Shadowing Mandatory?

[Unknown786]

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Hi everyone,

I do have the hospital volunteering experience and a lot of other extracurriculars. I was wondering if shadowing (MD/DO) necessary to be accepted in a DO school? My cGPA is 3.77 and my MCAT is 29S (11PS/7VR/11BS).

P.S. I do have a letter from MD and I worked as a clinical research assistant for him.
Any help will be appreciated!

 

[NurWollen]

Hi everyone,

I do have the hospital volunteering experience and a lot of other extracurriculars. I was wondering if shadowing (MD/DO) necessary to be accepted in a DO school? My cGPA is 3.77 and my MCAT is 29S (11PS/7VR/11BS).

P.S. I do have a letter from MD and I worked as a clinical research assistant for him.
Any help will be appreciated!

You have good stats, and I won't say you won't get in without shadowing, but why risk it? Why not ask the MD you worked for if you can shadow him for a couple of days?

 

[Unknown786]

I will be starting in September as he is setting up his clinic right now.Should i go ahead and put it on my primary AACOMAS application although technically I have not started it yet?

 

[cliquesh]

Shadowing is dumb, but you should do it just to see if you actual want to do medicine. I had 3hrs of shadowing when I applied, so I didn't know what I was getting into.

Yea, don't wait. Just send it in.

 

[NurWollen]

Shadowing is dumb, but you should do it just to see if you actual want to do medicine. I had 3hrs of shadowing when I applied, so I didn't know what I was getting into.

Yea, don't wait. Just send it in.

Well, you got in. Maybe you do point the more important question though. Not, "will I get in if I don't shadow?" but "will I know what I am getting into if I don't shadow?"

I have about 20 hrs that I listed on AACOMAS, but I also got to do a lot of informal shadowing while volunteering in en ER. I listed that as volunteering because most of my time was spent cleaning rooms, stocking shelves, doing inventory of the equipment in each room. Still, there was enough time hold sutures for doctors (what can you call that but shadowing) that it was a valuable experience for me in determining that I do want to go into medicine.

 

[NurWollen]

P.S... if the point is to know what we are getting into, and since med school is a brutal, four-year part of what we are getting into, why don't we all try shadowing med students. That would be thrilling😴

 

[MedPR]

It's not mandatory, but then again neither is a personal statement.

 

[docmayer]

No, but do it. It only helps your app. If I was an ADCOM I would want to see some shadowing. You are applying for a career in medicine but have never shadowed a doc. That seems silly.

 

[NurWollen]

So, I just moved cities, and so obviously I can't keep shadowing the doc who wrote me my DO letter... I just got verified by AACOMAS, and so will be filling out secondaries soon. I'd like to keep shadowing (I only have 18 hours.) Since I'm new to my area, I guess I'll have to start calling random doctor's offices. Do you guys think it's better to call or go dressed nicely to the office and speak with the receptionist?

 

[MedPR]

So, I just moved cities, and so obviously I can't keep shadowing the doc who wrote me my DO letter... I just got verified by AACOMAS, and so will be filling out secondaries soon. I'd like to keep shadowing (I only have 18 hours.) Since I'm new to my area, I guess I'll have to start calling random doctor's offices. Do you guys think it's better to call or go dressed nicely to the office and speak with the receptionist?

Call them. Unless you can visit every DO office over the course of a few days (because there are so few DOs in your area) it simply isn't practical.

 

[angldrps]

Its not mandatory but it will help you a ton when you are writing essays to prompts like "What experience have you had with osteopathic medicine" and when you have to answer the "Why D.O." question in interviews. Its in your best interest to shadow a D.O..

 

[angldrps]

So, I just moved cities, and so obviously I can't keep shadowing the doc who wrote me my DO letter... I just got verified by AACOMAS, and so will be filling out secondaries soon. I'd like to keep shadowing (I only have 18 hours.) Since I'm new to my area, I guess I'll have to start calling random doctor's offices. Do you guys think it's better to call or go dressed nicely to the office and speak with the receptionist?

Call the ones that are far and go visit the ones close by. I find that people find it much more difficult to say no to you in person than on the phone. .

 

[GIpremed]

So, I just moved cities, and so obviously I can't keep shadowing the doc who wrote me my DO letter... I just got verified by AACOMAS, and so will be filling out secondaries soon. I'd like to keep shadowing (I only have 18 hours.) Since I'm new to my area, I guess I'll have to start calling random doctor's offices. Do you guys think it's better to call or go dressed nicely to the office and speak with the receptionist?

Call the ones that are far and go visit the ones close by. I find that people find it much more difficult to say no to you in person than on the phone. .

I may not be the most charming guy around but I did go around (shirt and tie) when I was initially looking for shadowing experiences. I'm not a fan of calling people in the first place and I had some time to do it. I'm in a town of about 30k and a seemingly large amount of premeds for the size of our campus. Every office I went to (10 or so) said they only take shadows if the student is currently in medical school. I thought that was a weird way to say it at the time. They said they get a ton of requests for shadowing and the time it takes to have a shadow takes away from patients and makes it impractical to give that experience to the masses/pick some for a few hrs... and so on.

So consider the new place and your situation. Hopefully you'll get some good, fresh hours in!

 

[Goro]

Not mandatory but necessary. You're going to spend the next 50 years in Medicine; don't you think it's a good idea to see what you're getting into? Would you buy a suit without trying it on? Buy a new car without test driving it?

We've waitlisted people without any shadowing experience.

Hi everyone,

I do have the hospital volunteering experience and a lot of other extracurriculars. I was wondering if shadowing (MD/DO) necessary to be accepted in a DO school? My cGPA is 3.77 and my MCAT is 29S (11PS/7VR/11BS).

P.S. I do have a letter from MD and I worked as a clinical research assistant for him.
Any help will be appreciated!