Shadowed primary care physician in high school, include in app?

[ServiceFirst]

I'm planning on adding a few more shadowing experiences to my application for this cycle, but in all honesty it is something that I'm lacking overall for my undergraduate experiences, although I do have quite a bit of clinical volunteering (300+ hours).

I'm reaching out for some advice for if I should include shadowing a primary care physician my senior year of high school for my application. I have about 20 hours of this experience, although it was an extremely relevant experience for me to affirm my decision to pursue healthcare. I also understand medical schools do look for applicants that have had this experience so they know that the applicant has taken measures to gain experience into what the field actually looks like.

All in all, should I include shadowing a primary care physician (20 hours;work/activities section) in my application, even though it was done my senior year of high school?

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[sullen-burger]

I'm planning on adding a few more shadowing experiences to my application for this cycle, but in all honesty it is something that I'm lacking overall for my undergraduate experiences, although I do have quite a bit of clinical volunteering (300+ hours).

I'm reaching out for some advice for if I should include shadowing a primary care physician my senior year of high school for my application. I have about 20 hours of this experience, although it was an extremely relevant experience for me to affirm my decision to pursue healthcare. I also understand medical schools do look for applicants that have had this experience so they know that the applicant has taken measures to gain experience into what the field actually looks like.

All in all, should I include shadowing a primary care physician (20 hours;work/activities section) in my application, even though it was done my senior year of high school?

I'm gonna put a soft "no" on this one.

 

[partypantss]

I'm planning on adding a few more shadowing experiences to my application for this cycle, but in all honesty it is something that I'm lacking overall for my undergraduate experiences, although I do have quite a bit of clinical volunteering (300+ hours).

I'm reaching out for some advice for if I should include shadowing a primary care physician my senior year of high school for my application. I have about 20 hours of this experience, although it was an extremely relevant experience for me to affirm my decision to pursue healthcare. I also understand medical schools do look for applicants that have had this experience so they know that the applicant has taken measures to gain experience into what the field actually looks like.

All in all, should I include shadowing a primary care physician (20 hours;work/activities section) in my application, even though it was done my senior year of high school?

Yes I would say you should definitely include it. I personally had some clinical volunteering exposure my senior year of high school and I included it seemingly to my benefit. Some people on SDN seem to have such a hard-line "nothing before your first day of college" approach which is silly. If your shadowing experience was a significant step in you choosing to pursue medicine in college, you should absolutely include it on your app.

 

[Catalystik]

I'm planning on adding a few more shadowing experiences to my application for this cycle, but in all honesty it is something that I'm lacking overall for my undergraduate experiences, although I do have quite a bit of clinical volunteering (300+ hours).

I'm reaching out for some advice for if I should include shadowing a primary care physician my senior year of high school for my application. I have about 20 hours of this experience, although it was an extremely relevant experience for me to affirm my decision to pursue healthcare. I also understand medical schools do look for applicants that have had this experience so they know that the applicant has taken measures to gain experience into what the field actually looks like.

All in all, should I include shadowing a primary care physician (20 hours;work/activities section) in my application, even though it was done my senior year of high school?

You may include it, as there is no AMCAS rule against doing so, however, I'd hope you'll have a substantial number of additional recent hours to include in the same space. I'd expect you to gain different insights from being involved in such an activity now, compared to when you were a teen.

 

[ServiceFirst]

Thank you everyone for your input! I feel the general consensus is to include high school shadowing experiences in conjunction with current/future experiences on the AMCAS.

 

[MCATISEZ]

Yes I would say you should definitely include it. I personally had some clinical volunteering exposure my senior year of high school and I included it seemingly to my benefit. Some people on SDN seem to have such a hard-line "nothing before your first day of college" approach which is silly. If your shadowing experience was a significant step in you choosing to pursue medicine in college, you should absolutely include it on your app.

I agree. But keep in mind, some 20 hours of shadowing a physician many years ago seems like a weak punch line as to your decision to pursue a career like medicine.

 

[LizzyM]

If it was a formative experience and it works with your PS, you could put it there and then expand on how you acted on that initial interest as you moved on to college.

 

[partypantss]

I agree. But keep in mind, some 20 hours of shadowing a physician many years ago seems like a weak punch line as to your decision to pursue a career like medicine.

Oh yeah, I'm definitely not saying he/she should lean on that one experience heavily. Just that it can be part of the story of how they found their way to applying. OP should definitely get more shadowing experience throughout undergrad to reconfirm both to the ADCOMS as well as for his/herself. The question was just whether or not it can be included, which I say definitely yes.