Shadowing - most meaningful?

[orangeman25]

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On AMCAS, you can pick three experiences to be most meaningful. I have been debating whether or not to include my shadowing experience and here is why:

While I gained and learned so much from shadowing, there is little you inherently do as a shadow; of course I did some things here and there for the doctor, but I was mainly shadowing. With that said, do you think one of your most meaningful experiences should be one where you actually contributed to something?

 

[Neurrito]

I wouldn't think that matters so long as the experience helped you grow and you can talk about the transformational impact it had on you.

But im just another applicant myself.

 

[Chillbo Baggins]

To an extent, it is up to you to decide what is "meaningful."

For me, I only picked one thing, which was my involvement in a student org, four years and hundreds of hours of activities/events/community service/friends.

 

[theseeker4]

On AMCAS, you can pick three experiences to be most meaningful. I have been debating whether or not to include my shadowing experience and here is why:

While I gained and learned so much from shadowing, there is little you inherently do as a shadow; of course I did some things here and there for the doctor, but I was mainly shadowing. With that said, do you think one of your most meaningful experiences should be one where you actually contributed to something?

If you can intelligently discuss what you learned, and why it was a "most meaningful" experience, go for it. If you can't really talk about it, don't check it just to check three boxes.

Remember that it is most meaningful to you, not most productive, or most meaningful to other people.

 

[BeancheBlanco]

On AMCAS, you can pick three experiences to be most meaningful. I have been debating whether or not to include my shadowing experience and here is why:

While I gained and learned so much from shadowing, there is little you inherently do as a shadow; of course I did some things here and there for the doctor, but I was mainly shadowing. With that said, do you think one of your most meaningful experiences should be one where you actually contributed to something?

AMCAS states

"When determining which of your entries are your most meaningful, you might consider the transformative nature of the experience: the impact you made while engaging in the experience and the personal growth you experienced as a result of your participation."

So your most meaningful experience essay(s) can talk about the impact the experience had on you or the impact you had on other people. Or both. I don't know if medical schools would look down on you for including one and not the other. They don't explicitly state anything about that. Weren't there any meaningful experiences you had in which you helped others? No point in letting a free 1300 characters go to waste.

 

[orangeman25]

AMCAS states

"When determining which of your entries are your most meaningful, you might consider the transformative nature of the experience: the impact you made while engaging in the experience and the personal growth you experienced as a result of your participation."

So your most meaningful experience essay(s) can talk about the impact the experience had on you or the impact you had on other people. Or both. I don't know if medical schools would look down on you for including one and not the other. They don't explicitly state anything about that. Weren't there any meaningful experiences you had in which you helped others? No point in letting a free 1300 characters go to waste.

Oh yes I have two other most meaningful experiences. I may end up just leaving shadowing out.

 

[FindMeOnTheLinks]

I chose shadowing as one of my most meaningful. I found it to be transformative in that saw what doctors really DO. They take care of sick people and most of the time the patients really appreciate it. There's a real relationship there. To me, that was powerful to witness firsthand.

If you think shadowing was an important experience for you, then you should nail down why and figure out how to convey that in 1300 characters.