If you could only choose one....

[copon]

What looks better on an application. Shadowing with multiple doctors , surgeons, etc? Or having a lot of volunteer hours at a hospital or clinic?

I know that you need a good balance of both i was just curious. I know a lot of doctors I could shadow, also because I work full time and have a family I was wondering what would be more beneficial to have more of.

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[Trexate]

What looks better on an application. Shadowing with multiple doctors , surgeons, etc? Or having a lot of volunteer hours at a hospital or clinic?

I know that you need a good balance of both i was just curious. I know a lot of doctors I could shadow, also because I work full time and have a family I was wondering what would be more beneficial to have more of.

Volunteering would be more beneficial.

 

[Catalystik]

Clinical experience is the more important to gain over a long period of time with some regularity. Shadowing hours can be acquired over school breaks, at night, on weekends in a sporadic manner and the expectation for a certain amount of it isn't as fixed, though I feel that 50 hours seems about average and 80 hours would be very good. Of course, to appeal to the widest range of schools, you'll want to have both.

 

[mvenus929]

Personally, I think most of the time, volunteering in a hospital is worthless for clinical experience. You hardly see anything. So, if given the choice, I'd shadow more. However, you should have volunteering on your application as well (though, just like with research, if you don't have it, it's not the end of the world), I just think it would be more worthwhile to have it in something outside the hospital setting.

 

[NickNaylor]

Personally, I think most of the time, volunteering in a hospital is worthless for clinical experience. You hardly see anything. So, if given the choice, I'd shadow more. However, you should have volunteering on your application as well (though, just like with research, if you don't have it, it's not the end of the world), I just think it would be more worthwhile to have it in something outside the hospital setting.

I agree with this.

 

[Emikosma]

Personally, I think most of the time, volunteering in a hospital is worthless for clinical experience. You hardly see anything. So, if given the choice, I'd shadow more. However, you should have volunteering on your application as well (though, just like with research, if you don't have it, it's not the end of the world), I just think it would be more worthwhile to have it in something outside the hospital setting.

But volunteering in a hospital is not the only option. The only good advice my pre-med adviser has given me is get as far as possible from the university hospital. Go out and find some unique and interesting volunteer opportunities. They do exist!

 

[ThaliaNox]

It's apples and oranges. I've seen lack of shadowing sink applications. I've also seen lack of volunteering sink applications. You only need a little shadowing, though. You want far more hours of volunteering. They're both neccessary and have vastly different expectations as far as time commitment.

 

[hithere3387]

It's apples and oranges. I've seen lack of shadowing sink applications. I've also seen lack of volunteering sink applications. You only need a little shadowing, though. You want far more hours of volunteering. They're both neccessary and have vastly different expectations as far as time commitment.

My experience has been the opposite. Each institution that I was rejected from mentioned that they didn't believe that I had sufficient shadowing experience (~40 hours at the time of submission of my application) to understand what being a physician is like when I asked for feed back. Once I raised the number of shadowing hours that I had, I stopped getting negative feed back about my experience with medicine. The schools didn't seem to be interested in the amount of volunteering that I did.

 

[ThaliaNox]

My experience has been the opposite. Each institution that I was rejected from mentioned that they didn't believe that I had sufficient shadowing experience (~40 hours at the time of submission of my application) to understand what being a physician is like when I asked for feed back. Once I raised the number of shadowing hours that I had, I stopped getting negative feed back about my experience with medicine. The schools didn't seem to be interested in the amount of volunteering that I did.

Maybe your volunteering was sufficient already. I'd hope you had more than 40 hours of volunteering! The average is well over 200 hours. Just because someone says part of your application is weak doesn't mean that that section is universally more important than another section.

 

[Trexate]

I'm going to go out on a limb and say the 'recommended' amount is probably school specific. You shouldn't be choosing between the two of them anyway. You should have ample amounts of both to avoid having glaring weaknesses.

Try and look for free clinics to volunteer at. The one that I participated in offered me a chance for clinical experience and shadowing, and was probably the most meaningful experience out of all my activities.

 

[mvenus929]

But volunteering in a hospital is not the only option. The only good advice my pre-med adviser has given me is get as far as possible from the university hospital. Go out and find some unique and interesting volunteer opportunities. They do exist!

What looks better on an application. Shadowing with multiple doctors , surgeons, etc? Or having a lot of volunteer hours at a hospital or clinic?

The choice given was shadowing or volunteering at a hospital or clinic. Between those two things, I would say go with the shadowing, and volunteer outside of medicine. The volunteer experiences are much more exciting outside the hospital anyway.

 

[hithere3387]

Maybe your volunteering was sufficient already. I'd hope you had more than 40 hours of volunteering! The average is well over 200 hours. Just because someone says part of your application is weak doesn't mean that that section is universally more important than another section.

I realize that. My point is that the schools seemed more interested in the shadowing experience because they don't want to accept someone who doesn't have at least some faint idea of what it is like to be a physician. The idea being that if you don't know what you're getting into, you are less likely to remain in the field or even complete medical school. The adcoms that I've spoken with are aware that as a hospital volunteer, you're mostly just a 'go-fer' and you are unlikely to gain any medically relevant experience.

Also, I had about 150 hospital volunteer hours. More than 100 more in other, non-medicine related areas.

 

[beingthechange]

What looks better on an application. Shadowing with multiple doctors , surgeons, etc? Or having a lot of volunteer hours at a hospital or clinic?

I know that you need a good balance of both i was just curious. I know a lot of doctors I could shadow, also because I work full time and have a family I was wondering what would be more beneficial to have more of.

There are some really good volunteering opportunities out there that incorporate both active help in a clinical setting from you as a volunteer, and also give you insight into what a doctor actually does. You may not experience EVERYTHING the doctor does, but hey, if you're working (helping) right alongside them, who's to say you can't build up a a good relationship and possibly ask them for an opportunity to shadow them?

I was planning on getting more experience volunteering and making some connections before I shadowed a doctor. This will let me log more hours as a volunteer (which medical schools seem to require more of) while also giving me a better understanding of medical terminology, fundamentals of healthcare, bedside manner, basic body processes before I go follow a doctor. I'd much rather know what the heck I'm seeing and be able to understand it enough to draw some of my own conclusions when I get the opportunity to shadow a doc.

High quality, relevant volunteering opportunities may take a little digging around to find, but they are out there. Just don't give up looking!

Just my two cents Good luck!

 

[beingthechange]

There are some really good volunteering opportunities out there that incorporate both active help in a clinical setting from you as a volunteer, and also give you insight into what a doctor actually does. You may not experience EVERYTHING the doctor does, but hey, if you're working (helping) right alongside them, who's to say you can't build up a a good relationship and possibly ask them for an opportunity to shadow them?

I was planning on getting more experience volunteering and making some connections before I shadowed a doctor. This will let me log more hours as a volunteer (which medical schools seem to require more of) while also giving me a better understanding of medical terminology, fundamentals of healthcare, bedside manner, basic body processes before I go follow a doctor. I'd much rather know what the heck I'm seeing and be able to understand it enough to draw some of my own conclusions when I get the opportunity to shadow a doc.

High quality, relevant volunteering opportunities may take a little digging around to find, but they are out there. Just don't give up looking!

Just my two cents Good luck!

I forgot to mention... I have a family and work full time and go to school full time too, and I found a volunteer position at a hospice. GREAT involvement with the clinical aspect, and they are open 24/7 so the hours are flexible! It's perfect for people with busy, rigid schedules.