how normal is this shadowing experience?

[seaofsecondaries]

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I'm currently studying abroad in a v developed country and I'm also shadowing a surgeon at one of the top if not the top hospital in the country. This is the first time I'm shadowing a surgeon so I wanted to see if my experience is normal/similar to American shadowing experiences.
My first day, I learned different knots and suture techniques and then the second day, I scrubbed in for three surgeries. The first surgery, I was in charge of the laparoscope inside the patient. The second surgery, I also moved the laparoscope inside the patient and the surgeon I'm shadowing also had me do some ties on the patient. The third surgery was a bit more invasive and in addition to doing several ties and doing other things like irrigation and being wrist deep in the patient's insides (touched a living liver and various other organs for the first time!), I also did some sutures on the patient.
I'd be lying if I said I wasn't initially surprised and scared out of my mind when my surgeon told me to do these things, because we were dealing with actual, living patients and I'm not even a medical student yet, I'm just an undergrad. Is this kind of thing typical when you shadow a surgeon? Because tbh, my other shadowing experiences consisted mostly of just observing the physician...

 

[evasive fish]

Shadowing is supposed to be a passive, observational experience. In the U.S., you're actually not expected to be actively involved the way you were in those surgeries because you're not licensed to practice medicine yet. In any case, for U.S. med schools, shadowing in the U.S. will count the most.

 

[Catalystik]

I'm currently studying abroad in a v developed country and I'm also shadowing a surgeon at one of the top if not the top hospital in the country. This is the first time I'm shadowing a surgeon so I wanted to see if my experience is normal/similar to American shadowing experiences.
My first day, I learned different knots and suture techniques and then the second day, I scrubbed in for three surgeries. The first surgery, I was in charge of the laparoscope inside the patient. The second surgery, I also moved the laparoscope inside the patient and the surgeon I'm shadowing also had me do some ties on the patient. The third surgery was a bit more invasive and in addition to doing several ties and doing other things like irrigation and being wrist deep in the patient's insides (touched a living liver and various other organs for the first time!), I also did some sutures on the patient.
I'd be lying if I said I wasn't initially surprised and scared out of my mind when my surgeon told me to do these things, because we were dealing with actual, living patients and I'm not even a medical student yet, I'm just an undergrad. Is this kind of thing typical when you shadow a surgeon? Because tbh, my other shadowing experiences consisted mostly of just observing the physician...

I strongly recommend you not mention this level of active participation on a US medical school application.

 

[seaofsecondaries]

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Thank you all for the information and advice! I honestly was expecting to just observe the surgeon, and perhaps a few surgeries if possible so I was really caught off guard by the level of involvement he wanted for me, even with his/the surgical team's supervision. I thought this couldn't possibly be standard shadowing protocol back in the US ;;
I've already submitted my secondaries so I'll stick to just talking about my US shadowing experiences / observing surgeries while I studied abroad in interviews. Again, thank you all!

 

[getdown]

Thank you all for the information and advice! I honestly was expecting to just observe the surgeon, and perhaps a few surgeries if possible so I was really caught off guard by the level of involvement he wanted for me, even with his/the surgical team's supervision. I thought this couldn't possibly be standard shadowing protocol back in the US ;;
I've already submitted my secondaries so I'll stick to just talking about my US shadowing experiences / observing surgeries while I studied abroad in interviews. Again, thank you all!

I agree that you should probably not mention these activities in your application or interviews. On the other hand, be excited that you were able to do things that med students and residents do here. Personally, I don't think it's as big of a deal as it's made out to be. Back in the day medicine was, and to some extent, is still today an apprenticeship where you learn by doing. Most incoming MS3 are probably at your level currently when starting their surgery rotations and they get to do pretty much what you did. The current American medicolegal logic makes this questionable but as long as it was under supervision then it probably isn't an issue. If anything use that as motivation of what you'll get to experience as a medical student.

 

[seaofsecondaries]

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Thankfully, this was a very recent event so I didn't mention it in my primary/secondaries and I now plan to not mention how involved I was in interviews.
This made me more interested in considering becoming a surgeon, so I do see this as a valuable learning experience.

 

[Catalystik]

Thankfully, this was a very recent event so I didn't mention it in my primary/secondaries and I now plan to not mention how involved I was in interviews.
This made me more interested in considering becoming a surgeon, so I do see this as a valuable learning experience.

I'm sure it was a very scary, but exciting, impactful experience. But just the thought of a ligature failure or your uneducated finger going through a fragile structure leading to severe hemorrhage made me recoil. Imagine how the memory of such an event would negatively impact you.

 

[seaofsecondaries]

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Yes, the fear of potentially making a mistake and negatively impacting the patient was and still remains in my mind. I have three weeks of shadowing left and I think I'll tell the surgeon that I'm uncomfortable at my current level to be so involved in the surgeries.