Shadowing-Is it that important?

[NobodyHere115]

Hey people

I'm a reapplicant 3.6, 39. GOt interviewed for a few schools last cycle and waitlisted for two. Did some med-related stuff in between the last and current cycle. Didn't do shadowing last time, wondering how important shadowing is to the entire application. And if it is important, how should I proceed in finding a shadowing opportunity? Any tips? Any info would be great, I'm pretty much groping in the dark here.

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[familyaerospace]

From what I have learned, shadowing is one of the most important activities that med schools are looking for.

I would suggest calling your doctors and asking if they would let you shadow them or if they knew of anyone who would let you shadow. That is honestly one of your best chances. I've shadowed one of my doctors for about 17 hours (including today) and another doctor set me up with two others. So now I have about 60+ hours so far.

I know someone will probably tell you to try for the DO mentor list, but in my experience that is pretty much a waste. I've hit every DO in probably a 2 hour radius (including my own) and they will not respond for love or money.

 

[gman33]

It's probably not super important if you have significant other medical related volunteering time. Try to have at least 200-300 hours of direct patient contact time before applying.

Shadowing is good for you, just to make sure you know what you are getting into. I'd probably try to get some. At least a couple of days.

 

[tremulousNeedle]

Shadowing per se is not that important. What is important is being able to demonstrate compassion for others and demonstrate motivation and understanding of medicine and the role of a physician. Many students accomplish the latter part through physician shadowing; however, there are other options that many students utilize.

For myself, I worked as an ED tech before medical school, so I was able to demonstrate my compassion for others and motivation towards medicine in a single employment experience. Of course, I did other things to strengthen my application, but I never did any traditional shadowing.