Shadow one specialty?

[RecyclingBinh]

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I've been shadowing in general pediatrics and pediatric emergency medicine. should i shadow other specialties? I really want to go into pediatrics and want to know if shadowing different areas of pediatrics look bad on my application than like shadowing orthopedic, internal medicine, or cardiothoracic?

by shadowing different areas of pediatrics i mean emergency medicine, psychiatry, neurology and anything that pertains to pediatrics.

 

[besmart]

I've been shadowing in general pediatrics and pediatric emergency medicine. should i shadow other specialties? I really want to go into pediatrics and want to know if shadowing different areas of pediatrics look bad on my application than like shadowing orthopedic, internal medicine, or cardiothoracic?

by shadowing different areas of pediatrics i mean emergency medicine, psychiatry, neurology and anything that pertains to pediatrics.

I wished all pre-meds would shadow as many specialties as they could. If you don't at least shadow each type of specialty, there is no way to really understand the relationship between all of the specialties.

 

[mmmcdowe]

Lol when I read your title I was like "Shawod? Is that arabic?"

If you have time to shadow other specialities that will be good for you personally, though it won't necessarily do much more for your applications. Shadowing is generally considered the lowest "yield" clinical experience. It does give you the personal ability to look for interests in other fields, though honestly setting yourself up for a specific speciality before medical school tends to be pretty low yield in itself.

 

[BlueElmo]

I would suggest shadow just one more specialty that is not pediatrics related. Then you should be fine.

 

[RecyclingBinh]

thank you everyone for your input. i will shadow an orthopedic surgeon or a cardiologist. oh i forgot...i did shadow in internal medicine and it was boring!

 

[justdoit31]

I also want to go into pediatrics but I spent some time in family medicine and I really appreciate the field more now...

I would recommend if you are able to look at a couple different peds specialties. I did hem/onc but spent days with 6 different sub-fields in the department and also work with kids with CF and Crohns on a regular basis at the hospital... Don't overdo it though- you will have plenty of time in med school to figure it all out!

 

[drhouse42]

How have you found all of these docs?

 

[RecyclingBinh]

How have you found all of these docs?

once you have connections to certain areas, finding diff. doctors to shadow isn't hard. wihtout my connections, i would never be able to find drs. to shadow. try to get connected and you should do fine.

 

[RecyclingBinh]

I also want to go into pediatrics but I spent some time in family medicine and I really appreciate the field more now...

I would recommend if you are able to look at a couple different peds specialties. I did hem/onc but spent days with 6 different sub-fields in the department and also work with kids with CF and Crohns on a regular basis at the hospital... Don't overdo it though- you will have plenty of time in med school to figure it all out!

congrats on getting into TX Tech!!! it's tough to get into a TX school when you're OOS. How'd you do it.

with that scholarship, you are officially a TX resident! 🙂
you will soon learn that everythign is bigger in Texas!!!

 

[justdoit31]

congrats on getting into TX Tech!!! it's tough to get into a TX school when you're OOS. How'd you do it.

with that scholarship, you are officially a TX resident! 🙂
you will soon learn that everythign is bigger in Texas!!!

I grew up in Texas- moved to Atlanta with my family when I was 15 and I know everything is bigger in Texas! I talked in the additional essay part of the TMDSAS app about being from Texas and I got interviews with UT-H and Tech... I chose Tech because of location and program- I am from the panhandle and liked Tech curriculum... I turned down the UT-H interview because I had emergency surgery 1 week before scheduled interview.

 

[RecyclingBinh]

I grew up in Texas- moved to Atlanta with my family when I was 15 and I know everything is bigger in Texas! I talked in the additional essay part of the TMDSAS app about being from Texas and I got interviews with UT-H and Tech... I chose Tech because of location and program- I am from the panhandle and liked Tech curriculum... I turned down the UT-H interview because I had emergency surgery 1 week before scheduled interview.

ouch! surgery before an interview. i personally prefer UT-Houston over tech but if Tech accepts me then I will go there no doubt. the only downside is that it's in Lubbock which is out in the middle of nowhere.

 

[justdoit31]

ouch! surgery before an interview. i personally prefer UT-Houston over tech but if Tech accepts me then I will go there no doubt. the only downside is that it's in Lubbock which is out in the middle of nowhere.

yes well I grew up in Amarillo which is also in the middle of nowhere (120 miles N or lubboc) and I loved it so Lubbock wasn't a drawback for me... I thought there would be some great things at UTH but I love that I can do my clinical rotations in Amarillo where some departments don't even have residents so you can be 1st assist on a surgery or whatnot... I honestly loved the family environment that I feel both Lubbock and Amarillo have- also I plan to be involved with the volleyball world and have already been told I should be able to assistant coach for fun (in my spare time) for a team in Lubbock.

I am sure I would have liked Houston but overall Tech accepted me first with the scholarship and I was able to save the travel cost and go there which was my top choice from the get-go. Also, I love living in a metro but I hate traffic, more costly, rent etc. I have leased a 2 bedroom townhome for $540/month... I couldn't get a 1 bedroom for that near UT-H.