Shadowing issue: Is talking/interacting with patients allowed?

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rocket_9890

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Hi everyone, so recently I was able to shadow a pediatrician who was kind enough to allow me to fill out the patients (they were children) developmental milestone chart. She would ask the patients parent's first if that was okay and then hand me the chart. So I would ask the parents questions like "Can ___ draw circles?" and if yes, put a check. Of course I was able to do so with the patients permission and the pediatrician was right there. My question is, is this okay to write about on AMCAS under shadowing? Are there like legal issues dealing with like privacy, signing documents, and such that might be a problem if I mentioned this? I know that to the parents it was totally fine and normal, but I am just concerned that since as a "shadow" we are there to just observe, I wasn't sure if that was looked down upon/not allowed.
 
Ok to mention in ps. Has no relevance in activity or shadowing.


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I only shadowed for about a day. The rest of the summer I did basically the same clinical stuff the rotating M3 student did under the physiciand supervision which was invaluable experience.
 
I did a ton of stuff while shadowing, but I think the point of listing/explaining shadowing as an activity is more that you had exposure and understanding of medicine rather than what tasks you performed. If it fits in your description, go ahead and describe it, but I would say focus on how the experience helped you or contributed to where you are right now.


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I do not think there are any legal issues with this. I would double check with your premed advisor and/or to the schools you want to apply too.

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The only negative thing I have heard in this realm is that they don't want to see any applicant having acted like a doctor. For example, draining abscesses while on a medical mission trip in Africa, etc, etc. I think what you are talking would not be an issue to include at all, although perhaps a bit unimpressive (especially when compared to draining abscesses in Africa 😉).
 
The only negative thing I have heard in this realm is that they don't want to see any applicant having acted like a doctor. For example, draining abscesses while on a medical mission trip in Africa, etc, etc. I think what you are talking would not be an issue to include at all, although perhaps a bit unimpressive (especially when compared to draining abscesses in Africa 😉).
I'm less leery of such things on US soil, under the supervision of a US physician and with consent from patients/families. The issue with the Africa trip is that often times, you're getting to do cool things because you're not in the US and don't have to abide by US laws. It doesn't reflect well upon an applicant if they're willing to take advantage of a vulnerable population in order to do things that would be illegal here in the US.
 
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