Hey guys - quick question. Applying this cycle and have 2500+ hours as an ER Tech. Is this something I can list as shadowing AND clinical experience? I havent shadowed specifically, but I've spent tons of time with ER physicians and trauma surgeons, neurologists, ENT specialists, hand surgeons, etc who come in for consults.
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EC Question
Started by Derpin2Doctor
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You might be able to do this with the TMDSAS application, but for AMCAS, you can't double count the hours. An option for AMCAS would be to include the word "Shadowing" in the name you give the Employment-Medical/Clinical space and then refer to it again in the narrative, giving the details you provided above.
Alternatively, shave out some of the time, with the estimated hours where all you did was observe physicians into a Shadowing space.
Edit: If you do have other dedicated Shadowing time to list, just add a note in the narrative space that additional shadowing time with x, y, and z specialties took place within your work duty requirements, mentioned elsewhere.
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In temrs of hours, you could divide that 2500 by two and put half in each category, making sure to note you did this in the short response.
You don't think that listing 1250 hours under Shadowing would be a bit ridiculous?
Maybe I'm naive but with those many hours as an ER tech, why would you even need shadowing hours? I find it hard to believe that it would be expected. Imagine a RN applying to med school. Is she supposed to also shadow? Lol. I doubt it.
I would guess that any Adcom seeing those 2500+hours would be thinking, "ok, he knows what doctors do. It's not a mystery. He hasn't romanticized the career."
You'd be surprised then. But, I was, too. Granted, many schools seem to "give credit" for clinical jobs where one works closely with physicians, but others still want dedicated shadowing (or at least, it seems you might get dinged for not listing something in a Shadowing space).
@Catalystik is right. I was advised by multiple adcoms to make sure I had primary care shadowing despite having almost 10,000 hours of clinical experience both in the OR and in providing primary care (i.e., treating Sailors for primary care issues).
Ok...so how many hours? Maybe 20 family practice, 20 peds, 20 internal med? What else?
Could he shadow these docs on his own time as they do hospital rounds?
I shadowed a vascular surgeon at work for quite a few hours. I just separated them out and listed them as shadowing. I think they say around 50 hours or so is sufficient. It's a passive activity you do for yourself, as @gonnif likes to say.
Derpin2Doctor posted elsewhere:
which is more than sufficient to cover the Shadowing expectation, as oncologists generally provide longitudinal care for their patients.
does shadowing an occupational health physician also cover the primary care shadowing expectation?
Occupational health care is generally episodic and not longitudinal. They do not provide primary care.
What else provides longitudinal care besides oncology and family medicine?
Internal Medicine, pediatrics, OBGYN, psychiatry. Some specialists do so also, by practicing their specialty half the time and primary care the other half (commonly done when just setting up a practice), or by assuming all care for a specialty patient ( eg, neurology, oncology, or rheumatology).
So as long as we have shadowing in one of these areas we should be okay? I have a large number of hours in OB/GYN (both in clinic and surgery) but no FM hours. They are super strict about students coming into family practice office where I live.
Yes.
They want you to have primary care shadowing so that you can see longitudinal care. OB/GYN satisfies that. Another reason is that many med students will not score as highly on boards and clinicals as they think they will, leading them to suddenly discover their passion for primary care. You should know what that's like going in just in case that's your only option.
Just to add my n=1 to the above, my major shadowing entry was ~100 hours in a neuro clinic that managed the same patients with chronic pain over months and months. Didn't have any true GP/FM/peds primary shadowing. Went fine, never came up.
