Shadowing Hours Needed?

[Perkins]

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How many hours of shadowing is recommended before applying to medical school? I shadowed a doctor this quarter, and it was a great experience but to be really honest it did not make me want to be a doctor more or less. It was pretty much what I expected prior to doing shadowing and honestly I feel like after you go a few times you get a feel for what that specialty is like and the rest becomes repetition (for example after viewing one surgery, viewing 6 more of the same surgery throughout my shadowing neither added nor subtracted from the experience... it got kind of routine).

I'm a senior now and am considering applying next year. In total I only have about 16 hours of offical shadowing through the shadowing program (I'm i hospitals all the time volunteering and work extensively at the local free clinic... but that isn't "shadowing" per se since I don't just look and have other obligations while there) I was wondering how many more hours of shadowing I need to do to be competitive?

 

[minerva3121]

check out this thread: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=804138

I generally feel good about 24-40 hours of shadowing mixed among a few different specialties and lack of shadowing isn't a deal breaker as long as the applicant has had some opportunity to see doctors in action either while doing volunteer work or while employed in a setting alongside docs.

LizzyM

Keep in mind that LizzyM's school emphasizes research over shadowing, so the number of hours will vary according to the institution. What you learn from shadowing is more important than how much shadowing you do.

 

[Perkins]

Thanks Minerva!

 

[bfarn30]

Side note: If things are becoming routine, you might not be asking enough questions. Don't pester the crap out of the doc, but from my experience, they appreciate questions.

To answer your question, it varies from school to school. IMO, the more experience you have, the better. You will have so much more to discuss in an interview setting and you will actually know what you are talking about.

 

[TheMightySmiter]

82 hours, no more and no less.


I think the most important things to get from shadowing are just to get a typical idea of a physician's day, and to be able to ask them lifestyle questions and about the pros and cons of practicing medicine. I don't think it's terribly common for people to have life-changing experiences while shadowing. It just shows that you've put some thought into applying to med school, and have had some exposure to the downsides of the profession.

 

[phnerd1105]

Also, feel free to shadow any specialties you want. Just make sure you shadow a primary care physician among those.

 

[Web MD]

20-30 will probably get you enough to answer most basic interview questions provided you've had some other volunteer exposure. They're gonna want to know what's ****ty about being a doc, what's good. What do docs actually do besides treat patients, do you understand how ****ty insurance paperwork is? Ask whoever you shadowed how med school, residency and practice have been different from what they expected and how medicine has changed since they started school. Oh and the BS "what makes a good doc" question. You've probably already gotten some of these, maybe another 6-10 hours and you'll be set. I personally laugh at the people with 100+ hours shadowing - there's got to be something better you can be doing with your time than being the third wheel with a doc and a patient