Do I have too much shadowing?

[hv92]

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I have shadowed a total of 8 physicians so far but my hours with each vary drastically.

I have over 250
Hours spread across one MD cardiologist, two DO cardiologists, 1 MD hospitalist, one DO hospitalist, one MD pulmonologist, one MD gastroenterologist, and one more DO hospitalist.

Will having multiple DO shadowing within the same field or specialty be considered weird?

I have a feeling that my ECs are lacking in the sense that most of my hours come from shadowing. I do have about 200 hours spread through two health clinics and like 50
Hours with private tutoring. But that's pretty much it? I believe in quality rather than quality of ECs. Any advice? Should I try to find something else in the next couple months before I apply this June?

 

[kenjixshadow]

x

 

[Doctoblast]

I've heard of people having around the same ballpark amount of hours as you. I'm sure as long as your app isn't lacking in other areas you should be fine. Are those 200 hours volunteer hours? If so, you should be okay. Make sure you can get clinical volunteering as well.

 

[TrueWolverine]

I'm still pre-med too so take my advice with a grain of salt but from what I gather all that shadowing won't do any harm, it's awesome to have that much exposure. The biggest thing is that you have consistency with at least a couple doc's that you can get LOR's from. It may not look great if you have shadowed a bunch of doctors, a few hours here and a few hours there, but don't have relationships built up or LOR's. You say it's about quality over quantity but quantity shows dedication. Awesome that you've got that many doc's to shadow though.

 

[hv92]

No clinical volunteer?

My mistake. I have around 200 at a student-run mobile health clinic (checking BP, sugar, etc.) and then another 80 at a homeless shelter health clinic that deals with low-income/socioeconomic, underprivileged community where I do the same thing as the mobile health clinic.

 

[hv92]

I've heard of people having around the same ballpark amount of hours as you. I'm sure as long as your app isn't lacking in other areas you should be fine. Are those 200 hours volunteer hours? If so, you should be okay. Make sure you can get clinical volunteering as well.

Thanks! I replied above and had to clarify a little. Sorry for the confusion. 🙁

 

[kenjixshadow]

Idk what your stats are, but your ECs looks fine. If you're planning on applying to DO, make sure you have a LOR from a DO. Perhaps working with a specifically one will write you a good letter.

 

[hv92]

I'm still pre-med too so take my advice with a grain of salt but from what I gather all that shadowing won't do any harm, it's awesome to have that much exposure. The biggest thing is that you have consistency with at least a couple doc's that you can get LOR's from. It may not look great if you have shadowed a bunch of doctors, a few hours here and a few hours there, but don't have relationships built up or LOR's. You say it's about quality over quantity but quantity shows dedication. Awesome that you've got that many doc's to shadow though.

Oh okay. Thanks. I do have a DO LOR currently but should I get another letter from the most recent DO guy I shadowed? This new guy said he's willing to write me a strong letter as well and they are both cardiologists. I feel bad cause the other guy spent about a month trying to get the letter in. Unfortunately I can only send one in to schools? Any advice?

 

[kenjixshadow]

Oh okay. Thanks. I do have a DO LOR currently but should I get another letter from the most recent DO guy I shadowed? This new guy said he's willing to write me a strong letter as well and they are both cardiologists. I feel bad cause the other guy spent about a month trying to get the letter in. Unfortunately I can only send one in to schools? Any advice?

Why can't you have more than 1 letter? I had two letters, one from MD and one from DO. Worked fine for me.

 

[hv92]

I was under the impression that most schools required one Science letter and one DO letter (or MD)

 

[TrueWolverine]

Schools require one but you can definitely have multiple. I'll be sending in one DO and one MD along with at least 2 upper div science professors. You don't want to bombard them with 20 letters but I don't think having 2 DO letters is problem at all, assuming they're both strong of course. It doesn't necessarily have to be the most recent, just the ones who are willing to write a good LOR.

 

[IslandStyle808]

I was under the impression that most schools required one Science letter and one DO letter (or MD)

Just a heads ups. If you don't have a pre-med committee, then you have to send a bare minimum of two science letters and one physician letter (a few schools require them to be from a DO). You can send more if you like. However, I would suggest no more than 5 letters.

 

[hv92]

Cool then. Thanks guys. I have one non-sci, one science, and one DO LOR so far. I'll ask this other cardio DO to get me another one. Thanks all!

 

[karling]

Cool then. Thanks guys. I have one non-sci, one science, and one DO LOR so far. I'll ask this other cardio DO to get me another one. Thanks all!

You'll probably need another science LOR as well.

 

[hv92]

You'll probably need another science LOR as well.

Ah yes. I will ask my Micro lab professor and/or Anatomy and Phys professor for one. Thank you!

 

[fkt24]

Shadowing isn't a problem as long as you can tell how it impacted you. If you do 200 hrs and have nothing to say about how it impacted you in your decision, then the adcom may see it as "checking it off a list"

 

[DetectiveAlonzo]

You're good with the shadowing. I've shadowed a DO cardio guy too and they did the same exact thing as the MD dude I talked to. How did you guys explain the difference on secondaries in this case when the DO and MD did the same thing (from the same specialty)... Their approach was similar.. having a tough time with pre-writing my secondaries. Any suggestions would be helpful.

 

[67552931811]

Cool then. Thanks guys. I have one non-sci, one science, and one DO LOR so far. I'll ask this other cardio DO to get me another one. Thanks all!

Ah yes. I will ask my Micro lab professor and/or Anatomy and Phys professor for one. Thank you!

Skimmed the thread so not sure if anyone touched on this but if you want to send more letters than what a specific school requires (I had 0 schools not be specific as to the quantity of letters, and whom from) then do yourself a favor and call the school in order to make sure that it's ok that you send more. Some don't care but some want you to stick to the requirements (ie 2 or 3 or whatever). Don't be that applicant that sends 9 letters......

 

[hv92]

I will have 5 letters from 2 DOs... 2 sci, and one nonsci letter... Would 5 be too many to send in your opinion?

 

[Ophiuchus]

You can never have *too much* shadowing.

Though, at some point, I think it starts handing out diminishing returns.

Why do adcoms ask about shadowing experience? They want to see you have had at least some exposure to medicine, some clue as to whether or not you'd like the day-to-day life of a doctor. After all, they don't want you to get to 3rd year, realize you hate it, and drop out having wasted all that time and money (and even worse, a seat at their institution!)

So, I think this works. You can show you shadowed with many different doctors and in many fields. Get a LOR from your favorite/that you spent the most time with.

That said, you probably can stop shadowing now and start working on other areas of your application.

 

[67552931811]

I will have 5 letters from 2 DOs... 2 sci, and one nonsci letter... Would 5 be too many to send in your opinion?

Zero clue if you are talking to me but I'll answer anyways. When you receive your secondaries each school will describe what exactly they require for letters (it's also in the CIB). If a school requires 3 and you want to send all 5, just call said school and politely ask. Some schools will say, "o, sure, that is fine.", while others will say, "no, please do not send more than what we require."

 

[hv92]

Zero clue if you are talking to me but I'll answer anyways. When you receive your secondaries each school will describe what exactly they require for letters (it's also in the CIB). If a school requires 3 and you want to send all 5, just call said school and politely ask. Some schools will say, "o, sure, that is fine.", while others will say, "no, please do not send more than what we require."

haha my mistake. I was on my phone and decided to just do a lazy reply. Thank you. I will certainly do so if I happen to get any secondaries. this is my first (and hopefully only) cycle 🙂

 

[hv92]

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