how long should I shadow?

[whitey]

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Howd'
I just got referred to a DO who I would like to shadow but I am not sure how long I should ask to shadow him for. It would be nice to spend enough time with him so I could really get an appreciation of what he does however I don't want to get in his way by always being there. How long do ya'all think i should shadow him for.

 

[Geronimo]

as much as he will let you -- use common sense but don't be afraid to be a little forward

 

[Geronimo]

I'm sorry, as much as he/she will let you.

 

[(nicedream)]

5 minutes should do'er.

 

[OnMyWayThere]

as much as possible

 

[Amy B]

I shadowed a pediatric oncologist (MD) for 2 months every other week. Some people I know shadowed a DO for 4 months. It will really depend on what you and the doc come up with. You want to do it long enough for the DO to get to know you enough to write a great LOR, plus you want to know what a DO does on a daily basis, so you want to do it long enough to have some idea about what they do.

In other words there is no fixed time frame that you "need" to do it.

 

[Geronimo]

I've heard you want to have a good variety of experience in medicine. You should aim for 150-200 hours at least of shadowing various doctors (in the E.R., O.R., Radiologist, etc...) to prove you have an interest in medicine and that you've seen "what it is like."

 

[Amy B]

I've heard you want to have a good variety of experience in medicine. You should aim for 150-200 hours at least of shadowing various doctors (in the E.R., O.R., Radiologist, etc...) to prove you have an interest in medicine and that you've seen "what it is like."

Sorry but I have to strongly disagree. That would be an enormous amount of shadowing. Volunteering at a free health clinic or ER or nursing home, etc with clinical patient contact would be much better for 200 hours, not shadowing. I don't know anyone who has shadowed a doc for 150 -200 hours.

 

[Geronimo]

True enough, that many shadowing hours would be really tough to arrange. I contacted local physician associations and just started asking around as to whether they had any opportunities or programs for pre-meds. Turns out, there was one and it included a stipend 😀 They offered $2,000 for 200 hours of shadowing experience. They organized it with the various physicians (radiology, E.R., O.R., Peds, etc...). I'm in my second week -- it has been super awesome! I've also completed about 230 volunteer hours at a hospital. That is good experience but it isn't as cool as hanging around on a doctor's coat tail all day.

From what I've seen and heard, med schools want to see "some shadowing." There is NO MAGIC NUMBER of hours. For the most part, they just want to see that you have experienced enough to know what you are getting into and that you aren't going to suddenly hit your rotations in your third year and freak out saying, "I didn't realize it would be like this."

 

[premeddo]

I personally think the more you shadow the better. I have a friend who is an R1 at the county hospital and just 2 weeks ago I shadow him for a week! You get to see a ton of things. He was doing his FP rotation but nonetheless it was still fun. I wanted to go during his ER rotation but I couldn't take off then. If you can shadow do so and do it for as long as you can. I think you also get to see whats it like in the everyday life of a doctor. I plan to go again with him during another rotation for another week.

 

[irishlaydi]

I personally think the more you shadow the better. I have a friend who is an R1 at the county hospital and just 2 weeks ago I shadow him for a week! You get to see a ton of things. He was doing his FP rotation but nonetheless it was still fun...

So, does it matter if you shadow a resident, vs. someone who is finished with training, in office practise vs. hospital, etc...???

Is it a better experience to shadow a resident vs someone who has been a doc longer?

THANKS!

 

[irishlaydi]

Howd'
I just got referred to a DO who I would like to shadow but I am not sure how long I should ask to shadow him for. It would be nice to spend enough time with him so I could really get an appreciation of what he does however I don't want to get in his way by always being there. How long do ya'all think i should shadow him for.

Hi, i'm sort of in the same situation. I finally found several DO's to call, but am not sure about time frame in regards to the AACOMAS. Are u planning to apply this year? I am wondering about the time frame for mentioning a LOR from the DO you shadow??? Should you mention this right at the start???

Does anyone have any advice as to whether its too late for me to start shadowing a DO if I am planning to apply this year? 😳

 

[FowlersGap]

Sorry but I have to strongly disagree. That would be an enormous amount of shadowing. Volunteering at a free health clinic or ER or nursing home, etc with clinical patient contact would be much better for 200 hours, not shadowing. I don't know anyone who has shadowed a doc for 150 -200 hours.

i agree; you need to have volunteer experience first
i shadowed about a month or two; it was enough...

 

[premeddo]

So, does it matter if you shadow a resident, vs. someone who is finished with training, in office practise vs. hospital, etc...???

Is it a better experience to shadow a resident vs someone who has been a doc longer?

THANKS!

I don't think it matters whether you shadow a resident or a doctor who has been in practice for several years. Here at this hospital its ran by residents. The staff doctors are just there to help if the residents need it. So, basically you see what you'd see if you'd shadow a staff doctor.

I also plan to go and shadow my friends brother who is also a doctor with a private practice to get the feel of the pravite practice atmosphere.

Also if you have a chance to shadow someone in a hospital do so. I think it gives you a different view than the private practice shadowing.

i agree; you need to have volunteer experience first
i shadowed about a month or two; it was enough...

I don't know if I agree with that totally. Some people cannot volunteer due to their time schedules. I personnaly am one of those. I work full time and go to school part time to full time at times. So I have NO time to do extra curricular activities. So I shadow but I shadow when Im on school vacation and then I take vacation here at work! And yes...friends have told me "you're on vacation and you go and shadow!!!" but yup thats what I did! I don't regret it one bit either! I loved it. And I hope to go back to shadow my friend sometime in december when Im not in school. He will also be doing a different rotation and I get to see something different.

So basically I think if you can shadow do so. It wont hurt.