Shadowing different specialities; good idea?

[KobeshouldbeaMD]

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Primary Goal: MD
I work as a dental assistant at a dentist's office.

I'm going to shadow an orthopaedic hand surgeon in the summer.

However, I just want to know if I shadow a podiatrist, D.O, chiropractor, physical therapist etc... will that make my ECs look good as in "wow, he's been all over the place" or "this kid is incredibly indecisive."

input is appreciated; and experiences are welcomed, Thank you 🙂

 

[nlax30]

Primary Goal: MD
I work as a dental assistant at a dentist's office.

I'm going to shadow an orthopaedic hand surgeon in the summer.

However, I just want to know if I shadow a podiatrist, D.O, chiropractor, physical therapist etc... will that make my ECs look good as in "wow, he's been all over the place" or "this kid is incredibly indecisive."

input is appreciated; and experiences are welcomed, Thank you 🙂

Well, what profession do you actually want to go into?

If you want to be a physician then it's totally fine to shadow MD/DO's in varying specialties. But what you suggested above is shadowing different professions all together which I don't see the point in... unless you are unsure of what you really want to do and would like some experience in different careers to see what they are like.

 

[HAV000]

Primary Goal: MD
I work as a dental assistant at a dentist's office.

I'm going to shadow an orthopaedic hand surgeon in the summer.

However, I just want to know if I shadow a podiatrist, D.O, chiropractor, physical therapist etc... will that make my ECs look good as in "wow, he's been all over the place" or "this kid is incredibly indecisive."

input is appreciated; and experiences are welcomed, Thank you 🙂

IMO it won't be seen as a positive. Shadowing in general is not seen as too much of a positive compared to other ECs, but you may as well say you shadowed a couple docs or specialties for an extended period of time and gained a good perspective of medicine out of it.

I say shadow those other health professions for the exposure of what they do, but don't put it on your app.

 

[KobeshouldbeaMD]

Well, what profession do you actually want to go into?

Well I want to be a physician, preferably something ortho.

 

[mtbtx]

Just shadow MD's for the best effect on your application. Shadowing all sorts of MD's greatly enhances your application, because it shows that your open to possibilities and have been exposed to these possibilities.

 

[BushidoBrown]

Well I want to be a physician, preferably something ortho.

How much do you bench, brah? You need to be able to bench at least your BW to do an ortho elective in med school.

Considering your limited clinical experience, I wouldnt be dead set on doing ortho until youve had at least a modicum of exposure.

 

[mmmcdowe]

TThose are mostly other medical professions not specialties. No harm in shadowing them, just maybe don't list them when you apply.

 

[KobeshouldbeaMD]

How much do you bench, brah? You need to be able to bench at least your BW to do an ortho elective in med school.

Considering your limited clinical experience, I wouldnt be dead set on doing ortho until youve had at least a modicum of exposure.

Around 225, but I've been out for a while with a little injury 🙄 hahaha, I heard you need to score something like a 230+ on both steps actually to be considered for a good ortho program lol, this thread definitely helped though👍, I'll just shadow as many MDs/DOs as I possibly can

I start my first semester in college this fall anyway, I'm just trying to get a head start, hopefully get acquainted with some research ASAP

 

[NickNaylor]

Shadowing is meant to teach you what being a physician is like. While shadowing a podiatrist, dentist, etc. might provide insight into the care-giver role, it's not going to inform you about the role of the physician.

Also, those are entirely different careers, not "specialties."

 

[WorldChanger36]

Stick to the MDs and the DOs for shadowing. Make sure you get a letter of recommendation from a DO so that you can also apply to most DO schools. If you have an interest in the other professions shadow them and see how you like it.

 

[FrkyBgStok]

I would also shadow some primary care and other specialties, just so it doesn't look like you are interested only in one of the highest paying fields.

 

[ICUatUCI]

hi i have a question on shadowing. I am currently shadowing a primary physician. I'm thinking about shadowing another primary doc.

1. Would it be better to shadow primary/specialty than 2 primaries?
2. would you guys recommend shadowing more than 2 docs?
3. I am planning to shadow for about 80 hrs. should i shadow more?

Thanks a lot... sorry for asking my questions in this thread.

 

[KobeshouldbeaMD]

Thanks FrkyBgStok

Thanks a lot... sorry for asking my questions in this thread.

no problem man, anything you ask benefits me as well.

 

[Astarael]

I'll just shadow as many MDs/DOs as I possibly can

I start my first semester in college this fall anyway, I'm just trying to get a head start, hopefully get acquainted with some research ASAP

hi i have a question on shadowing. I am currently shadowing a primary physician. I'm thinking about shadowing another primary doc.

1. Would it be better to shadow primary/specialty than 2 primaries?
2. would you guys recommend shadowing more than 2 docs?
3. I am planning to shadow for about 80 hrs. should i shadow more?

Thanks a lot... sorry for asking my questions in this thread.

To both of you: you should really only shadow a doctor until you feel that you have a good idea of what being a doctor is like. Generally, this amount of time would be in the 40-80 hour range, but you could definitely get by with a little less or a little more. After 80 hours though, you'll experience diminishing returns on the time you invest here. It would be better at that point to get some volunteer experience or something else, since shadowing is sort of a "check that you've done it" thing.

As for primary vs. specialty shadowing, if you can do both, that's great. If you can't, it's not a big deal.

 

[muhali3]

Contrary to what everyone else is saying, I don't think it's bad to shadow other medical professions. It allows you to answer the question "Why medicine?" with your experiences. You can say that after shadowing all these various healthcare professions I have concluded that the role of a physician is best suited for me.

 

[ICUatUCI]

thank you Astarael.

 

[Astarael]

thank you Astarael.

You're welcome 😀

 

[Avoidthetiger]

Contrary to what everyone else is saying, I don't think it's bad to shadow other medical professions. It allows you to answer the question "Why medicine?" with your experiences. You can say that after shadowing all these various healthcare professions I have concluded that the role of a physician is best suited for me.

+1

I've shadowed nurses, PTs, OTs, techs over the years. It really helped me decided why a physician versus another career in medicine, and really helped me explain "Why physician" in my application and interviews.

The difference was that all my shadowing was done during paid employment (I was an intern), and I usually shadowed so much that I could actually assist them. I don't know if it is worth it if you shadow for just a few hours.

edit: many of the people I started the intern program with - who wanted to be physicians back in the day - decided that other medical careers were more suited for them based on their experience shadowing.