shadow with 1 doc or multiple docs?

[ronaldo23]

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my school offers a program where you can shadow physicians in basically any specialty, it runs by the semester ,and the end, students generally ask the docs for rec letters.....this semester im shadowing an ortho surgeon, and its really good so far, as he lets me scrub up and watch the surgeries really close as well as sit in with his consults...probably will shadow for a total of 60 hours for the semester.

but next semester, do you think it would be a better idea to shadow a different specialty to learn more about different aspects of medicine, or go for the same doctor?

do med schools prefer a student shadowing a doctor for a long period of time (2 years), or shadowing 2 or 3 different doctors for a semester long each

 

[AnesthesiaMD]

my school offers a program where you can shadow physicians in basically any specialty, it runs by the semester ,and the end, students generally ask the docs for rec letters.....this semester im shadowing an ortho surgeon, and its really good so far, as he lets me scrub up and watch the surgeries really close as well as sit in with his consults...probably will shadow for a total of 60 hours for the semester.

but next semester, do you think it would be a better idea to shadow a different specialty to learn more about different aspects of medicine, or go for the same doctor?

do med schools prefer a student shadowing a doctor for a long period of time (2 years), or shadowing 2 or 3 different doctors for a semester long each

I think if you shadowed a doc for 2 years that would look good, or it might look like you're just trying to pad a resume for med school. With that said, I shadowed several doctors in 4 specialties on a few occasions, and I've found it to be quite rewarding. Two years definitely isn't necessary.

 

[mc4435]

Personally I only shadowed one doc. And that was only for one day lol. So it's really not going to make or break your application. The fact that you are going to get 60 hours of shadowing in this semester is a big application booster in itself. But if I had to guess, I would say it would be better to shadow 2 or 3 doctors for a semester long each, for sure. The point of shadowing is to get a taste of what it is like to be a doctor in a specific specialty. Shadowing the same doctor for 2 years is kind of overkill.

 

[mfrizzo3]

I agree. Shadowing one physician for more than a year is a bit excessive. ADCOMS want to know if you understand the daily grind of a physician, and this should not take two years. Shadow multiple physicians to help get a sense of the disparities between the different specialties. (i.e. Rad vs. Surg)👍

 

[futuredrcrawfor]

I recommend shadowing several doctors- I did one doctor several times (my GP) but also spent 2 weeks in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology where I saw several different doctors in different parts of the specialty-

I loved how different the approaches were and seeing how they interacted. Also, each doctor let me do different things and emphasized different things to learn. So for me it was a HUGE growth experience!