shadowing a doctor -- what counts?

[jonquille]

For those of you who applied this past year, or before: I'd like to include shadowing a doctor as a post-secondary experience. I'm not sure, however, how many times I would need to shadow to make it "count" or make it interesting in the eyes of admissions.

If you shadowed, would you be willing to share details, like how many times, over what period, or anything else you think that's relevant?

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[oldman]

I don't think any activity is based on "how much" to count. it's whether you have an experience that's interesting and unique. shadowing is supposed to give you an idea of what you are getting into. not as a sure-fire way of getting into med school.

 

[Dr. Parker]

Hey, I am new to the board, just graduated highschool (going to FSU in the fall), but this summer I am going to have the opportunity to shadow a cardiac surgeon for a whole month straight, every day all day. What I would hope to get out of this experience is either, I fall in love with surgery, or I hate it. But when I apply to medical schools in 4 years, I want to be able to cite this experience because it was such an intense insight in to medicine that schools will see a real passion even after I've been standing in the OR for 8 hours aday for month!

I have shadowed other doctors for days at a time, but this is not where the experiences come from, you might learn somethings and gain experience, but not the best way to go. When i shadowed for an extended period of time I was able to see the same patients over long periods of time which really made an impact.

Listing every doctor you spent a half a morning with might not be the best idea, but instead pick the few experiences that you could talk about emphatically and make an impact on the school.

My humble insight!