Shadowing but not shadowing?

[Fdsa2495]

I started shadowing this cardiologist last week and he doesn't mind me coming in whenever I'm available. I've known this doctor for about 4 years and maybe I can get a good letter of rec from him when I apply this summer.

BUT I'm not actually shadowing him. Everytime I come to his office he tells me to shadow the Medical Assistants, Echo tech, or sometimes the Nuclear Medicine tech - BTW Nuc Med is awesome I get to learn alot.

I'm just wondering if I should keep this going, shadowing everyone else except the doctor. Ive asked him a couple times now but he always states that I'm going to learn the most from everyone else. He has asked me to translate a few times and thos times I actually got to be with him and the patient but other than that my day is mostly with Medical assistants.

What do you guys think? Is this normal? Should I keep this going since he'll write me a letter and I am still getting the gist of how a doctor works in his own clinic?

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[BurghStudent]

I started shadowing this cardiologist last week and he doesn't mind me coming in whenever I'm available. I've known this doctor for about 4 years and maybe I can get a good letter of rec from him when I apply this summer.

BUT I'm not actually shadowing him. Everytime I come to his office he tells me to shadow the Medical Assistants, Echo tech, or sometimes the Nuclear Medicine tech - BTW Nuc Med is awesome I get to learn alot.

I'm just wondering if I should keep this going, shadowing everyone else except the doctor. Ive asked him a couple times now but he always states that I'm going to learn the most from everyone else. He has asked me to translate a few times and thos times I actually got to be with him and the patient but other than that my day is mostly with Medical assistants.

What do you guys think? Is this normal? Should I keep this going since he'll write me a letter and I am still getting the gist of how a doctor works in his own clinic?

If you've known him that long I'd keep it up and ask him for a letter anyway. These experiences are meaningful and I'm sure he gets feedback about you from the assistants in his clinic.

If you can, try shadowing in a completely different environment. Go for peds, ER, family medicine, IM etc. It's another window through which to see the practice of medicine and it may inform you more about the career.

 

[aalamruad]

If you've known him that long I'd keep it up and ask him for a letter anyway. These experiences are meaningful and I'm sure he gets feedback about you from the assistants in his clinic.

If you can, try shadowing in a completely different environment. Go for peds, ER, family medicine, IM etc. It's another window through which to see the practice of medicine and it may inform you more about the career.

LORs from doctors you shadowed aren't very valuable at all

 

[Fdsa2495]

LORs from doctors you shadowed aren't very valuable at all

I've worked at a hospital for 4 years and he's seen me working there. He's watched me volunteer and do ekgs on patients. I'm confident he would write a good one but my real question is if I should just keep shadowing "everyone else"

 

[BurghStudent]

LORs from doctors you shadowed aren't very valuable at all

Anymore valuable than an LOR from a biology professor who says you are an A student? OP has known him for 4 years. I'd wager that's longer than most letter writers know their students.

 

[aalamruad]

Anymore valuable than an LOR from a biology professor who says you are an A student? OP has known him for 4 years. I'd wager that's longer than most letter writers know their students.

A letter like that from a bio professor wouldn't be strong either.

OP, I wouldn't recommend continuing to shadow, it doesn't sound like you enjoy it and continuing to shadow probably won't improve a potential LOR very much

 

[aldol16]

Unless you're applying to DO schools, a LOR from a doctor you've only shadowed probably isn't going to make much of a difference and, in my opinion, that LOR spot could be spent on a more qualified recommender. With regard to whether to keep going, I think you can learn a lot from shadowing the other members of the medical staff - it could be very insightful and give you insights to talk about in your AMCAS as well as during interviews. With that said, you should also know what physicians do on a daily basis, so perhaps shadow a few other doctors as well. You don't have to limit yourself to this doctor.

 

[bigM6029]

Keep the shadowing up so he can hire you and you can get loads of more clinical experience. And then when you do ask him for a LOR, its from your "boss" and not just a doctor you shadowed


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