you mentioned, it's definitely not just shadowing.

I would say shadowing and clinical internship as well.

 

[jaw93]

Thanks for the advice! I realize that I am very blessed to be in such a great learning experience. This is my first shadowing experience, and I plan on having around 60hrs by then end of the summer. Also, assuming I present myself well and maintain a strong relationship with the doctor would he be a good person to ask to write a LOR? Are shadowed doctors generally considered a strong letter of rec or does it depend on the experience?

 

[Catalystik]

Thanks for the advice! I realize that I am very blessed to be in such a great learning experience. This is my first shadowing experience, and I plan on having around 60hrs by then end of the summer. Also, assuming I present myself well and maintain a strong relationship with the doctor would he be a good person to ask to write a LOR? Are shadowed doctors generally considered a strong letter of rec or does it depend on the experience?

A letter from a shadowed doc doesn't usually have much to say that will impact an adcomm. But in your case, since the experience entails so much more, THIS doc's LOR would probably comment on characteristics we'd care about and would be worth acquiring.

 

[Epinephreus]

I have a question about how to categorize some work I am doing this summer. I am "shadowing" an Internist/Pediatrician family doctor 6hrs a week for the whole summer. What I thought would just be me silently standing in the exam observing has turned into much more. From the first day my Doc took me under his wing and said he will "treat me like I'm already in med-school." He has already had me check heart, lungs, and blood pressure of actual patients with a stethoscope, as well as checking ears and throats. He has gone over the basics of diagnostics with me and showed me how to hook up and read an EKG. On top of all that he has lets me go into an examination room with patients before he sees them and has me interview them on their medical history and their current issues. Then we quickly discuss what I found out/thought before he goes to see the patient. I did not think that I would be able to have one-on-one interactions with patients through a shadowing position. So basically what I am asking is that is this considered within the normal ranges of a shadowing experience, or has my patient interaction made this more of a clinical experience/internship. How would you report this on your app?

Thanks for your time and all replies are greatly appreciated!

Perhaps I could offer some advice since I was in a very similar position. Asked to shadow a physician in a field I was interested in, it became long term, was taught like a med student, got to speak with patients before they were seen, helped with ultrasounds, perform basic examinations... the works.

Anyways, I listed it as shadowing on AMCAS, used it as one of my most meaningful to discuss what I got from the situation, and had the physician write a really strong LOR to speak on my behalf regarding the value of the experience. Doing these things definitely helped demonstrate my commitment to medicine and were consistently spoken highly about in my interviews.