Is Shadowing a Post-Sec. Experience?

[AF1892]

Hi, just wondering if shadowing a few doctors is considered Post-sec exp. How do you enter the date if you only did it for a day or two?

thanks

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[doctorperez]

I would add it from the beg. month until the following and on the explanation describe the actual lenght of the experience. Best Wishes!


Dr. Perez

 

[Popoy]

I say include it as post-sec if you have room....

 

[gower]

If you only shadowed for a day or two, it is hardly significant experience, post-high school or not.

Everything you put on the application you can be questioned about at an interview, should you get one. Frankly, if I were an interviewer I would consider a few days shadowing beyond insignificant. But luckily, I am not an interviewer.

You are not required to have a long list padded with trivialities. Stick to a few things you were really involved in and can really talk or write about if challenged.
You must have heard the expression "quality, not quantity."

 

[BCgirl]

I would include it if I were you. I think even a couple of days of shadowing would give you more insight into medicine than if you had never done it, so I wouldn't call it "beyond insignificant". Not everyone has fed starving children in third world countries, won olympic gold medals, and cured cancer... all while keeping a 4.0 gpa Besides, it shows you have some initiative since you would have had to find the doctor to shadow and everything. I would go for it if I were you.

 

[Legend]

I think it is insignificant if you did it for only a day or two.
I shadowed for about two weeks with 8 different docs (all with different specialties). I even shadowed a dentist and a podiatrist, but I was not allowed to shadow an OB/GYN.
Anyways, I am not including it as a part of my experiences because I feel I didn't learn anything that's significant. Perhaps, my interviewer may ask me if I ever shadowed a doc. Than, I guess I can say something about it.

 

[willbeMD]

If you don't put it in your post-secondary section, you could mention it in your essay.

 

[sandflea]

i second carolina's advice. a one-day thing may not be worth sticking in the activities section, but it would ideal to mention in your personal statement. i had a LOT of shadowing experience in high school, and while i couldn't enter that in the activities section since it was restricted to post-secondary experiences, i mentioned it briefly in my essay. yeah, it was in high school, but it was significant enough to merit recognition in my app now. adcoms i spoke to backed this up.