Shadowing AMCAS / DO question

[DrSteven]

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Hey guys, so I just had a question about reporting shadowing on the AMCAS. I currently have a shadowing contract set up that I've been doing for some time with an Anesthesiologist (D.O.) and he floats between Ortho and Women's Surgery. Since he sticks to these two areas of surgery he works with one particular OB/Gyn (M.D.) and one Ortho Surgeon (M.D.) quite frequently whom I have gotten to know as well. When we are with either of them he explains to me all of the anesthesia stuff and then once he is done the surgeons call me over to explain what they are doing to me and chat and all that jazz. So, my question is, even though I officially am only shadowing the Anesthesiologist, would I be able to list these two surgeons on the AMCAS for shadowing exposure as well? And also, does it matter for M.D. schools if most of my clinical exposure is with a D.O.? (My guess is no but just thought I'd ask here). Thanks guys!

 

[sector9]

Hey guys, so I just had a question about reporting shadowing on the AMCAS. I currently have a shadowing contract set up that I've been doing for some time with an Anesthesiologist (D.O.) and he floats between Ortho and Women's Surgery. Since he sticks to these two areas of surgery he works with one particular OB/Gyn (M.D.) and one Ortho Surgeon (M.D.) quite frequently whom I have gotten to know as well. When we are with either of them he explains to me all of the anesthesia stuff and then once he is done the surgeons call me over to explain what they are doing to me and chat and all that jazz. So, my question is, even though I officially am only shadowing the Anesthesiologist, would I be able to list these two surgeons on the AMCAS for shadowing exposure as well? And also, does it matter for M.D. schools if most of my clinical exposure is with a D.O.? (My guess is no but just thought I'd ask here). Thanks guys!

Two things
1. You can't double dip hours (so don't say you were shadowing both doctors at the same time)
2. You should get shadowing experiences besides this (when the patient is awake)

That being said, you COULD split this up if you wanted to. For example, if you spent 40 hours shadowing in this situation, and if you spent half your time shadowing the anesthesiologist and 1/4 with the OB/GYN and ortho, then you could split it up like this:
20 hours shadowing anesthesiologist
10 hours shadowing OB/GYN during surgery
10 hours shadowing ortho during surgery

However, the best way to write it on the app would be to list the anesthesiologist as all 40 hours (hypothetically) then add a one or two sentence description similar to your post (since you really were just shadowing the anesthesiologist and happened to have some accommodating surgeons who filled in some downtime).

Also, for allopathic schools, it doesn't matter if you are shadowing a DO or MD. (Osteopathic schools do want you to shadow a DO though)