Shadowing a surgeon vs. shadowing a family practioner?

[coolcucumber91]

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On Monday, I get to watch a team of neurologists (one of them is a researcher I work for) and a neurosurgeon put a deep brain stimulator inside a patient. They basically will have to drill a hole on the dude's skull and put it in. I'm excited and since I do research in the neurology department, I may be able to watch a whole bunch of other open-brain/ head surgeries. My question is, how good does shadowing a surgery look compared to shadowing a pediatrician or family doctor? I heard that its more important

 

[NYCMS2]

Which did you hear is more important? Your post is confusing...

It is probably more representative to shadow a pediatrician or family practice doc, but there is certainly no harm in seeing some surgeries.

Just get some exposure to as many areas of medicine as possible. I think variety is far more important than any concentrating a bunch of hours in one specialty.

 

[sector9]

On Monday, I get to watch a team of neurologists (one of them is a researcher I work for) and a neurosurgeon put a deep brain stimulator inside a patient. They basically will have to drill a hole on the dude's skull and put it in. I'm excited and since I do research in the neurology department, I may be able to watch a whole bunch of other open-brain/ head surgeries. My question is, how good does shadowing a surgery look compared to shadowing a pediatrician or family doctor? I heard that its more important

You're not hurting your application by shadowing in neurosurgery. However, you should definitely add a primary care doctor and possibly some other specialties so you see can see some differences between specialties

 

[NickNaylor]

On Monday, I get to watch a team of neurologists (one of them is a researcher I work for) and a neurosurgeon put a deep brain stimulator inside a patient. They basically will have to drill a hole on the dude's skull and put it in. I'm excited and since I do research in the neurology department, I may be able to watch a whole bunch of other open-brain/ head surgeries. My question is, how good does shadowing a surgery look compared to shadowing a pediatrician or family doctor? I heard that its more important

No, one isn't "more important" than the other, but it's a good idea to be exposed to different fields of medicine - if not for your own enrichment, then to demonstrate that you've seen several sides of the profession.