i shadowed an orthopedic surgeon for 5 hrs every week in his clinic. if i had time i'd watch surgeries on another day in the week. this whole shadowing exp lasted for a semester so something like 50-75 hrs.
in all honesty, you can do what you want with shadowing. work with whatever specialty you're interested in. stop whenever you feel like it. go as often or as little as you like. i stopped because i was moving onto a new semester where my hours did not match up to his clinic/sx hours. right now i'm shadowing a family physician and plan to until i reach the limit of what i can learn from her. just remember this is something you'll put on your app and the physician may be someone who can write you an LOR, so again, make of it what you will.
