Shadowing one in high school?

[Plue00]

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Shadowing done* in high school.

Hey guys, I had a few questions about the shadowing I did in high school. I searched the forums and people gave very conflicting answers, so I thought I'd just ask again.

Throughout high school, I shadowed a bunch of different doctors (orthopedic surgeon, radiologist, FM and pediatrician) and I was wondering if I could put that on my application when I apply? Since then, I've only shadowed the FM again, and will be shadowing the orthopedic surgeon and pediatrician again this summer.

Thanks for the help

 

[MVP]

I don't think it should go on the activities section. Barring huge accomplishments in high school, college should be a clean slate. You can instead mention it in an essay or when talking about the newer shadowing you're doing. Lots of people don't have specific opportunities during high school, which is why out of fairness med schools only hold you to the things you have done in college and beyond.

 

[chillaxbro]

Where did this "only after high school" rule come from? Why is shadowing a doctor as a high school student different than if you did it in college?

 

[MVP]

this is precisely the conflicting answers OP was talking about. people can and do list all sorts of volunteering/shadowing they did in high school on their app. I personally think this does not help you in any way. if you've done any shadowing during college, those extra high school hours won't give you any kind of boost

 

[Plue00]

I don't think it should go on the activities section. Barring huge accomplishments in high school, college should be a clean slate. You can instead mention it in an essay or when talking about the newer shadowing you're doing. Lots of people don't have specific opportunities during high school, which is why out of fairness med schools only hold you to the things you have done in college and beyond.

Where did this "only after high school" rule come from? Why is shadowing a doctor as a high school student different than if you did it in college?

this is precisely the conflicting answers OP was talking about. people can and do list all sorts of volunteering/shadowing they did in high school on their app. I personally think this does not help you in any way. if you've done any shadowing during college, those extra high school hours won't give you any kind of boost

Could showing that you've been shadowing since 9th grade show that you've been committed to being a doctor for a long time?

And yes, more conflicting answers haha

 

[sunflower18]

I personally did ~150 hours of shadowing in the last semester of high school, and continued it through the summer before freshman year of college. This was a HUGE part of my decision to continue pursuing medicine. I loved every second of that shadowing experience. I will absolutely include it.

Also, since I plan on just having a section devoted to shadowing, it's not like it'd hurt to list extra things. If adcoms don't feel like it's appropriate to list something that, in my case, happened mere weeks before matriculation to college.. then they can ignore that part of the description and focus on the shadowing I've done since I've been in college! 😀 That's my perspective anyway. I dunno if it's right. I just feel like it'd be so wrong to leave out something that was truly a huge part of my journey to medicine.

 

[Pons Asinorum]

You can list it, there's no rule against it. It just won't be as weighted or considered as valuable as more recent experience.