Shadowing a resident-relative

[FirefighterDoc]

---

Members do not see this ad.

I looked a little bit through the forum and found some topics talking about shadowing a relative but not much about residents. My cousin is a plastics resident and i was just wondering if it is an experience i would be able to list.

Is it ok to list even though he is only a resident? What about the fact that he is my cousin(different last name). I was also planning on shadowing my uncle(his father). Who is a family practice with his own clinic.

Obviously i plan on shadowing more doctors than this, and i don't plan on getting rec's from either of them, but is it still alright to list shadowing them?

If anyone else shadowed residents, how did you feel that experience differed from shadowing actual attendings?

Thanks in advance

 

[Stratego]

It's fine to list shadowing a physician relative, as long as you don't get a letter from them. It's fine to shadow a resident (who could well be a licensed doctor if he's passed his Step III) and in fact I think it would be a real eye opener if all of us had a brief shadowing experience with a new physician-in-training so we could see what our lives will be like in the near future before we become attendings. You are lucky to have this opportunity open to you.

I shadowed a radiology resident moonlighting in the hospital I volunteered at. He was so far along in training, I don't think the experience differed in any way from what it would have been with an attending.

 

[FirefighterDoc]

Thanks for answering my questions Stratego. I obviously plan on shadowing more docs and getting LOR's from them. I was also wondering how many on average people shadow. I know it probably varies per person to get a feeling for the profession but i already work as a tech in an ER and will have plenty of actual clinical experience before i apply. Do adcoms basically just want to see that youve shadowed a wide variety of specialties to get a feel for the profession as a whole?

 

[Mattabet]

Agree with Stratego on the above. On the second batch: adcoms want to see that you have a good idea of what healthcare is, and what it will be like to practice medicine. The fact that you work around doctors is already a big help, and the shadowing rounds it out nicely. Generally, you probably do want to see a few different specialties, if not just because it's less boring than watching the same thing over and over again. But it'll also give you a broader view.

 

[Stratego]

IMO, you'd be fine shadowing three or so different types of specialists, which is about average (and I'd suggest at least one be in primary care). Depending on your level of interest and the doctor's tolerance of your presence, you could spend one work day or five with each one. I've seen some applicants shadow one MD for hundreds of hours. There is no set expectation about how much you need to do. The important thing is that you're getting something out of it.

 

[FirefighterDoc]

Yeah at minimum i was thinking 1 primary care, 1 surgeon and maybe 2 medical specialties