How necessary is shadowing?

[entertainment720]

---

Members don't see this ad.

.

 

[Aubrey Graham]

I would say it is an unlisted requirement. About 90 percent of matriculated have some sort of shadowing.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[ahisma]

There are a few matriculated students listed here that did not shadow but they have really good stats and who knows what their story is or what schools they matriculated to. Maybe their parents or family members are doctors? By far the majority have shadowing experience. It shows you have at least some idea of what you are getting into. This adcom member said volunteering at a hospital is no substitute for shadowing an actual physician. A lot of premeds have to cold call or randomly ask physicians to shadow. Don't be scared to do this, they know the routine.

 

[Doctor Dream]

I'm having a really hard time finding any doctors willing to let me shadow them, and to be perfectly honest, the whole shadowing thing just seems like a box-checking sort of thing. I'm wondering exactly how necessary Tis to have shadowing hours. Any recent applicants out there who have had success without shadowing? I have started volunteering in a hospital where I have lots of patient exposure, and I do see some patient-doctor interactions. Is that good enough?

The purpose of shadowing is for you to see first hand what a doctor's day is like. A lot of people think being a doctor is something that they really want to do, but after shadowing decide it's not their cup of tea. It's hard for admissions committees to say that you'll be a successful doctor if you've never even seen in person what a doctor's day is like. Hence why according to @Aubrey Graham 90% matriculants have shadowing of some sort.

I'm not an adcom or anything but I'd say it's pretty important.

 

[Psai]

Yeah it sucks to try to find someone. Think about it from their perspective: some random college kid messages them out of nowhere and wants to watch them interact with patients for a day. How awkward would that be? You have no idea who this kid is, if they're actually interested, if they will even show up, how they will conduct themselves, if they'll make you look bad. The point is to get an idea of what your future career will be like. How can you get an idea of what a doctor's job is like without actually seeing it? How will admissions committees be able to trust that you'll be able to stick it out through medical school and make it through successfully

 

[iniquus]

Most people just do it to get that imaginary checkbox checked off. It's important in its purpose--to understand what a doctor does. Put all the idealistic "I want to help people" aside and actually see the behind-the-scenes physical/mental/emotional demands of the job. Shadow as much as you need to understand what it means to be a physician and what the job entails. I personally shadowed a few physicians, totaling < 40 hr. altogether, and I found it pretty useless. Be proactive to make the connections...I was able to shadow a physician after finding his business card on the floor outside an elevator bank.

If you're clinically volunteering at the hospital, working with patients and witnessing the physician-patient/physician-staff interactions, then shadowing isn't going to help you so much. If you're hospital volunteering is stapling papers and running random errands, then you should probably shadow to know what you're getting yourself into.

 

[Eppur Si Muove]

You need it. If it seems like a box checking sort of thing, remember there a reason why it is a box that needs to be checked off.

 

[karayaa]

try searching the forums - there have been several good how-to-find-docs-to-shadow threads this year.

 

[AlteredScale]

I'm having a really hard time finding any doctors willing to let me shadow them, and to be perfectly honest, the whole shadowing thing just seems like a box-checking sort of thing. I'm wondering exactly how necessary Tis to have shadowing hours. Any recent applicants out there who have had success without shadowing? I have started volunteering in a hospital where I have lots of patient exposure, and I do see some patient-doctor interactions. Is that good enough?

Out of all the box checking, this is the one you shouldn't skimp out on. How can you back your reasoning to become a physician when you haven't seen the day to day job close up? Tis vital to at least spend just a day with a doc to fortify why you even want to go into the field.

Keep contacting docs, you will find one who let you shadow them.

 

[psychgirl95]

If you're having trouble finding someone, I'd suggest starting with your own primary care physician. Assuming you had a pediatrician up until age 18 or so, you may be able to shadow them.

 

[tima]

Shadowing is mandatory. How are adcoms supposed to know you know what you are getting into? Reading on SDN about shadowing experiences isn't the answer.

 

[tima]

I would say Tis an unlisted requirement. About 90 percent of matriculated have some sort of shadowing.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I heard it's more like 95%.

 

[Aubrey Graham]

I heard Tis more like 95%.

Stats like tis are made up about 96.5 percent of the time.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Feelgood Inc]

lol. How do you know you want to be a doctor if you aren't willing to have even the smallest preview of a doctor's routines and schedules through a personal view?

 

[tima]

Stats like tis are made up about 96.5 percent of the time.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I agree 98% +/- 2% with your post.

 

[Narmerguy]

I didn't have any shadowing, but I would recommend just getting some. It's simple to do and for any school that takes particular exceptions to applicants not having shadowing experience, you can check that box. More importantly, it actually can be an eye-opening experience as far as showing people what working as a physician is actually like. Many people never have significant experience watching physicians at work!

 

[amad01]

I can't think of a single interview where I wasn't asked to talk about a shadowing experience

 

[FutureOncologist]

I had no doctors in my family when I was going through UG. How I did it was volunteering at a hospital. 1.) you get to follow doctors around if he/she is nice, 2.) if you can let the volunteer coordinator know you need shadowing hours, then he/she will help you out. This is how I got 50 hours of shadowing in one summer.

 

[gueyestan]

The point is to get an idea of what your future career will be like.

 

[LaceyMD]

To my mind, the benefit of shadowing isn't seeing the patient/doctor interactions. It's watching the doctor interact with their medical assistant/nurse/fellow doctors; it's seeing how much work they put in behind the scenes analyzing lab results or evaluating patient histories; and, perhaps most importantly these days, it's seeing how much time they spend on the phone dictating notes, talking to billing agencies, yelling at their EMR system, etc. You need to at least have a minimal understanding of what the day-to-day practice of medicine is like for a few different specialties if you want people to believe that you actually know what you're getting into, and you're not going to get that if all you have is minimal exposure to a handful of patient interactions through volunteering.

 

[FalconSlice]

Would you buy a car without test driving it? Then why would you make one of the most important career choices without seeing what being a doctor entails in the real world?

Yes it is a "box-checking" activity, but you must be compelled to do it for the reason of actually wanting to know what this profession entails instead of just "getting into med school."

 

[farnk20]

FWIW, I shadowed exactly one day with a primary care physician. Never asked about shadowing in a single interview, multiple acceptances. I had a fair amount of exposure as an EMT and physicians in the family, so I never really saw the point of shadowing. I doubt it hurt me much, if at all, since I got into my top choice school.

It depends on the strength of the rest of your application, I think. I got in with no research experience and scant shadowing, but scored very well on the MCAT, had lots of patient care experience, and a high GPA from a top 20 undergrad. I wouldn't stress over shadowing unless you think you need it to make up for other areas of your application, or if you're really unsure as to whether medicine is right for you.

 

[ridethecliche]

Not necessary at all.

-Other premeds applying your cycle and laughing at the easy rejection you'll get for having none.

 

[Rainbow Zebra]

I scribe in an ER, so that is a good way to see how the whole team interacts. I only shadowed a psychiatrist on an inpatient unit, and went to the team meetings. Then again, my dad is an academic MD PhD, and his experience is a lot different than what I see with fulltime clinical folks. I won't be doing anymore shadowing. We 'll see how that all turns out in my cycle this fall. Fyi my brother is an M1 at U of Michigan, never shadowed, but had unique clinical experiences emtb

 

[frodo25]

I have about 20 hours with one specialty. Should I branch out and shadow others?

 

[peanutbutterdaisy]

I also applied this year with zero shadowing (and come from a very non-academic/medicine oriented family fwiw). I was only explicitly asked why I didn't have any shadowing at one interview but was ultimately accepted there.

I always felt like shadowing was a very passive activity, so I chose to use the time I would have spent shadowing trying to do more active learning/productive things. It seems the point of shadowing is to show that you fully understand what you're getting into with a career in medicine--there are definitely other ways you can do this, just make sure to present them well on your AMCAS app.

 

[Rainbow Zebra]

I have about 20 hours with one specialty. Should I branch out and shadow others?

Depends on the whole package. If you have other things you are passionate about, and are involved with people in other contexts, I wouldn't bother. Then again, I agree with other posters that shadowing is a very passive activity. I prefer to be more involved and productive so scribing is my thing right now.

 

[pithy84]

Many people whom I trust (my college's premed advisors, several successful MD applicants, etc.) have told me that physician shadowing is like 95% required. It will help way more than it should. It is indeed a box to check, but the return on that time investment is large.

It will also give you things to put in your essays and talk about during interviews.

I am hoping to enjoy my time shadowing.

 

[Miss_Premed]

I think it might be school defendant. For instance my undergrad is a sort of funnel to the associated med school and our premed advisors tell us not to waste time shadowing if we have hands on clinical activities. Lots of students from my undergrad end up in med school every year. So shadowing might have less weight at certain schools?

 

[Planes2Doc]

It's pretty necessary, but unlike volunteering, you can openly treat it like a check-box. Thus, you can space it out however you want, and just do maybe 50 hours or so and be done with it.